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ONLINE EXCLUSIVE: HOT ZONE DOCUMENTARY

Hot Zone Documentary, Chapter Seven: Israel

'A World of Conflict,' the documentary about the Kevin Sites in the Hot Zone project, is being shown here in its entirety, one chapter each week.

By the Hot Zone Team, Mon Nov 12, 11:05 PM ET

Chapter Seven: Israel
In Israel, Kevin Sites interviewed Kinneret Boosany, a victim of a suicide bombing at a Tel Aviv cafe in 2002. She barely survived the attack; she had burns on 70 percent of her body and was in a coma for four months. During her long period of recovery, Kinneret discovered a new inner strength, telling Sites, "a lot of problems that I used to have then, I don't have them anymore. You know that you can get through anything."

Kinneret's story is also chronicled in the documentary, "Open Eye - Open I," by Dutch-Israeli photographer Shirley Barenholz. 


"A World of Conflict" is the documentary about the "Kevin Sites in the Hot Zone" project, in which veteran war correspondent Kevin Sites reported from every major global conflict in one year, in an effort to understand the costs of a world perpetually at war.

We are highlighting one chapter of the documentary each week in chronological order, allowing you to see the film in its entirety — exclusively online.

The documentary contains searing, never-before-seen images of combat and its lingering impact on civil society, beginning with the anarchy of Somalia in September 2005 and culminating with the explosive war between Israel and Hezbollah in summer 2006.

The documentary is included with Sites' new book, "In the Hot Zone: One Man. One Year. Twenty Wars." (The Harper Perennial paperback original is available now at Amazon.com and at book stores.)

http://hotzone.yahoo.com/b/hotzone/blogs53384

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Comments

Join the discussion. Here you'll see the comments in the order they were posted.

