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Al Jazeera - Shooting the messenger - 23-11-09

Category: Documentary
Description:
By Ian Stuttard Shooting the Messenger, Al Jazeera's documentary on the deliberate killing and intimidation of journalists in conflict zones, has been nominated for a presitigious Emmy award. In the past, members of the media were considered to be neutral in time of war. They were much like paramedics in the sense that their main concern was not victory, but saving lives. Two months ago Fadel Shana'a, a well-known cameraman with the Reuters news agency, was on a routine assignment east of the Gaza Strip to investigate reports that some villagers had been injured in an Israeli attack. On his way back from the village, he stopped his jeep to get some more video footage of the area. He was spotted by the Israeli military and shelled. Shana'a's jeep was clearly marked with the words 'Press' and 'TV'. Nevertheless, Israeli shell fire struck the jeep, tearing it apart. Fadel and three others died instantly. Shana'a's case is but one of many in recent years which has indicated that journalists reporting from conflict zones are no longer regarded as impartial by the combatants. As a result, increasing numbers of journalists have joined the casualty lists. The deliberate targeting of the press in war zones can probably be dated back to the Balkan conflict of the 1990's. When the shocking atrocities committed by the Serbs, Bosnian Muslims and Croats were filmed or reported, the media fell under suspicion, and was accused of supporting one faction against another. 'Embedding' A significant change occurred during the second invasion of Iraq in 2003 when, under the guise of protecting journalists, the military took the media firmly under its wing. This was called 'embedding' and meant that the journalist went where the military wanted them to go and saw what the military wanted them to see, in the hope that they would report what the military wanted them to report. In short, this was the military's effort to protect themselves. Terry Lloyd was a veteran reporter with Britain's ITN organisation and during the invasion he and his crew were one of the few independent, unembedded crews to operate inside Iraq. Caught in crossfire, Terry, his recordist and translator were killed by a deliberate but mistaken US onslaught. In 2006, while covering an attack on the revered al-Askari mosque in Samarra, Al Arabiya journalist Atwar Bhajat was abducted and later shot dead. Before joining Al Arabiya TV, Atwar worked for Al Jazeera, and was not that station's first loss. In April 2003, Sami al-Hajj, a Sudanese cameraman working for Al Jazeera, was seized by Pakistani forces on the Afghan border. He was held on suspicion of being involved in terrorism, and handed over to US forces who imprisoned him in their Guantanamo Bay base in Cuba. In May 2008, after almost seven years, he was released without charge. His lawyer, Clive Stafford-Smith, said: "...The folk[s] in Guantanamo honestly believe that Sami is a terrorist. They are crazy. He's no more a terrorist than my granny." Intimidation Elsewhere in the world, intimidation is a bigger threat to journalists than abduction. In Zimbabwe, after 28 years as president, Robert Mugabe, is clinging to power. Massive inflation, starvation and chaos has seen a third of the population flee abroad. The country's only real opposition voice in the media comes from outside. The Zimbabwean is a newspaper edited in England and printed in South Africa. There is also, for two hours a night, S W Radio Africa, which is intensely critical of the government, but broadcasts from London - 10,800km away. Across the border in Johannesburg, exiled journalists watch the accelerating destruction of their country, helpless spectators on the sidelines. "A number of journalists were being abducted, so it wasn't safe for me, especially as they [Zimbabwe's Central Intelligence Organisation] knew where I was staying and were constantly visiting my place, so I saw I was in danger and had to move out of the country," Trust Matsilele says. In Sri Lanka intimidation and threats to media workers have lead to the creation of a safe house for journalists to use as both a sanctuary and a work base. More than 100,000 people have been killed in the island's civil war since 1983, and the Tamil Tigers' exploitation of the suicide bomb made it the weapon of choice for extremists worldwide. There is no pretence of a free press here. The government considers any criticism of it as Tamil propaganda, bordering on treason. But dare attack the Tamils and you might never write again. Both sides in this war consider journalists to be their enemies and as Sanath Balasooriya, the president of the Free Media group, says: "The government thinks if we write the truth, they will lose public support for this war." Gaza Perhaps the most dangerous place for cameramen and reporters worldwide is the tiny, densely populated Palestinian territory of Gaza. Palestinians there are virtual prisoners, locked within their own borders, dependent on Israel for basic essentials such as food, water, medicine, fuel and power. The daily explosions, gunfire and missile attacks from Israeli incursions and Palestinian resistance have long been part of the Gaza routine. Palestinians know the value of propaganda pictures, as do the Israelis. Five years ago, Saira Shah and James Miller came to film the children of Gaza. They came under fire themselves and took refuge in a house nearby. That night, knowing they were surrounded by Israeli soldiers, Saira and James decided to leave - cautiously. Carrying a white flag and a torch, they identified themselves loudly as "British journalists". The response from Israeli snipers was several shots, one of which hit James in the neck and killed him. Saira said: "I don't know whether James was killed because he was a journalist or in spite of being a journalist. I know he was killed and he shouldn't have been killed." Targeted For news agency cameramen like Fadel Shana'a and Mahmoud Al Agaramey, days when they become the targets are unexceptional. They survive it one day and then go back again the next. Both men became legends in Gaza. Two years ago, Fadel was on his way to film the aftermath of an explosion in a village, when his jeep took a direct hit from a missile fired from an Israeli helicopter. The words 'TV' and 'PRESS' were painted in red on his vehicle, but they did not protect him. He was critically wounded but survived. Having had several narrow escapes, Mahmoud's luck almost ran out in Jebaliah. He was filming children goading an Israeli tank crew. Without warning, they fired a shell that narrowly missed the children, but the blast from the explosion flattened Mahmoud, and he was unconscious for six hours. The Erez Crossing at Beit Hanoun marks the border with Israel. For half a mile into Gaza all buildings, homes, offices and factories have been demolished. It is no man's land. Al Jazeera wanted to film there, but first we thought it wise to check with the Israeli military who were observing us from their watchtowers. There was no mistaking their answer: "Leave now or you will be shelled." We left. A few minutes later they shelled anyway, and hit another target - three students who had detoured through no man's land on their way home. Shana'a, passed us, already on his way to the hospital to film the aftermath of the shelling. But it was too late by the time we got there. Such deaths are common place in Gaza. Cameramen like Shana'a record every one of them and the mass mourning that follows. Two months on and Shana'a himself became the latest victim of the campaign against journalists. Journalists and cameramen like Shana'a and Al Agaramey risk their lives daily to bring us the news. The tragedy is that those who have so much to hide do what they can to prevent it and they shoot the messenger. Shana'a was a messenger, and as he put it: "I can't give up journalism. Only two things can stop me - if I die, or lose my legs."
Seeders: 1
Leeches: 3

