The Occupation of the American Mind: Israel's Public Relations War in the United States

The violence of war and terrorism, if seen, turn most people against war and terrorism in a visceral way. The injustice of depriving an ethnic group of human rights and democratic rights and economic rights, if seen, turn most people against such actions. The operating qualifier is "if seen." This movie provides a seldom seen insight into conscious efforts to control messaging so that war, terror, and deprivation of human rights are framed so the US public "does not see" them. Modern cameras, cell phones, and internet have made inroads on breaking through the conscious framing. A younger generation is developing changing views.

The occupation here is not about the occupation of a country, it is more about the occupation of a mind set. It poses important questions of journalism, money in politics, lobbying power, and facts of history.

As an explanation of propaganda, there is the twist that this is propaganda about propaganda.

My takeaway is that one side controlling information about conflict and human rights reduces healthy information and debate. Mainstream US media has fallen short in the duty of the press to fully inform the citizens of our democracy. When this involves many lives, and the potential for more world war, seeing all sides of the issues is important to all peoples. The movie is informative and thought provoking, whether you agree with all of it or not.