1
Today we hear of the feeble attempts of the UN to bring aged Kmer Rouge criminals to justice. At this rate... I always knew the human race would someday become extinct; I never dreamed it would be by suicide.
Posted by l_ricker@att.net on Mon, Nov 19, 2007 2:32 PM ET
2
Wow,one-sided American garbage as always. Thanks a lot.
Posted by squall_masaki on Fri, Nov 23, 2007 7:17 PM ET
3
What garbage.... he got the guts to report... while you guys only talk garbage!!!
Posted by edlic on Thu, Nov 29, 2007 2:23 AM ET
4
I think Kinneret Boosany is yet another remarkable person we have had the opportunity to meet thanks to Kevin Sites' reporting. Remarkable not for what she had to go through, but her perspective on the things around her even after such physical and mental trauma. It is always those people who have suffered much that have the best perspective. The rest of us get emotional as third party spectators, often with skewed opinions.
Posted by mohaven09 on Fri, Nov 30, 2007 3:59 PM ET
5
Kastaway appears to have overlooked a few things. -MOST wars throughout the decades that Israel has fought were initiated by her neighboring countries (i.e. Egypt, Syria, etc.). Often, more than one country fought Israel (the size of a small to medium sized US state) at a time. Keep in mind that these countries were typically well-armed. Also keep in mind that their actions have demonstrated a disdain toward diplomacy as evidenced by these aforementioned wars, an assasination of a Premier who worked toward peace in the late 1970's, and deviating from most accords since then as soon as it was humanly possibly to do so. -Related to this, land acquired during these wars would not have been up for grabs if these unnecesary, aforementioned wars were not impulsively initiated and carried out. Therefore, the so-called occupied territory would be a moot point as Israel would have had no reason to have acquired it and would possibly be bound by the initial INTERNATIONAL decree and borders when the country was formed. -For at least the last 10-15 years, there has been tangible evidence of corruption and misallocation of resources by various Palestinian organizations. This includes the investment of funds provided by international agencies in the name of humanitarian aid that went toward an investment in a NEW YORK CITY BOWLING ALLEY. I can't wait to hear from Kastaway how this deliberate act was also Israel's fault. -A recent example of Israel compromising - despite the significant protest of a sizable proportion of its citizens - is Gaza. Not only have the people who took over Gaza apparently failed at getting any decent infrastructure or semblance of normalcy started, it is now being used as a base of operations for missiles aimed at a variety of targets; most of them civilian. Not to mention the perennial demand that Israel release hundreds of prisoners. This despite the fact that Israel is a Democracy - unlike many of her neighbors - meaning that the prisoners had the opportunity for a prompt and fair trial, legal counsel, and the right to an appeal. Where else in the region would this occur? Almost no where else without the intrusion of religious doctrine, bias, or other deviations from justice as we in the West know it. However, we're supposed to accept Kastaway's gripes as informed and of merit. Two other thoughts: To me, anyone that justifies the existence of suicide bombers demonstrates a lack of appreciation or respect for human life, demonstrates an 'unusual' set of morals, and demonstrates that chaos is our ultimate goal as citizens. (As an aside, it could be argued that some international monetary aid is being used by Palestinian organizations to provide BENEFITS for the families of suicide bombers. Let me be very clear: by families of suicide bombers I am not referring to victims of suicide bombers, I am referring to providing compensation to the people who raised, knew, and were related to the suicide bomber; despite the fact that murder is not only illegal, it is against MOST religious teachings or doctrine.) Also, for most of us in this age of Fox 'News' Channel, and CNN, comments like 'there are GOVERNMENT REPORTS' and 'there is a YOUTUBE VIDEO' lack the substance that most people rely upon when becoming informed about topics and making decisions. That said, there have also been NUMEROUS media accounts of alleged slaughters, unjust targeting of citizens, etc. by Israel that turned out to be untrue (Jenin, missiles on beaches, and allegedly destroyed buildings - with the help of media outlets and PHOTOSHOP). Face it: suicide bombers, multi-national pre-emptive strikes throughtout the decades, and mis-allocation of resources (provided by a variety of countries) is not at all consistent with a faithful, righteous and peace-loving lot. Defending suicide bombers is only asking for more violence, demonstrating an inconsistent if not non-existent moral fiber. This is not to say that there are not significant proportions of Palestinians, Americans, or people of other nations that prefer peace to violence, respect to animosity, etc. It is to say that the people who prefer peace, non-violence, and respect are not speaking out loudly enough or taking enough action to ensure that their cultures, nations, and regions are not denegrated by the actions of so-called leaders who deviate from pacts, accords, etc. before the proverbial ink is dry. -For at least the last 10-15 years, there has been tangible evidence of corruption and misallocation of resources by various Palestinian organizations. This includes the investment of funds provided by international agencies in the name of humanitarian aid that went toward an investment in a NEW YORK CITY BOWLING ALLEY. I can't wait to hear from Kastaway how this deliberate act was also Israel's fault. Look, Israel is not perfect by any means. Israel's military, government, and populace have made mistakes. The same could be said for the US, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt. However, when one looks objectively at the last 20-30 years, one sees not only suicide bombers, but those rushing to rationalize these violent, inhumane, and unconscionable actions. Why is this relevant? Because it would be hard for me to come to a peace agreement with an adversary that had previously advocated for the annihilation of a peoplehood, for bombing urban business districts, and for aiming missilies at civilians. One also sees an Olympic team kidnapped and killed for no good reason. Why is this relevant in 2007? Because some of those who were responsible for the planning and initiation of this were put into powerful positions as recently as the last decade. One also sees the assasination of a country's Premier because some may have been hesitant to embrace peace. One also sees corruption and the misuse of internationally-provided resources THAT COULD HAVE IMPROVED THE LOT OF SIGNIFICANT NUMBERS OF PALESTINIANS. The problem with this is that if you do not have a constituency that is failing to make ends meet, that cannot improve their educational and vocational status, and that can be made to appear oppressed, your radical factions cannot justify calling for the obliteration of a people, rationalizing suicide bombers, and the advocacy of violence by clergy. Next, Kastaway is going to tell us why dictatorships, theocracies and the like are better than democracies, that Jews are inferior to Arabs, Anglos, and Asians, and that the Holocaust is a big fat lie. If you are not a part of the solution, you are only making things worse.
Posted by crazy4glf on Sat, Dec 22, 2007 6:25 PM ET
6
What a remarkable young woman. - Mo
Posted by morningstarsong@sbcglobal.net on Wed, Dec 26, 2007 10:18 PM ET
7
Israeli's fifth column in Norht America has been successful at propogating various myths, one being that Arabs were the aggressors in the two most important wars - the 1947 and 1967 conflicts. This is not so. The fact is that Israel initiated both the 1947 war (UN reports over 60% of casualties were on Palestinian lands) and in 1967 (General Hod admits Israel planned this war for 16 years "... constantly we perfected the plan ...").
Posted by jedgaronomous on Thu, Jan 10, 2008 5:02 PM ET
8
Israel initiated both the 1947 and 1967 wars.
Posted by jedgaronomous on Thu, Jan 10, 2008 5:03 PM ET
9
i would like to see a new movement like the hippies were in their time...and i think it is possible that the rastas and the massive community of dNb listeners stand up together for something...but this is just my own personal theory, i think it would be great...no wars etc. peace love respect etc. and it is interesting that i have never seen people who smoke ganja fighting with other people or even insulting anybody without reason...only if somebody forced them...so my idea is that marijuana shoud be legal everywhere on the globe...in fact marijuana's only damaging effect is on the lungs but this is obvious and you can not avoid it really and a lot of people smoke tobacco what is addictive and more harmful...i hate violence and stupidity and our world is filled with stupid violent people...and this hotzone topic just gave me the feeling that i have to share my opinion and i think that this is a salvation to global problems...but the almighty U.S. and A. is there...it is said that Russia is the most corrupt country in the world but i think america must be right behind it on the top5 list...it does not matter who starts fighting or who says the first insult...the one who puts an end on this is gonna be the ultimate winner...and if the people would reunite because of one person then we could call him jesus 2.0 :) humans are flaw...and most of them becomes rotten by the corruption of power and money and this is disgusting...i hate money but i need it for almost everything. if we want to survive our lives then we have to drop the ego and stop being selfish... ok that's it peace everybody and roll up a joint if you don't understand or even if you do:) have a nice day!
Posted by toazei on Fri, Jan 25, 2008 4:33 AM ET
10
The world is undoubtedly in massive conflicts and that leaves one with a lingering question, is this the beginning of the end of mankind? Turn everywhere-Africa, Europe, Asia, America, Australia, you see unprecedented troubling situations that seem to be beyond human repair. Human beings suffer from incurable diseases such as AIDS, from famine to poverty. The proliferation of MSD and nuclear warfare is iminent; man inhumanity to man is palpable, and denial of justice and equality abounds in all nook and crannies of the world. Human beings are suffering from what they themselves have created, psychic alienation and this adversely causes a devastating effects that no mere flesh and blood can reverse. The end of time is looming; that's why men have resorted to using terror to butcher fellow men, some in the name of religion while others in the name of Ideological struggle. I pay great respect to this man who are denied himself the luxury of home and ventured to this great job of divulging to the world war hidden around the world. More grease to our elbows and keep doing this job. Julius
Posted by bethel.child on Tue, Jan 29, 2008 9:57 AM ET

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in memoriam

The Kevin Sites in the Hot Zone team dedicates this site to Marla Ruzicka, a fearless voice of compassion, who was killed in Iraq on April 16, 2005, while trying to lessen the suffering of others. For more information, see Civic Worldwide.