A master of the found footage assemblage, Swedish filmmaker Göran Hugo Olsson (The Black Power Mixtape 1967-1975) combines excerpts from news reports and film series from public broadcaster Sveriges Television (SVT), Sweden's primary TV source until 1992, to show how they framed the Israel-Palestine conflict.
Narrator Pernilla August describes each program as details appear on-screen: title, air date, contents, reporter, format, and other relevant facts. The documentary, clocking in at over three hours, is divided into two acts: 1958-1972 and 1973-1989.
The prologue depicts Gaza's Jabalia refugee camp in 1984. It opens with a mother preparing her kids for school. A reporter speaks with one of the Israeli soldiers guarding the area. "That's how they live," he says about a camp founded in 1948. "That's how they want to live." It’s hard to imagine many Palestinians would agree, though the soldier believes they would be better off if Israel returned their land and hopes that it will happen someday. (The camp was largely destroyed in 2024.)
The documentary then looks back to 1958, the year of Israel's 10th anniversary, for a report recounting the history of the state, the Zionist movement which fueled its formation, and the involvement of the United Kingdom and the United Nations in its development. A film series describing Israel as a "Land of Wonders" defines it as a collective of immigrants from 102 countries who speak 72 different languages. It goes unmentioned, but in 2018, Hebrew was declared the official language.
Other reports from the 1960s examine Israel's fraught relations with Egypt, Syria and Jordan, the Six-Day War, and a military program that represents 40% of the state's budget and requires 18-year-olds to serve for 18 to 30 months.
Reports from the 1970s profile the Fedayeen and the Palestine Liberation Organization, the massacre at the Munich Olympics, the Yom Kippur War, the hijacking of a Jordan flight, and the discrimination faced by Israel's 400,000 Arabs.
The situation worsens in the 1980s with the assassination of Egyptian President Anwar Sadat, censorship of Palestinian newspapers, invasion of Southern Lebanon, the First Intifada, and the proliferation of child soldiers in some of these war-torn territories. As one report describes an armed orphan, "The soldiers are his playmates. The guns are his toys."
Throughout, all the major political figures put in appearances, including Israeli Prime Ministers David Ben-Gurion, Golda Meir, Yitzhak Rabin, Menachem Begin, Shimon Peres; Israeli Minister of Defense Moshe Dayan; PLO leader Yasser Arafat; United States Presidents Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, and Bill Clinton; and US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger.
An opening intertitle stresses SVT's aim of neutrality, and they appear to have covered both sides as thoroughly as possible, though Israel doesn't come across as well once their relations with their neighbors start to deteriorate. Of greatest significance: Swedish reporters spent considerable time on the ground, sometimes risking their lives to do so. An epilogue offers a fleeting moment of hope with the Oslo Accords signed by Rabin, Arafat, and Clinton in 1993 and 1995.
All told, Israel Palestine on Swedish TV 1958-1989 is an enlightening, overwhelming document–if taken in all at one sitting–of a turbulent, complicated relationship that doubles as a tribute to the journalistic field, which has faced challenges of its own in recent years. Recommended to anyone seeking to understand the situation more clearly and thoroughly.
Why should public and academic libraries add this Israel - Palestine historical documentary to their collections?
Israel Palestine on Swedish TV 1958–1989 is an essential archival resource that chronicles three decades of conflict, diplomacy, and media framing surrounding one of the world’s most enduring political crises. Using rare footage from Sweden’s public broadcaster SVT, the film provides both historical depth and an international perspective that differs markedly from U.S. and U.K. coverage of the same events. For public libraries, it serves as a valuable addition to collections that emphasize global awareness, journalism, and 20th-century history. For academic institutions, it supports coursework in media studies, political science, Middle Eastern history, and communication ethics. Despite its length, the documentary’s chronological structure and contextual narration make it easy to excerpt for educational use or research purposes.
Is this archival documentary suitable for classroom or community screenings?
Yes, particularly for audiences interested in the role of journalism and historical record-keeping in shaping public understanding of conflict. The film’s reliance on primary broadcast sources makes it well suited for university seminars on documentary filmmaking, media literacy, or historical interpretation. Professors can use it to prompt discussion on neutrality, bias, and how televised reporting has evolved in both tone and substance over time. For community programs, it functions best as part of moderated discussions or film series on global media, human rights, or international relations, where viewers can engage with its historical scope and reflect on its relevance today.
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