Six Days in June: The War That Redefined the Middle East

Rich in both insight and historical detail, Six Days in June may well be the definitive documentary about the Six Day War between Israelis and Arabs in June 1967. More importantly, this thoroughly researched and superbly crafted PBS-aired program illustrates how the aftermath of that war is still painfully evident, four decades later, in the ongoing conflicts in the Middle East. Shot on location in seven countries and incorporating firsthand accounts from many of the major players in the Six Day War, director Ilan Ziv and writer Steven Phizicky's film begins with a broad overview before recounting the tense weeks that preceded the war itself, an approach that places the conflict in a detailed historical context (beginning with the creation of the Israeli state in 1948) essential to understanding why the Middle East remains a crisis zone for Arab-Israeli relations. Combining interviews, archival footage, personal photos, recreations, and declassified documents, the film tells an epic story of political intrigue and personal animosities that brought the world to the brink of global warfare. The war itself is chronicled in its week-shy entirety, focusing on crucial errors of judgment that led to the near-complete destruction of the Egyptian army by Israel, after which the rise of the Palestinian nationalist movement drove the region into a constant state of political instability and a never-ending cycle of terrorism. An informative primer on Middle Eastern political complexities, this is highly recommended. Aud: H, C, P. (J. Shannon)