{"id":199461,"date":"2016-09-02T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2019-03-12T17:47:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/?p=199461"},"modified":"2026-04-24T13:06:15","modified_gmt":"2026-04-24T17:06:15","slug":"auto-insert-199461","status":"publish","type":"document","link":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/document\/auto-insert-199461\/","title":{"rendered":"UN International Media Seminar on Peace in Middle East (Pretoria,South Africa, 31 Aug. – 2 Sept. 2016) – Closing session – Press release"},"content":{"rendered":"
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02 SEPTEMBER 2016<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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PAL\/2204-PI\/2182<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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International Media Seminar on Peace in the Middle East<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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AM & PM Meetings<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Participants Debate How Virtual Reality Can Trigger Real \u2018On-the-Ground\u2019 Change in Israel,
\nPalestine, as International Media Seminar Concludes<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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PRETORIA, 2 September \u2014 The International Media Seminar on Peace in the Middle East concluded today, with a panel discussion that explored how virtual and augmented technologies could be used by journalists to help people around the world understand the Israeli-Palestinian story and take action to create change.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cWe have heard both inspiring and thought-provoking discussions on the Middle East,\u201d Cristina Gallach, Under-Secretary-General for Communications and Public Information said in closing remarks.\u00a0\u00a0Participants had explored the prospects for a political solution between Israelis and Palestinians, and the deteriorating humanitarian situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.\u00a0\u00a0They had also learned a great deal about visual media and film technologies, as well as the role of political satire.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cI sincerely hope that, by the time we hold our next annual International Media Seminar, there will have been real progress towards peace,\u201d she said, and that by then, participants would be discussing how peace between the two sides had managed to last for so long.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Echoing that call, Ebrahim Saley, Deputy Director-General of Global Governance, Department of International Relations and Cooperation of South Africa, said some could argue that the world was suffering from fatigue when discussing the question of Palestine.\u00a0\u00a0\u201cThe international community cannot run away from being engaged,\u201d he said.\u00a0\u00a0Without a just and fair solution, \u201cthe world will always be assaulted by the grim reminders of the cruelty of a conflict in which the line between right and wrong becomes invisible and crimes of dispossession, racism, anti-Semitism, collective punishment and apartheid become the norm.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Throughout the seminar, he said he had been reminded of resolution <\/span>242<\/a>\u00a0(1966), which stated that the fulfilment of the Charter principles required the establishment of a just and lasting peace in the Middle East.\u00a0\u00a0All efforts \u2014 as Governments, civil society and media \u2014 must work to bring about the essence of that resolution, which had been unfulfilled for 50 years, he stressed.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The panel titled \u201cvirtual reality and the Israel-Palestine conflict:\u00a0\u00a0the next frontier in storytelling\u201d, heard from panellist Helen Adamo, new media production manager and creative technologist at Camera Lucida Productions, who asked how much was known about combatants, why they fought in wars that had persisted for generations and how they envisioned freedom.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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In any conflict, she said, it seemed impossible for one side to answer those questions for the other.\u00a0\u00a0The Enemy, a virtual reality project she had helped to create and manage, challenged the views of both sides, with the aim of humanizing the combatants.\u00a0\u00a0The experience was a new way to make audiences care and to feel that their engagement mattered.\u00a0\u00a0The question to answer was:\u00a0\u00a0\u201cCould I be you if I was on the other side?\u201d, she said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cWhat is the best way to get people to care about our stories?\u201d, asked panellist Mohamed Haddad, senior interactive producer at Al Jazeera (English).\u00a0\u00a0Virtual reality helped to narrate stories by immersing a user in a different experience.\u00a0\u00a0It was able to touch people on emotional, intellectual and aesthetic levels.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Mushon Zer-Aviv, designer, media activist and co-creator of YouAreNotHere.org, a mashup tour of Gaza through the streets of Tel Aviv, said empathy had been taken for granted in what was needed to create change.\u00a0\u00a0He had worked with a blogger from Gaza to superimpose map of Gaza onto a map of Tel Aviv.\u00a0\u00a0When a person engaged, he would hear the blogger narrate a tour through her city.\u00a0\u00a0The goal was to re-engage Tel Aviv residents who had become emotionally disengaged from the Gaza Strip.