EAST LANSING — A documentary film exploring local media coverage of Arab American and Jewish American communities, primarily in the aftermath of the 2006 war in Lebanon, was screened at Michigan State University on Monday.

Panelists discuss media coverage in the aftermath of the 2006 war in Lebanon.

A panel of representatives from the two communities spoke on the film afterward. The discussion quickly turned into a debate on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and on the difficulties of initiating dialogue between local Jewish and Arab leaders.
“It just shows that this is a very emotional topic,” said Geri Alumit Zeldes, the film’s producer and an assistant professor at MSU’s School of Journalism.

Zeldes and Director Bob Albers said they’ve entered “Arabs, Jews, and the News” into several film festivals, and that the 30-minute documentary will start airing on public television in Michigan in November.

“I’ve always been interested in how the media portrays people of color, because the media, as we know, is very powerful,” Zeldes said.

She said she plans to go back and address a criticism of the documentary by panelist Osama Siblani, who is publisher of The Arab American News. Siblani complained that text shown at the end of the film about the December 2008-January 2009 violence in which over 1300 Palestinians and 13 Israelis were killed, neglected to cite the ongoing Israeli siege on Gaza as a factor.

Panelist Don Cohen, a board member on several area Jewish organizations, took exception to Siblani describing the siege as having cut off families from food and water, calling it hyperbole.

“I’ve been to villages that have been cut off from food and water,” said panelist Ismael Ahmed, an Arab American community leader. “We need to get to the truth here, and a little more of the fact and a little less of the rhetoric.”

The film juxtaposes opinions from each side of the conflict and features insight from local beat reporters who tried to cover the 2006 flare-up fairly.

Segments of the film focused on the use of swastikas alongside the Star of David on signs by some protesters at pro-Palestinian rallies during the 2006 war, when demonstrators at times compared Israeli occupation to Nazi Germani, prompting outrage among pro-Israeli Jewish Americans.

“That is not the kind of mutual respect that’s required for a dialogue,” said panelist Ken Waltzer, director of MSU’s Jewish Studies program.

Siblani said he has been involved in an effort initiated about seven months ago to spark dialogue and overcome tense relations between the two communities.

“We are talking and we are engaging,” he said.

Visit www.arabsjewsnews.org for more on the documentary.