Guest Blog by Gidon Belmaker—visit his blog, The Jerusalemite, here. Too much ink has been wasted in newspapers around the world about the row between Israel and the US, caused by the Shepherd hotel building permits. A permit to build 20 new housing units in East Jerusalem was issued to a Jewish-American entrepreneur, that’s the […]
Maybe you have to be Romanian to get this movie. A comedy, it focuses on two men who claim they were part of the revolution that brought down Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceausescu in December 1989. [kml_flashembed movie=”http://www.youtube.com/v/AZ7MfFB14xo” width=”425″ height=”350″ wmode=”transparent” /] While being interviewed by a local TV personality, the pair face callers who claim […]
There is little in this world that I find more confounding than when Rupert Murdoch is portrayed as the last great hope for journalism. First of all, no single person should be allowed to own as many media as he does. There are a plethora of rationale for a statement like this, not the least […]
A film not to miss–FIXER: The Taking of Ajmal Naqshbandi–at the Asia Society in New York on Wednesday, August 12. The film is the story of the relationship between Naqshbandi and one of his clients, American journalist Christian Parenti. It has won critical acclaim, and is a rare inside look at the world of journalists […]
Yesterday’s interview on WITF Radio’s “Smart Talk” about the repercussions and implications of Bill Clinton’s visit to North Korea was a fascinating conversation. The show was hosted by Craig Cohen, and we were joined by John Park, Sr. Research Associate at the Center for Conflict Analysis and Prevention, at the U.S. Institute of Peace. The […]
This is a rare glimpse into the life of North Korea. The report comes from journalist Lisa Ling, whose sister, Laura Ling, was recently released from prison there during a visit from former United States President Bill Clinton. Lisa Ling and her crew obtained access to the sealed country by following a Nepalese eye surgeon […]
The past couple of days, there has been a frenzy of media coverage about the two jailed American journalists who were freed from North Korea. And rightly so. Rarely has such a dramatic set of circumstances come into play at the same time, then ended in a moral, political, and humanitarian coup. Yet the biggest […]
This film is truly bleak. Set in 1987 Romania, it is a study of unhappiness and desperation. It shows a young woman who wants an abortion. Abortion is illegal in the country under the rule of dictator Nicolae Ceaucescu. She and her college roommate solicit the help of a black market doctor who will perform […]
This documentary is a love letter to Cuban leader Fidel Castro. Director Estela Bravo doesn’t try to hide her adoration of the man many in the developing world look up to. Using archival footage and interviews with friends, relatives, and celebrities, Bravo paints a picture of a person who has not lost his idealism. [kml_flashembed […]
The recent flurry of media coverage on a town in the West Bank called Nablus has a definite positive ring to it. Things are changing for the better there, in an area that has been described by the media as a “former ghost town.” It is also described as a “former militant strong hold”. Most […]
A event on July 15 put on by the PEN American Center provided a fascinating look inside the recent protests following elections in Iran. Iran: A Conversation About Elections, Protest, and the Future, was co-sponsored by the New York Review of Books at the 92nd Street Y Unterberg Poetry Center in Manhattan. Shaul Bakash moderated […]
This movie is hard to describe. It is in part a journey back in time for director Ari Folman, who is disturbed by the fact he cannot remember incidents that happened while he was in the Israeli army. Folman reconnects with others who were with him in 1982 when Bashir Gemayel, Lebanon’s newly elected president, […]
Why did we go to Vietnam? What did we do there? And what did going there do to us? Those are the questions asked by “Hearts and Minds” director Peter Davis. At first glance, “Hearts and Minds” is pure anti-war propaganda. Upon subsequent viewing, however, it shows itself to be a truly hands-off approach to […]
The World Food Program (WFP) has recently launched a video blog called On the Road – with the first series set in Tanzania looking at nutrition centers, giving the viewer a taste of Masai goat and follows school kids as they walk six kilometers to get water to cook their lunch. The WFP is the United […]
This is a riveting account of the arrest and prosecution of one of Nazi Germany’s biggest critics. Sophie Scholl was part of a group known as the White Rose, an organization bent on ending Hitler’s war machine (particularly on the eastern front). [kml_flashembed movie=”http://www.youtube.com/v/XM5A4ETW_Io” width=”425″ height=”350″ wmode=”transparent” /] It is 1943 and Scholl is arrested […]