\u00a0\u00a0\u201cYou\u2019re not seeing someone on screen, but using sound and space to connect to a story in another city,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The panel was followed by an interview with Riyad Mansour, Permanent Representative of the Observer State of Palestine, who described the challenges of peacemaking and what it would take to end the occupation.\u00a0\u00a0The status quo was unacceptable, he said.\u00a0\u00a0Palestinians could not continue to suffer in Gaza, East Jerusalem or the occupied territories, to be humiliated at checkpoints or to see their land stolen.\u00a0\u00a0\u201cThe solution has to be the independence of our State,\u201d he said.\u00a0\u00a0It was a critical moment.\u00a0\u00a0He called on the Security Council to lead the way.\u00a0\u00a0\u201cTake practical steps and we will follow,\u201d he stressed.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Also speaking on the panel today were Ramzi Hassan, associate professor at the Institute for Landscape Architecture and Spatial Planning at the Norwegian University of Lifesciences and director of Virtual Reality Laboratory, and Anthony Eva, operations and creative director at bizAR Reality.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Panel<\/u><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The final day of the seminar featured a panel discussion on \u201cvirtual reality and the Israel-Palestine conflict:\u00a0\u00a0the next frontier in storytelling\u201d.\u00a0\u00a0It was moderated by Under-Secretary-General for Communications and Public Information Cristina Gallach and featured:\u00a0\u00a0Helen Adamo, new media production manager and creative technologist at Camera Lucida Productions; Anthony Eva, operations and creative director at bizAR Reality; Mohamed Haddad, senior interactive producer at Al Jazeera (English); Ramzi Hassan, associate professor at the Institute for Landscape Architecture and Spatial Planning at the Norwegian University of Lifesciences and director of the Virtual Reality Laboratory; and Mushon Zer-Aviv, designer, media activist and co-creator of YouAreNotHere.org, a mashup tour of Gaza through the streets of Tel Aviv.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Mr. HADDAD said the Al Aqsa 360 project took participants to Jerusalem, a place he had never been but to which felt a strong connection.\u00a0\u00a0In a sense, he felt he had been there through the world he had created.\u00a0\u00a0As a Palestinian South African, he had grown up in South Africa, but had visited family in Gaza several times and had experienced what life was like under occupation.\u00a0\u00a0As an interactive producer, he and his team in Doha, Qatar, brought technology and editorial to the mission of storytelling.\u00a0\u00a0Describing three building blocks of storytelling, he said at the foundation was the story.\u00a0\u00a0At the top was the distribution and in the centre was the most powerful form, the narrative.\u00a0\u00a0It was in the telling of the story that virtual technology could be used.\u00a0\u00a0It was the closest way to immerse people in a story.\u00a0\u00a0Journalism\u2019s most important job was to inform and make people care.\u00a0\u00a0Virtual reality was able to touch people on emotional, intellectual and aesthetic levels.\u00a0\u00a0However, it did not replace reality.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Ms. ADAMO asked how much was known about combatants, why people continued to fight in wars that had persisted for generations and how they envisioned freedom.\u00a0\u00a0In any ongoing conflict, it seemed impossible for one side to answer those questions for the other.\u00a0\u00a0The Enemy, a virtual reality project she had helped to create and manage, challenged the views of both sides with the goal of humanizing the combatants.\u00a0\u00a0The project director, a war photojournalist, had sought a new way to make audiences care \u2014 to think differently about war and to feel that their engagement mattered.\u00a0\u00a0Launched in early 2014, the project now covered the situations in Israel-Palestine, Democratic Republic of the Congo and El Salvador.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cWe provide no answers or explanations,\u201d she said.\u00a0\u00a0\u201cWe want to stimulate debate above and beyond easy rhetoric.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0The goal was to expand people\u2019s moral imagination by deploying new storytelling tools based in neuroscience.\u00a0\u00a0The question to answer was:\u00a0\u00a0\u201cCould I be you if I was on the other side?\u201d, she said.\u00a0\u00a0The director had met two Israeli and Palestinian fighters, from whom he created the fighter avatars.\u00a0\u00a0When a user experienced the story alone, for two minutes, he could forget where he was.\u00a0\u00a0When there were several users, engaging as avatars neutrally, they behaved like a group.\u00a0\u00a0\u201cThe brain knows they\u2019re not there, but feels their presence,\u201d she said.\u00a0\u00a0The experience could be so immersive that the set, designed to be less stressful for the user, could instead make them anxious and less emotional about the story.\u00a0\u00a0A new set would soon be tested.\u00a0\u00a0\u201cYour enemy is always invisible,\u201d she said.\u00a0\u00a0\u201cWhen he becomes visible, he ceases to be your enemy.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Mr. ZER-AVIV said empathy had been taken for granted in what was needed to create change.\u00a0\u00a0He had worked with a blogger from Gaza on the YouAreNotHere.org mashup tour, a tourist map of Gaza superimposed onto a map of Tel Aviv.