Dispatches -Return to Africa's Witch Children – 23-11-2009 11 23 Channel 4

Category: Documentary
Description:
Dispatches -Return to Africa's Witch Children – 23-11-2009 11 23 Channel 4 399.32 MB/ 48:59.600 / XviD File Name: dispatches -Return to Africa's Witch Children - 23-11-09.avi A year ago Dispatches told the story of how children in Africa's Niger Delta were being denounced by Christian pastors as witches and wizards and then killed, tortured or abandoned by their own families. The film, which prompted international outrage against a practice conducted in the name of Jesus, forced the Nigerian authorities and the UN to act. Child Rights legislation came into force making it illegal to brand children as witches and some pastors were arrested. Financial support also poured in to assist a small British charity providing the only safe refuge for hundreds of youngsters attacked after claims that they were possessed by the Devil. In Return to Africa's Witch Children, Dispatches reveals what happened to some of the children and church leaders who originally featured, and discovers that even now children as young as two are still being stigmatized as witches and treated as outcasts. http://www.channel4.com/programmes/dispatches/e...ries-43/episode-1 edits Source: http://www.thebox.bz/details.php?id=100468 Cap: evil-koala Other shunster posts at:http://www.bt-chat.com/browse.php?category=11
Seeders: 21
Leeches: 11

Salt of the Earth - (Miners Strike)

