Tell NBC Not to Support Production Whitewashing Israeli Crimes

By Ramah Kudaimi.

End the Occupation, 2/14/14 – American television network NBC is cooperating with Israeli authorities and the Keshet Media Group, an Israeli media company, to produce a new action series that will be set and shot in occupied East Jerusalem. The series, DIG, will be aired later this year on the USA cable channel.

Ahmad Gharabli/AFP/Getty Images

Nir Barkat, the Israeli mayor of Jerusalem, and Keshet had declared last November that most of the filming would take place in the so-called “City of David National Park,” an illegal Israeli settlement located in the Palestinian neighborhood of Silwan.”

Following objections from 20 Palestinian civil society and national institutions, NBC denied any plans to film in Silwan, but the network has since refused to clarify if the show will be shot in other parts of occupied East Jerusalem or if they will be cooperating with Israeli government bodies there on the project, including receiving funding.

Send en email to NBC now to let them know: We Don’t DIG Occupation!

As has been made clear again and again by countless UN Security Council resolutions and the International Court of Justice in 2004, East Jerusalem is part of the Palestinian territories occupied by Israel in 1967. Its annexation by Israel is not recognized internationally and has been condemned. Israel commits serious violations of international law and human rights there through forced land acquisition, population transfer, and the building of settlements. Since 1967 more than 9,000 Palestinian homes have been demolished in East Jerusalem and around 15,000 Palestinians have had their residency revoked.

All these policies have served to change the demographic composition of this Palestinian city. Going through with the production of DIG in East Jerusalem would mean NBC is supporting Israel’s grave violations of international law and makes the network complicit in Israeli crimes against Palestinians.
NBC has taken a right step by committing to not filming in the Palestinian neighborhood of Silwan. Ask the network to now explicitly commit not to film in any part of occupied East Jerusalem, not to cooperate with Israeli government bodies there, and not to support this project that seeks to whitewash Israeli human rights abuses..

Posted by Philip Giraldi on Feb 14 2014 . Filed under Commentary & Analysis . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 . Both comments and pings are currently closed.