UNRWA's John Ging & Children's Psychiatric Hospital in Gaza
"... interviews John Ging, Director of Operations, Gaza, UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East to discuss how the situation in Gaza has intensified following Operation Cast Lead."
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"... visits Gaza Community Mental Health Project to visit young Palestinian children who have lost family members to the violence. Nearly 1,400 Palestinian people were killed during Operation Cast Lead. We visited a psychiatric hospital in Gaza that cared for young children who had been orphaned by the violence. To hear them talk about their experiences losing loved ones was intensely powerful. Some of the children we met witnessed their whole family being killed. When you hear children talk about pulling out dismembered members of their family out of the rubble its tough, emotional stuff." January 04, 2010
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Ross Kemp Middle East: Gaza
Posted Tuesday 15th December 2009by Editor
ross-kemp
Following on from his BAFTA-nominated reports documenting the post election turmoil in Kenya and from the front line in Helmand province Ross Kemp travels to Israel and Gaza to explore a conflict which shapes our world yet remains largely misunderstood.

With unprecedented access to all sides, this two-part series will offer insight into life in Gaza post Operation Cast Lead and detail what it’s like to live under the threat of terrorist attack in cities like Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. It explores the mindset of the men behind the violence, and highlights the experiences of those trapped in the middle.

The Middle East has been the centre of one of the world’s most bitter conflicts for decades, one that has cost tens of thousands of lives and forced millions to live in fear and misery. For more than half a century the world’s leaders have tried to forge a lasting peace between Israelis and Palestinians, yet today the prospects are as remote as ever.

Ross Kemp comments: “I didn’t fully understand the situation in the Middle East before making these films and I think that’s the general feeling in this country. We’re making a programme for the person who leads a busy life and sees the conflict in the Middle East going on in the background, on the news, but doesn’t understand what it’s all about.”

The two-part series aims to explore the situation in the region at this point in time and hear from the people involved with and affected by the conflict.

Ross Kemp comments: “It’s the politicians and the extremists who are pushing the agenda. You don’t get to hear the voices of the average person on the street, whether it be in Tel Aviv or Jerusalem, or whether it be in Gaza or Ramallah.”

The situation in Israel and Gaza is a dispute which affects the whole world, one that has divided communities and acted as a pre-cursor to acts of violence that have claimed thousands of lives. “Terrorism will not be defeated without peace in the Middle East between Israel and Palestine”, former Prime Minister Tony Blair told the US Congress 2003. “Here it is that the poison is incubated.”

Beginning his journey in Gaza, Ross meets the men behind the violence and the communities caught in the crossfire. In episode two, Ross travels to Israel and discovers a country divided, one that is surrounded by enemies and lives under the constant fear of attack from terrorist groups dedicated to its destruction.
“We spoke to people from Hamas and from the IDF, the Israeli Defence Force. We also heard from people on the streets. We spoke about the building of the wall around the West Bank, and about what it’s like to be under the blockade of Gaza.”

“When you go into Gaza you have your bags checked by a recognised terrorist organisation, Hamas. It’s a very odd situation. But they’re the legitimately elected government of Gaza. Only essential items are allowed to cross the border into Gaza at the moment, such as nappies, milk and fruit.”

This has not stopped the trade in other items getting into Gaza. “All the expensive goods are getting into the country via an illegal black market. These items are taken through tunnels from Egypt, it’s really dangerous. I went down one of the tunnels before it was even finished, there was a bloke still digging, scrabbling away on his hands and knees under some scaffolding. It was shocking to see.”

During another scene in the Gaza film, Ross is taken to meet a group of Palestinian extremists: “We met an extreme group called al-Quds Brigade, a military wing of Islamic Jihad who are a splinter group that don’t believe Hamas is extreme enough. They’ve committed numerous suicide attacks and rocket attacks into Israel.”

Ross also visits Gaza Community Mental Health Project to visit young Palestinian children who have lost family members to the violence.

“Nearly 1,400 Palestinian people were killed during Operation Cast Lead*. We visited a psychiatric hospital in Gaza that cared for young children who had been orphaned by the violence. To hear them talk about their experiences losing loved ones was intensely powerful. Some of the children we met witnessed their whole family being killed. When you hear children talk about pulling out dismembered members of their family out of the rubble it’s tough, emotional stuff.”

Ross also interviews John Ging, Director of Operations, Gaza, UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East to discuss how the situation in Gaza has intensified following Operation Cast Lead*.

The second film focuses on Israel and shows how the ordinary citizens of Jerusalem and Tel Aviv live with the constant threat of terror. Ross meets with families who have lost children to the conflict, journalists who have followed the evolving conflict and politicians who wish to end the suffering and violence using diplomatic means.

Ross Kemp comments: “The people of Israel, especially in places like Sderot can be under a very short warning of a rocket attack. And they have to live with that everyday. When those rockets land, they take kids’ legs off.”

Ross also meets groups and settlers who believe that Israel should adopt more extreme policies and expand its occupied territories. Many follow former Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s statement – “Everybody has to move, run and grab as many hilltops as they can to enlarge the settlements because everything we take now will stay ours… Everything we don’t grab will go to them.” to the letter and occupy land in the West Bank in a move that attracts criticism as contrary to international law.

“It is such a sensitive and provocative issue. If we’ve done our job correctly, we’ve made an honest documentary that’s an observation of the situation in the Middle East.”

CELIA TAYLOR, Commissioning Editor, Factual and Features, Sky1 HD, Sky1, Sky2, Sky3 comments: “Once again Ross Kemp promises to take us beyond the headlines and get to the heart of what is really going on. By talking to those involved from both sides of the conflict Ross will allow us to hear the extraordinary stories from the people that are at the heart of the conflict”.

ROSS KEMP MIDDLE EAST joins previous Ross Kemp series on Sky1 HD. ROSS KEMP ON GANGS was awarded the BAFTA for best factual series in 2007. The four-part series triumphed in a category that included Stephen Fry’s THE SECRET LIFE OF THE MANIC DEPRESSIVE, Bruce Parry’s TRIBE and WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?

In January 2008, ROSS KEMP IN AFGHANISTAN was broadcast on Sky1 HD; a gritty account of soldiering on the front line it provided a unique perspective on what British troops face. The five-part series reached over two million viewers per episode and won the award for Best Multichannel programme at the Broadcast awards in 2008.

ROSS KEMP IN AFGHANISTAN along with ROSS KEMP: A KENYA SPECIAL were both nominated for BAFTA’s in 2009 in the factual series and current affairs categories respectively.

In October 2009 Ross was awarded GQ Magazine’s Television Man of the Year accolade and the Association of International Broadcaster (AIB) TV personality of the year award.

ROSS KEMP MIDDLE EAST – Sunday 3 Jan – Sky1/HD and Anytime – www.sky.com/rosskemp