PBS’s Problematic “Campus Battleground” Re-Aired

The “Campus Battleground” documentary film in the PBS series, “America At a Crossroads,” ostensibly reported objectively on “Pro-Palestinian and pro-Israeli activists clash[ing] at UC Berkeley and Columbia University.” However, when the film was closely scrutinized by CAMERA, something other than objectivity was revealed (Film Review: Campus Battleground (2007)).

Problematic aspects of the film include: 1) No mention of serious instances of pro-Palestinian intimidation and violence on campus such as Concordia/Montreal (2002). 2) Footage is provided of a class teaching only a Palestinian perspective on history, yet there is no similar clip demonstrating an Israeli or a more neutral perspective on history. 3) The mainstream Palestinian perspective opposing Israeli security checkpoints and the security barrier is shown but not the mainstream Israeli perspective explaining the need for these measures. 4) Completely inadequate discussion of the problems arising from the fact that numerous instructors on American campuses indoctrinate students with false teachings defaming Israel. Examples of this last point:

Rashid Khalidi, professor of Middle East Studies at Columbia University and the director of Columbia’s Middle East Institute, has defamed Israel for many years with falsifications such as the claim that non-Jews are barred from most land in Israel.

Joseph Massad, Columbia University professor of modern Arab politics and intellectual history, frequently defames Israel in his classroom and then bullies students who dare to question either his tendentious, often false facts or his opinions.

Steve Niva, a defamer of Israel, teaches Middle East Studies at Evergreen State College (Olympia, Washington). Mr. Niva, frequently lecturing and writing on the Arab-Israeli conflict, maintains falsely that Israel itself – not Hamas, Islamic Jihad or any other terror group – is to blame for the suicide bombings which have killed hundreds of Israelis.

From time to time, films in the Crossroads series are re-aired so that Campus Battleground was re-broadcast (not merely once but twice) on Thursday, October 30, 2008, by many PBS stations across the U.S. One of these stations was Boston’s WGBH World (a digital cable channel). The Crossroads broadcast schedule provides a local-stations one and two-week advance listing for premieres and re-airings.

Fortunately, Crossroads provides a Web site feedback process for complaints.