Category: Documentary
Description:
Watch as Stream: http://opencast.de/salt-of-the-earth-1954/ 1954 Movie Tells the tale of a real life strike by Mexican-American miners. The story is set in a remote New Mexico town where the workers live in a company town in company owned shacks without basic plumbing. Put at risk by cost cutting bosses, the miners strike for safe working conditions. As the strike progresses the issues at stake grow beyond that, driven by the workers’ wives. At first the wives are patronized by the traditional patriarchical culture, however they assert themselves as equals and an integral part of the struggle, calling for improved sanitation and dignified treatment. Ultimately, when the bosses win a court order against the workers preventing them from demonstrating gender roles reverse with the wives taking over the picket line and preventing scab workers from being brought in while the husbands stay at home and take care of house and children. This film was selected for the National Film Registry in 1992 by the Library of Congress. It became public domain after its copyright was not renewed in 1982. “Salt of the Earth” was produced, written and directed by victims of the Hollywood blacklist. Unable to make films in Hollywood they looked for worthy social issues to put on screen independently. This film never would have been made in Hollywood at the time, so it is ironic that it was the anti-communist backlash that brought about the conditions for it to be made. In many ways it was a film ahead of its time, mainstream culture did not pick up on its civil rights and feminist themes for at least a decade. Unfortunately, the source of this copy is not of very good quality, hopefully it can be replaced by a better version. You can find more information regarding this film on its IMDb page. This movie is part of the collection: Feature Films Director: Herbert Biberman Producer: Independent Productions / International Union Of Mine, Mill and Smelter Workers Audio/Visual: sound, b/w Keywords: labor; feminism; latino Creative Commons license: Public Domain This Video is in the Public Domain.
Seeders: 0
Leeches: 1

Unreported World ~Malaysia: Refugees for Sale 2009 11 20 Ch. 4

Category: Documentary
Description:
Unreported World ~Malaysia: Refugees for Sale 2009 11 20 Ch. 4 File Name .............: Unreported World S18E09 - Malaysia Refugees for Sale (20 November 2009 233.21 MB / 24:01.960 / XviD Reporter Aidan Hartley reveals shocking evidence that Burmese refugees fleeing the country's brutal military regime are being detained and then allegedly sold by Malaysian immigration officials to Thai human traffickers. Living in complete fear of the state, the refugees claim they are being rounded up and subjected to bloody whippings and indefinite imprisonment in overcrowded detention camps. For some this is just the beginning of a horrific journey into the trafficking network, where men, women and children disappear into a world of slavery and prostitution. Malaysia pays no regard to Burmese refugees' right of asylum, since the country refuses to sign up to international conventions. And it's not just the state that acts harshly. Hartley and Waldrum join a night-time city raid by volunteers of the RELA militia to chase down and arrest construction site workers without valid papers. Millions of illegal migrants, many of whom are refugees, fill the building sites and factories, providing cheap labour and doing the jobs Malaysians don't want to do. Despite this, RELA, which has 500,000 members, claims to be cleaning up what they see as an immigrant threat to law, order and health. http://www.channel4.com/programmes/unreported-w...s-2009/episode-19 Edits Source: http://www.thebox.bz/details.php?id=100067 Cap: geclipse Other shunster posts at:http://www.bt-chat.com/browse.php?category=11
Seeders: 25
Leeches: 6

pArAsite_motion_volume_01

Category: Documentary
Description:
pArAsite motion volume 01: * Heiligendamm demo against G8 - 11.08.06 * "Sink MediaSpree!" - 22.04.07 - Berlin * Köpi bleibt risikokapital! - 05.05.07 - Berlin * Sarkozy aus Berlin Kärchern!! - 16.05.07 - Berlin * "No Justice No Peace" - 22.09.07 - Berlin * "No Justice No Peace" - subhumans version * "Escada Campaign" - Oct. 2007 - Berlin * "Escada Campaign" - Clown Army - Dec. 2007 * "Out Of Control" - 15.12.07 - Hamburg * "Out Of Control" - doom version (eng. / 45 min. / vcd - mpg) All this videoclips can be watch on: http://www.dailymotion.com/parasitemotion
Seeders: 3
Leeches: 7

pArAsite_motion_volume_02

Category: Documentary
Description:
pArAsite motion volume 02: * 1st. of may - Berlin 2008 * O2-hall-opening-demo - berlin 10.09.08 * CASTOR transport - Nov.2008 (north germany) * CASTOR transport - Tractors blockade + climbing action - 10 Nov. 2008 (north germany) * "United we stay" demo for the autonomous freespaces. - 14.03.2009 berlin * Bikes demo against the highway A100- 19.04.09- Berlin * Squat Tempelhof - 20.06.2009 - Berlin (eng. / 54 min. / vcd - mpg) All this videoclips can be watch on: http://www.dailymotion.com/parasitemotion
Seeders: 2
Leeches: 6

Greening the Desert 2: Greening the Middle East.avi

Category: Documentary
Description:
Permaculture Master Geoff Lawton returns to Jordan in the sequel to the youtube video Greening the Desert
Seeders: 30
Leeches: 3