\u00a0\u00a0When a person engaged, he would hear the blogger narrate a tour through her city, stopping at the tomb of the unknown soldier, a refugee camp, describing tastes, sounds and its cost in shekels, prompting one to wonder, perhaps why the Israeli currency was used and if there was an Israeli economic engagement there.\u00a0\u00a0The goal was to re-engage Tel Aviv residents who had become emotionally disengaged from the Gaza Strip.\u00a0\u00a0\u201cYou\u2019re not seeing someone on screen, but using sound and space to connect to a story in another city,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Mr. HASSAN described a capacity-building project that aimed at building the landscape of Palestine.\u00a0\u00a0In his visits to Palestine, he had been amazed by the beauty of the landscape, yet several cultural heritage sites had been left to die.\u00a0\u00a0They represented the rich history of the country.\u00a0\u00a0He started working in Gaza to identify why that was happening.\u00a0\u00a0He decided to run a summer course to foster interest among students for their history, and over time, they had digitally documented the sites and created a database.\u00a0\u00a0The locals did not know the history of the sites.\u00a0\u00a0He made a proposal to the World Bank, together with two universities, arguing why the sites had to be preserved and for the resources to be provided.\u00a0\u00a0Eventually, he built a virtual reality lab with a team of historians, architects, planners, archaeologists and students that used virtual reality to reconstruct the sites with three-dimensional models.\u00a0\u00a0They published their work in academic journals to foster interest and understanding.\u00a0\u00a0The team discovered that no mechanism had been created to convey the important story of the sites to a wider public.\u00a0\u00a0They had shown how virtual reality could fill that gap and be used to enhance awareness.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Mr. EVA said augmented reality involved overlaying digital information on actual reality.\u00a0\u00a0It was a tool that had proven itself to increase knowledge retention by 90 per cent.\u00a0\u00a0It could even be used on a mobile phone.\u00a0\u00a0Virtual reality fully immersed a user in an alternate world.\u00a0\u00a0\u201cYou realize they\u2019re not just tools to showcase things,\u201d he said.\u00a0\u00a0They were new communication media to more fully engage people.\u00a0\u00a0Architects, for example, could communicate their designs to clients more effectively.\u00a0\u00a0Communication through virtual or augmented reality enhanced the user\u2019s experience.\u00a0\u00a0Describing virtual reality as \u201cthe most boring thing to talk about but the best thing to experience,\u201d he said it used image recognition software to project a three-dimensional model.\u00a0\u00a0It allowed the user to be transported anyplace, creating a new way to tell a story.\u00a0\u00a0It could also enhance emotion and create urgency.\u00a0\u00a0In the Middle East, that urgency could help to create solutions.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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When the floor was opened for questions and comments, participants asked a range of questions, including on details of technologies that could enhance story telling.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Mr. HADDAD said consumer-grade virtual reality would be the next step on the technological front, with consumers using goggles or a \u201c360\u201d video on a mobile phone.\u00a0\u00a0Technology adoption was about reaching the masses through affordable means.\u00a0\u00a0Today, people were using cardboard goggles.\u00a0\u00a0Hardware accelerated devices, such as the oculus, was the more exciting and expensive space.\u00a0\u00a0Big companies, such as Intel, were investing in the hardware needed to support those technologies.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Mr. ZER-AVIV said people sought empathy.\u00a0\u00a0A humanoid robot, for example, looked realistic, but not realistic enough for the human eye, which created the opposite feelings of disgust and fear.\u00a0\u00a0If he had a teddy bear, it might be cute.\u00a0\u00a0With humanoid robots, people were not sure what they were seeing.\u00a0\u00a0\u201cIt disturbs our idea of what we think a human looks like,\u201d he said. \u201cOur eyes are sophisticated and it is hard to fool them.\u00a0\u00a0Virtual or augmented reality were not convincing in depictions of humans and space, which generated extremely emotional responses.\u00a0\u00a0But, the technology would evolve.\u00a0\u00a0In that context, he cited psychologist Paul Bloom who stated:\u00a0\u00a0\u201cOur best hope for the future lies in an appreciation of the fact that even if we don\u2019t empathize with distant strangers, their lives have the same value as the lives of those we love.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Mr. HADDAD said the story, regardless of the narrative used to convey it, was the most important element.\u00a0\u00a0People often mistook the idea of entertainment with the concept of fiction.\u00a0\u00a0If a journalist\u2019s goal was to mislead, that was the core of the story.\u00a0\u00a0\u201cYou can manipulate people in any form, through audio, for example,\u201d he said.\u00a0\u00a0\u201cThe technique was not the issue.\u00a0\u00a0The issue is the intention of the author.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Ms. ADAMO agreed the same problems could happen in any media.\u00a0\u00a0Virtual technology was often used to create a lie, but by creating it, visitors could find something true about themselves.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Mr. ZER-AVIV said ethical questions should be asked about empathy and impact, especially over the long term.