Israel is never the aggressor in TV reporting, no matter what it does

Since our TV reviewers are on vacation, I was allowed to fill in for a day. As a hard news guy, not really my thing, but hey: who says no to a day of watching TV? I was looking forward to the acclaimed documentary series Israel and the Palestinians: the road to October 7 , made by American filmmaker Norma Percy for the BBC, the second part of which was broadcast on Wednesday. But while watching, my annoyance grew over the one-sided image the series sketches of the conflict that is over a hundred years old.

For starters, crucial historical context was lacking. For example, the series made no mention of the Balfour Declaration of 1917, in which the British government declared its support for the establishment of a “national home for the Jewish people” in Palestine, which led to mass Jewish migration and fierce resistance from local Christians and Muslims. Nor did it mention the Nakba of 1948, when 750,000 Palestinians fled or were expelled by Jewish militias to make way for the state of Israel. Many ended up in camps in Gaza.

Instead, the series kicked off with a Palestinian suicide bombing and the dismantling of Jewish settlements in Gaza in 2003. In interviews, many of the then key players – politicians, diplomats and their advisors – look back on how the peace process stalled due to Palestinian divisions and Israeli reluctance. And how Palestinian frustration over a lack of prospects for a state of their own paved the way for the massacre that Hamas unleashed in Israel on October 7, 2023.

It is impressive that the makers have managed to get so many key players in front of the camera, even Hamas leaders Khaled Meshaal and Ismail Haniyeh (who was killed by Israel shortly after the interview). This is seen as Percy's strength as a filmmaker. But now it doesn't work so well, because the diplomatic jousting obscures the bigger picture of occupation, apartheid and ethnic cleansing. Moreover, the series relies heavily on Israeli and American speakers, who show little self-reflection. The occupation remains out of the picture.

War logic

I saw similarities with the Dutch reporting on the attack on Iran. Israel is never the aggressor there either – no matter what it does. The NOS news broadcasts last week mainly showed images of Iranian retaliatory attacks and reports in which Israeli victims were given a voice. Experts understood the Israeli logic of war (Iran is weak, this is its chance!), depicted the (as yet) peaceful Iranian nuclear program as an existential threat to Israel and spoke with admiration about Israel's ingenious and technologically advanced attack.

Thomas Erdbrink, former correspondent for NRC and The New York Times in Iran, among others, was irritated by the one-sided reporting. On the talk show Renze op Zondag (RTL) he pleaded for "a little more balance in the reporting, a little more honesty". He still lives half the time in Iran, together with his wife and their cats and dogs. Their neighborhood in Tehran was also hit by an Israeli bomb last week. His wife is fortunately unharmed. But parents of friends are in hospital, and houses of friends have been destroyed. But he did not see that in the news.

"This was started by Israel," Erdbrink said. "Israel attacked a sovereign country based on suspicion. But there was no imminent problem. A decision was simply made to attack another country. That has happened before: by Russia in Ukraine. We were very angry about that. And now it is being pretended that it is an equal-sided conflict. But we must not forget who started it."

The lack of reporting from Iran also has a practical reason, Middle East correspondent Daisy Mohr explained in the news. She would like to go to Iran to make her own stories. But it is incredibly difficult to enter the country as a journalist. Moreover, it is difficult to reach Iranians by other means because telephone traffic and the internet are often down. It was therefore good that the NOS had spoken to a few Iranian Dutch people. To give the country a face to some extent.