CBC Doc Zone-Up Against the Wall (2009).WS-PDTV.XviD.Ekolb

Category: Documentary
Description:
Up Against the Wall Thursday November 19, 2009 at 8 pm on CBC-TV Twenty years ago, the world watched, spellbound, as the Berlin Wall came down. In the hopeful euphoria that followed, it seemed as if walls would be a thing of the past. Coinciding with the arrival of economic globalization, it looked like people and goods would finally be able to move freely across borders worldwide. But then 9/11 happened and, as they say, "everything changed". In the post-9/11 world, "national security" became the watchword, and it soon became clear that walls ? and sophisticated new, hi-tech versions at that - were back with a vengeance. In fact, they were proliferating all around the world, with over a dozen new walls going up since the Berlin Wall came down. Up Against the Wall, produced by Gail McIntyre, and written and directed by documentary filmmaker Eileen Thalenberg, looks at this growing phenomenon of new wall-building, focusing on three hot spots around the world, where extremely controversial walls have gone up. Thalenberg travels along the huge expanse (and expense!) of the 'Tortilla Wall' that the United States is constructing along its border with Mexico. She also explores both sides of the elaborate wall and fence system Israel has built between itself and the West Bank. And, finally, Thalenberg journeys to the autonomous Spanish cities of Ceuta and Melilla on the coast of Morocco. The walls surrounding those little-known European enclaves in Africa give us a glimpse into the new "Fortress Europe". With those walls blocking entry into Europe, desperate Africans risk their lives crossing the Mediterranean Sea in flimsy boats provided by human traffickers. As Thalenberg reveals, they often wind up, by the thousands, in detention camps across Europe. Most are eventually sent home. The fall of the Berlin Wall was an act of freedom, symbolizing the triumph of democracy over totalitarianism. "The great irony," says Thalenberg, "is that the three new walls we focus on in the film were all constructed by democracies. What we found repeatedly was that walls have a stated agenda and a hidden one. Walls are often built in the name of national security, but the real reason is to keep people out, though, of course, nobody much wants to say that." In a traumatized post 9/11 world, a wall is an easy sell. It gives the impression that something is being done to protect people. In fact, walls are an expression of what is most primitive in us all ? the fear of "the other". "In the short term a wall may address some of those problems," says Thalenberg. "But we found that in the longer term, in each case, there were unexpected, sometimes alarming impacts. Very often the wall made things worse." Up Against the Wall poses the questions: Do walls, in fact, work? What are the real costs both in financial and human terms? How do walls affect people living on both sides? The film also explores the themes of borders, sovereignty, migration and human rights. The experience of making the film turned out to be one of the most difficult of Thalenberg's career for personal reasons. "I started my own life in a refugee camp with my parents, and here I was filming in refugee and detention camps. At a camp in Sicily we met an Ethiopian father holding his little girl in his arms and as I stood looking at them I thought, 'That was me and my father all those years ago.'" Up Against the Wall is produced by Stormy Night Productions III and 6663036 Canada Inc. in association with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Format : AVI Length : 349 MiB for 44mn 6s 79ms Codec : XviD Source : PDTV Language : English CA Subtitles : None Genre : Documentary Video #0 : MPEG-4 Visual at 970 Kbps Aspect : 576 x 336 (1.714) at 29.970 fps Audio #0 : MPEG Audio at 123 Kbps Infos : 2 channels, 48.0 KHz Enjoy! Ekolb
Seeders: 1
Leeches: 2

Man in the Sand (1999)

Category: Documentary
Description:
Man in the Sand is a 1999 music documentary that chronicles the collaboration between Billy Bragg and Wilco, which involved the musicians creating new music to accompany lyrics that were written decades earlier by folk singer Woody Guthrie. The project, which was organized by Woody's daughter Nora, spawned two albums: Mermaid Avenue, released in 1998, and Mermaid Avenue Vol. II, released in 2000. The film begins with Bragg in Guthrie's original hometown of Okemah, Oklahoma, and follows along as Bragg travels to other Guthrie haunts in Texas, California, and finally, New York. Much of the documentary is also spent at the recording sessions in Chicago (December 1997) and Dublin, Ireland (January 1998). Most of the tracks from both albums were recorded at these sessions.
Seeders: 2
Leeches: 1

