ANTI-SEMITISM IN THE 21st CENTURY: THE RESURGENCE

[Behind the Aegis]

This is a PBS TV program that will be airing on Monday, January 8 at 10PM EST/9PM CST. It is an hour long. Here is a blurb from the site:

ANTI-SEMITISM IN THE 21st CENTURY:
THE RESURGENCE
Premieres on PBS, Monday, January 8, 2007
10:00-11:00PM EST (check local listings)

New York, December 12, 2006 - Today, many parts of the world are experiencing a massive resurgence of anti-Semitism - from hate propaganda, to vandalism, to violent attacks on Jews themselves. Worldwide, since the year 2000, major violent acts against Jews and Jewish institutions have nearly doubled from 1990s levels. People are asking: Why is this happening? What real threats does it pose? And what roles do Israel and the Arab-Israeli conflict really play? The answers will surprise almost everyone. Hosted and narrated by veteran broadcast journalist Judy Woodruff, Anti-Semitism in the 21st Century: The Resurgence explores the roots of anti-Semitism and examines how and why it continues to flourish today. The 60-minute documentary was written, produced and directed by Emmy Award-winning filmmaker Andrew Goldberg in association with Oregon Public Broadcasting. Goldberg is also the producer of the recent PBS film The Armenian Genocide.

In June 2006, a poll by The Pew Charitable Trusts revealed that over 97 percent of Egyptians and Jordanians hold "unfavorable opinions of Jews." Among scholars, journalists and experts, there is little disagreement that anti-Semitism is on the rise. Throughout the Arab and Islamic world, overt hatred of Jews has become commonplace in mainstream media. Across the Middle East, a recent 30-part mini-series depicts Jews murdering a Christian child to make Matzo with his blood; anti-Semitic commentaries and cartoons appear regularly in newspapers.

"I think it is dangerous to underestimate the importance of propaganda and rhetoric in terms of harming people," explains Salameh Nematt, Washington D.C. Bureau Chief, Al Hayat Newspaper. "This anti-Semitism and anti-Jewish attitude is victimizing a huge number of people."

Says host Judy Woodruff, "We live in a time of growing intolerance, especially religious intolerance, and it is unsettling to see anti-Semitism on the rise once again. As a journalist, I am proud to be associated with this documentary, which sheds light on a particularly troubling form of hateful behavior."

Filmed in Syria, Egypt, Israel, the West Bank, France and the US, Anti-Semitism in the 21st Century: The Resurgence includes interviews with David Ignatius of the Washington Post; Israeli Knesset Member Natan Sharanksy; Columbia University Professor Rashid Khalidi; New York Times best-selling author and NYU Professor Tony Judt; Professor Hisham Ahmed of Birzeit University, Ramallah; Hassam Hamed, Head of Egyptian State Television and others.

Through extraordinary and disturbing archival footage, interviews with leading experts, and bold man-on-the-street interviews, Anti-Semitism in the 21st Century: The Resurgence weaves together the past and the present to explore the evolution and re-birth of an age-old prejudice.

http://www.twocatstv.com/antisemitism21st.php">more...

[UndertheOcean]

1. Thanks ... I'll check it out.

n/t

[question everything]

2. Thanks. Will be sure to watch it (nt)

[Misskittycat]

3. I watched. It was very informative. n/t

[question everything]

4. Yes, and, unfortunately, too many DUers

would have felt right at home there.

Some of the comments could have come directly from the I/P pages, and from the other forums from last summer.

[Behind the Aegis]

5. I agree.

What did you think about it? I thought it was well done for only an hour program. There were somethings I would have liked to have seen added or expanded upon, but such is the nature of the beast.

[question everything]

6. I think that I would have liked to have more stories from Europe

and from this country.

That such stories are wide in Arab countries - really no brainer.

But they had just a small part about the increase in Anti-Semitism in Europe - as a result of large migration of Arabs, and their activism in universities.

I also would have liked to have more about how the left here and in Europe, that naturally sympathizes with underdogs, have turned their sympathies to the plight of the Palestinians to express anti-Semitic feelings.

Last week there was the story on the Huffington Post about Netanyahu supposedly being sure that this country would attack Iran.. And one of the comments was that Jews were not the only victims of the Nazis. True, but what did that have to do with the post?

After all, I think that it is a Brit who wrote a book about how "no Jews" were in the Twin Towers on 9/11. A book that is often being cited here.

But this would require at least another hour.

Interesting, here in the Twin Cities, the program was on the "sister" station of PBS, the one that has the reruns and Lawrence Welk shows. And a friend of mine in Houston told me that their PBS did not air it at all.

[Behind the Aegis]

7. Good stuff...

Are you planning on writing to the creators? I think you bring up some interesting things and perhaps, they will do a follow up, or even better, make it into a mini-series. While I did like it, I felt it was more of a "jumping off" spot. They crammed a lot into the one hour. I agree, it would have been nice to see more about anti-Semitism in this country and Europe. I thought they might go that route when they started with the stats, but they seemed to just drop it.

Anyway, it was a good start. Let's hope there is more because we know there are plenty of things to explore on the subject, including the use of anti-Semitism in politics.

[ikojo]

8. It's on google video and can be viewed

a couple of ways...

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-2790798886956341626&q=antisemitism