\u00a0\u00a0While some manipulations were legitimate, he said, \u201cwe need to be clear about what manipulations we are choosing and are being built into the technology.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0Developers often sought to create a seamless experience so users would not see how virtual realities were constructed.\u00a0\u00a0However, he said he always sought a \u201cseamful\u201d design.\u00a0\u00a0Step into a manipulation and one might not experience something that shocked them on a physical level, he said.\u00a0\u00a0At the same time, there was more honesty about the manipulation and the user could reflect upon that.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Mr. HASSAN said he had worked with virtual reality for 18 years.\u00a0\u00a0It had evolved during that time and today, was reinventing itself to be used by the masses.\u00a0\u00a0There were big players in the market and there were concerns to consider, especially around ethics.\u00a0\u00a0At the same time, that should not prevent its use.\u00a0\u00a0\u201cWe need to know how far we can go,\u201d he said.\u00a0\u00a0\u201cWe need to know the limits.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0Potential impact was another important aspect to consider.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Mr. ZER-AVIV responded to a question about whether a Palestinian might defer his or her own liberation by delivering catharsis to those in power who might have reached a point of empathy had they not experienced a virtual reality.\u00a0\u00a0In that vein, he said the phrase \u201cI wish there was something I could do\u201d could mean \u201cI would like to act\u201d or \u201cI have internalized the fact that I have no power over this situation\u201d.\u00a0\u00a0The mashup project challenged the way empathy presented Palestinians by overlaying their stories over someone else\u2019s life.\u00a0\u00a0However, the project had not succeeded in spurring action.\u00a0\u00a0He would extend the criticism to say that it was better not to experience than be put in a position where there was nothing one could do to change the situation.\u00a0\u00a0The goal was not only to say \u201cI am raising awareness\u201d, but rather \u201cthis is a stepping stone to change\u201d.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Mr. HASSAN said everything he was doing with virtual reality was totally new.\u00a0\u00a0There was nothing written about how to do things.\u00a0\u00a0A project in Ramallah had presented an emotional challenge for him.\u00a0\u00a0An organization operating centres in Gaza, Beirut and elsewhere that provided a creative environment for children had asked about connecting children in Gaza with the rest of Palestine.\u00a0\u00a0It challenged him to find a way to engage them.\u00a0\u00a0He said he had had mixed feelings.\u00a0\u00a0On the one hand, it was technically challenging project, however, it meant he had to accept that he could not physically connect the groups, which was a sad fact.\u00a0\u00a0Virtual reality offered a new way to access inaccessible locations.\u00a0\u00a0\u201cThere are so many of them in Palestine,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Mr. ZER-AVIV added that the technology presented opportunity.\u00a0\u00a0The United Nations itself was using it for fundraising, which was a valid call for action.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Dialogue<\/u><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The seminar then held a dialogue with Riyad Mansour, Permanent Observer of the State of Palestine to the United Nations, who was interviewed by Ahmed Shihab Eldin, Senior correspondent at AJ+.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Mr. MANSOUR, responded to a various questions, including one about the challenges involved in the current peacemaking efforts.\u00a0\u00a0He said that aside from the political challenges, Palestinians faced those of being able to stay on their land and not being forced to leave.\u00a0\u00a0There was also the frustration of young people, unleashed over the fact that in East Jerusalem and the occupied territory, \u201cwe are living in a big prison\u201d, he said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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For the 300,000 Palestinians living in East Jerusalem, displacement had created a very real economic hardship, he said.\u00a0\u00a0There were 50,000 people alone living inside the walls of that city, faced daily with racism and discrimination.\u00a0\u00a0It made sense that they would explode against anything, especially the occupation.\u00a0\u00a0That was a huge challenge.\u00a0\u00a0Young people\u2019s concerns had to be addressed.\u00a0\u00a0Another challenge was the collective failure to end the suffering of the 2 million people in Gaza by not breaking the blockade.\u00a0\u00a0They deserved access and movement in and outside that area to escape their misery.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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He went on to say there was a history in the national liberation struggle.\u00a0\u00a0\u201cEverything we do is transparent,\u201d he said, which was a sign of strength.\u00a0\u00a0For example, he recently attended a meeting at the foreign ministry of Palestine in Ramallah, which was covered by live television.\u00a0\u00a0The agenda was about the first report to the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women.\u00a0\u00a0The female minister from Gaza had given the official report of the Palestinian Government, which had noted that Palestine\u2019s basic law was secular, but also guided by sharia.\u00a0\u00a0A barrage of women\u2019s groups had said it did not fully reflect Palestinians women\u2019s rights.