Provos, Loyalists and Brits

Category: Documentary
Description:
A trilogy of Documentary Series on Northern Ireland Conflict - Provos, Loyalists and Brits. Although this BBC Documentary was made several years ago, in light of Israel’s illegal occupation of the Palestine / West Bank and the atrocities committed in Gaza in January, it shows that Peace can be reached, but only every group have equal rights. PROVOS: THE IRA AND SINN FEIN BBC documentary series looking at the history of the IRA and Sinn Fein over the past 30 years. Episodes: * BORN AGAIN (23/09/1997) * SECOND FRONT (30/09/1997) * SECRET WAR (07/10/1997) * ENDGAME (14/10/1997) PROVOS: THE IRA AND SINN FEIN: BORN AGAIN Documentary looking at the changes and rise in the Provisional IRA in Northern Ireland from 1969 on. Considers the events of civil unrest in the late 1960s, the ideology and actions of the leaders of the IRA then, which underwent a significant change after the attacks by loyalists and B Specials on Catholics and Nationalists and their homes. Looks at the background of the deployment of British troops, and how they were first welcomed, but later viewed as the enemy. Includes interviews with many older IRA members who talk about their motivations and aims, and the escalation into shooting and bombings, especially after the events of Bloody Sunday. PROVOS: THE IRA AND SINN FEIN: SECOND FRONT Looks into what was discussed at secret meetings between the British authorities and Provisional IRA during the 1970s, and how Britian may have countenanced withdrawal from Northern Ireland. Examines the emergence of Sinn Fein as a political force and the bombing campaigns both in the Province and the British mainland. Also examines the prison protests in the Maze prison, and the hunger strikes, and the effects of the deaths of Bobby Sands and other hunger strikers. PROVOS: THE IRA AND SINN FEIN: SECRET WAR Concentrates on the 1980s and the relaunch of a campaign by the IRA after the death of the hunger strikers. Looks at the increase in heavy weaponry purchased and the funding and supply lines and the IRA\'s keeness to get hold of surface-to-air missiles to shoot down army helicopters. It also goes into the emergence of IRA informants and \"supergrasses\" and the effect they had on operations. PROVOS: THE IRA AND SINN FEIN: ENDGAME The final episode focuses on how the military stalemate of the late 80s created a context whereby the Sinn Fein leadership could persuade the IRA Army Council that the final phase of the struggle had to be political. It also shows how the stalemate paved the way for a remarkable series of secret negotiations between the Government and the IRA which made possible the cessation of 1994. The programme also describes how, despite the end of the ceasefire and the subsequent Canary Wharf and Manchester bombings, backstage efforts for peace continued, resulting in a renewed IRA ceasefire and the current all-party talks. LOYALISTS Documentary series giving an intimate account of the lives of loyalist paramilitaries. Episodes: * NO SURRENDER (21/02/1999) * RETURNING THE SERVE (28/02/1999) * WAR AND PEACE (07/03/1999) NO SURRENDER Documentary series presented by Peter Taylor, about the origins and evolution of the loyalist paramilitary movement in Northern Ireland. RETURNING THE SERVE In the late 1970s the conflict in Northern Ireland reached new levels of brutality. Among those caught up in the violence was UVF member Billy Giles, who retaliated against IRA acts by murdering a Catholic workmate. WAR AND PEACE Former Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) prisoners Gerry Spence and Bobby Philpott claim that Loyalist violence in the early nineties made the IRA realise they could not win. Peter Taylor reveals the true face of the Loyalist paramilitaries and assesses the prospects for peace in the face of continuing sectarian tensions. BRITS Three-part documentary on the role of the British armed forces in Northern Ireland, made by journalist Peter Taylor. Continues the history of the Troubles Taylor told in the earlier series PROVOS and LOYALISTS. Episodes: * The SECRET WAR (17/05/2000) * SHOOT TO KILL (24/05/2000) * HOLDING THE LINE (31/05/2000) The SECRET WAR This programme focuses on the period 1969-1975. As the IRA launched its terror campaign in the early 1970s, Britain realised that intelligence gathering would be the key to countering their threat. Included in this part are revelations about the covert operations carried out by the army, including the story of how the security services discovered that the IRA had bugged the army\'s Northern Ireland headquarters and how they captured key IRA figures involved with the bugging. SHOOT TO KILL Examination of a series of incidents from the mid-seventies where security forces reacted with speed and aggression. Members of Special Branch, MI6 and the army talk about the dangers of life in the war against the IRA. In their attempts to fight fire with fire did the agents of the crown sometimes go beyond the limits acceptable in a democractic state? HOLDING THE LINE Third and final part of the series investigating British undercover operations in Northern Ireland. Reveals how pressure from British intelligence services helped to bring the IRA to the negotiating table. Also looks at the prospect for a lasting peace.
Seeders: 0
Leeches: 5