Pondering "Pallywood"

Peaced Off! is back with a supersized episode that takes up what is being called “Pallywood,” the portmanteau of “Palestine” and “Hollywood.” Is it a derogatory term used by pro-Israel commentators to falsely accuse Palestinians of staging suffering and civilian casualties to manipulate the media? Or, is it a global symbol of Palestinian suffering born out of the current state of affairs in which Palestinians lack authentic mainstream media outlets? We spoke to Tom Divon, an ethnographer and media scholar at The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and Richard Landes, a former history professor at Boston University and now an independent historian living in Jerusalem, about the origins of the term and their respective takes on its significance. The resulting discussions were both eye opening and quite troubling, but gave us a lot to ponder and digest.