\u00a0\u00a0\u201cWe cannot pretend our situation is rosier than it is,\u201d he said.\u00a0\u00a0\u201cOur beauty is to tell it like it is.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0He had informed the High Commissioner for Human Rights that the report would arrive and that the Government was encouraging civil society groups to submit a parallel report.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Also, there were complaints that Palestinians officials had more privileges than others, he said.\u00a0\u00a0\u201cWe need to be humble and sensitive to the suffering of our people,\u201d he said, noting it would be better not to enjoy those privileges to show people \u201cwe are with you in the trenches\u201d.\u00a0\u00a0The goal was to end the occupation.\u00a0\u00a0Upon his return to New York, he would propose a resolution that would call for 2017 to be the International Year to End Israeli Occupation of Palestine.\u00a0\u00a0In 2017, there would be 50 years of occupation and 70 years since General Assembly resolution 181 (II) of 1947, which had given birth to the State of Palestine.\u00a0\u00a0\u201cHow long do we need to see us living in this miserable situation?\u201d, he asked.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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He responded to a question about the incentive for the major players to end the occupation, especially after hundreds of United Nations resolutions had been passed without action.\u00a0\u00a0He said his main responsibility was to defend the national rights of Palestinians at the United Nations.\u00a0\u00a0His Government had legislated those rights through resolutions that had been adopted each year.\u00a0\u00a0As to why Israel was not upholding its international legal obligations, he said a powerful country was shielding Israel in the Security Council by using its veto power or not permitting other countries to behave towards Israel the way they should.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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He then turned to a question on what the Palestinian Authority could do to pressure Israel, and further, why it had continued to cooperate with Israel when that Government had not abided by its agreements.\u00a0\u00a0He said that, on the issue of security cooperation, the Palestinian Liberation Organization\u2019s Central Council and Executive Committee had taken a decision to stop such cooperation.\u00a0\u00a0There was now an expectation that the decision would be implemented.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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If ending such cooperation, he said, meant not working with the occupying army when it came looking for people to arrest, Palestinians were not obliged to facilitate that search.\u00a0\u00a0If it meant stopping Israeli forces from entering Area A, then it should be implemented.\u00a0\u00a0Palestinians were not raising white flags.\u00a0\u00a0\u201cI have to have hope,\u201d he said, and to tell the story of Palestinians in the most effective way.\u00a0\u00a0That was part of the struggle.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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As to whether he felt there had been progress, he said the current situation was unsustainable.\u00a0\u00a0Palestinians could not continue to suffer in Gaza, East Jerusalem or the occupied territories, to be humiliated at checkpoints or to see their land stolen.\u00a0\u00a0\u201cThe solution has to be the independence of our State,\u201d he said.\u00a0\u00a0It was a critical moment.\u00a0\u00a0To the Security Council, he said, \u201cshow us the way.\u00a0\u00a0Take practical steps and we will follow.\u00a0\u00a0It is your duty to deal with the situation.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0He believed a just solution would be found, which would be a significant contribution to fighting extremism.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Concluding Remarks<\/u><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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EBRAHIM SALEY, Deputy Director-General for Global Governance, Department of International Relations and Cooperation of South Africa<\/u>, said the status of the stagnant Middle East peace process could be a depressing topic.\u00a0\u00a0Some could argue that the world suffered from fatigue when discussing the question of Palestine, which in turn, was detrimental to peace, stability and the dignity of the region\u2019s people.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cThe international community cannot run away from being engaged and must find a just and fair solution,\u201d he stressed.\u00a0\u00a0\u201cOtherwise the world will always be assaulted by the grim reminders of the cruelty of a conflict in which the line between right and wrong becomes invisible and crimes of dispossession, racism, anti-Semitism, collective punishment and apartheid become the norm.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0The world owed it to the people of Palestine and Israel that they lived in peace.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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It was apt, he said, that the first panel had been on \u201cprospects for a political solution of the Israel-Palestine conflict and deteriorating humanitarian situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory\u201d.\u00a0\u00a0What had stood out was the sense that the two-State solution, as envisioned by the Oslo Accords and United Nations resolutions, was in danger, as one side continued to change the facts on the ground through occupation and illegal settlement-building.\u00a0\u00a0Describing the ensuing discussions, he said that participants had noted the pursuit of peace had become \u201critualized\u201d, with the United Nations described as the \u201ccentre of gravity\u201d in resolving the question of Palestine.\u00a0\u00a0Yet, in fact, the global and geopolitical power balance, as reflected in the Organization, had allowed one party to act with impunity.\u00a0\u00a0\u201cWhat made this event unique is that the focus was not only on the traditional political process, but it also examined the innovative initiatives of the media and civil society in seeking alternate and new ways of finding a peaceful resolution to the conflict,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The second panel, on \u201cthe Israel-Palestine story in documentaries and films\u201d, he said, had offered moving personal accounts, with participants arguing that descriptions of the situation in the Middle East as a \u201cconflict\u201d were mistaken in that Palestinians had no military or other armed forces for it to be considered a conventional conflict.\u00a0\u00a0The struggle of the two narratives of the conflict had been stressed, namely that the mainstream corporate media had its own agenda and news was often biased.\u00a0\u00a0There was a view that the mainstream media acts often as the propaganda arm of one party predominantly.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The third panel had focused on \u201cTV shows and mashup videos:\u00a0\u00a0when political satire becomes a peacemaker\u201d, he said.\u00a0\u00a0Participants had seen that on occasion, facts and realities on the ground were less important than perceptions.\u00a0\u00a0An issue that had stood out was the challenge in presenting narratives that humanized Palestinians.\u00a0\u00a0Panellists had noted it was always important to consider a story from both sides, or indeed, multiple sides and perspectives.\u00a0\u00a0\u201cIt is only in so doing that we can fully begin to understand the complexity of the Israel-Palestine situation,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Discussion on the question of Palestine had been taken a step further with the virtual reality tour of Gaza, which he had found to be useful in recalling the suffering of ordinary people who lived in dire circumstances, \u201cbut are no different from you and me\u201d.\u00a0\u00a0It was true to assume that everyone would leave the seminar challenged in their perceptions regarding this perplexing situation.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Throughout the seminar, he said he had been reminded of resolution 242 (1966), which stated that \u201cthe fulfilment of the Charter principles requires the establishment of a just and lasting peace in the Middle East\u201d.\u00a0\u00a0All efforts \u2014 as Governments, civil society and media \u2014 must work to bring about the essence of that resolution, which had been unfulfilled for 50 years.\u00a0\u00a0\u201cNever, never and never again shall it be that this beautiful land will again experience the oppression of one by another,\u201d he said, quoting former President of South Africa Nelson Mandela.\u00a0\u00a0Mr. Mandela\u2019s vision, he said, was as true for South Africa as it was for the people of Palestine and Israel.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

For information media. Not an official record.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

02 SEPTEMBER 2016 PAL\/2204-PI\/2182 International Media Seminar on Peace in the Middle East AM & PM Meetings   Participants Debate How Virtual Reality Can Trigger Real \u2018On-the-Ground\u2019 Change in Israel, Palestine, as International Media Seminar Concludes PRETORIA, 2 September \u2014 The International Media Seminar on Peace in the Middle East concluded today, with a panel […]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"country":[1128],"document-category":[1329],"document-source":[1897],"committee-meeting":[],"document-subject":[2145],"entity":[1985,1729],"document-language":[6542],"class_list":["post-199461","document","type-document","status-publish","hentry","country-south-africa","document-category-press-release","document-source-united-nations-department-of-public-information-dpi","document-subject-public-information","entity-state","entity-united-nations-system","document-language-english"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document\/199461","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/document"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/33"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document\/199461\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":317385,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document\/199461\/revisions\/317385"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=199461"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"country","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/country?post=199461"},{"taxonomy":"document-category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document-category?post=199461"},{"taxonomy":"document-source","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document-source?post=199461"},{"taxonomy":"committee-meeting","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/committee-meeting?post=199461"},{"taxonomy":"document-subject","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document-subject?post=199461"},{"taxonomy":"entity","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/entity?post=199461"},{"taxonomy":"document-language","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document-language?post=199461"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}