TRT World, a global news and documentary YouTube platform owned by the state broadcaster TRT provides a unique perspective on the intersection of American politics and Middle Eastern geopolitics. TRT World is widely recognized for its international news coverage. However, it has faced severe criticism and controversy, especially regarding its perceived alignment with Turkish government viewpoints and levels of censorship. Despite this, the platform is relatively popular, particularly in regions where viewers seek alternative perspectives to mainstream Western media. Its digital presence on platforms like YouTube has helped it reach a broad audience, giving it an increasingly important role in global news and documentary content.
I watched The TRT World digital docuseries on YouTube titled “The American Dilemma: Elections Amid Gaza War” (2024). The twenty-minute “exclusive documentary” examines the recent US presidential election within the context of the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas and intends to uncover truths about the US government’s involvement in Israel’s ongoing war on Palestine and how the Israeli lobby manipulates US elections. TRT interviews people with direct connections to the war and others who are highly educated in relevant fields.
The documentary has a powerful start, speaking with Lexis Zeidan, a first-generation Palestinian Christian American and co-founder of the Uncommitted National Movement, which has grown to have over 730,000 uncommitted American voters. Zeidan tells her story and the history of her ancestors in an interview format with TRT. Her grandparents were victims of the 1948 catastrophe when the Zionist regime invaded Palestine and forcibly displaced 750,000 Palestinians and killed others. 200,000 Israelis marched to claim Jerusalem. She speaks about how 1/3 of the US budget goes toward making weapons for war that are murdering innocent people. A clip shows the incumbent Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, speaking to a crowd of Americans, saying, “Give us the tools faster, and we’ll finish the job faster.” Zeidan reiterates that the ongoing assault did not start on October 7th; it has been happening to Palestinians since 2008.
TRT interviewed Rosalind Petchesky, a professor of political science and member of the Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) organization. Her father and grandmother were proud Zionists, but Petchesky had doubted her Jewish background since age 16. Petchesky was arrested multiple times while protesting in New York City and Washington D.C. She contradicts this later in the documentary, saying police did not want to arrest her, “a little old white Jewish lady.”
JVP chained themselves to the White House fence in 2023 to protest the horrific genocide happening while many Jewish people were celebrating Hannukah. Emotional videos of wounded, crying Palestinian children are shown while Petchesky says that Israel targets children so that there will be no hope of a Palestinian future.
A more controversial person being interviewed is Hassan Abdel Salam, the founder of the “Abandon Harris” movement. He claims that “a simple call (from the White House) to Netanyahu can forever end the bombardments, the attacks, the occupation, perpetual in its destruction.” Salam says abandoning Harris is our moral responsibility because she enables genocide. Petchesky reiterates his stance, saying Biden could have stopped the funding and, therefore, stopped Netanyahu. She says it is outrageous that Netanyahu was invited to address Congress while the bombs we are paying for are tearing Palestinians to pieces.
TRT also interviewed Alex Smith, former senior advisor of USAID, who provided a journalist’s perspective. He has worked in international law and public health for 23 years, and this is the first time he has been censored when trying to speak about a public health issue. He was scheduled to give a presentation at a USAID conference, but his presentation was canceled the day before because he had planned to speak about Gaza. The US State Department sent him over 100 documents, including a language guide with unacceptable words and approved words. He was told he could not include the word “Palestine,” could not refer to Arab Israeli citizens as “Palestinians,” and could not include maps showing the Gaza borders. Smith says he was shocked but not surprised and decided to resign. He clarifies that the US giving arms to Israel under these conditions that violate human rights is illegal internationally and domestically in the US.
John Ehrenberg, Emeritus Professor of Political Science at Long Island University, speaks about American politician’s universal support for Israel. Ehrenberg says, “There is no upside in American politics for really defying Israel and the Israeli lobby here in the United States” because both parties are solid in their support. President Biden has supported Israel throughout his entire career. Clips of past presidents play while Ehrenberg speaks: Bill Clinton in front of American and Israeli flags, George W. Bush with Israeli leaders, Barrack Obama with Netanyahu, and Donald Trump with Netanyahu.
What I believe to be the downfall of the short documentary is the long interview with former Green-party presidential candidate Jill Stein. Stein speaks about the use of 2,000-pound bombs dropped on a school in Gaza City and a refugee center at a time when the highest number of people would be killed. Stein says that the US is the power behind this war, and Israel is a proxy for the US. She says that regarding US law, the transfer of weapons is forbidden to countries that are violating human rights and interfering with the delivery of humanitarian aid. Stein makes important points; however, her clear bias against her competitors, reputation as a “Putin Puppet” (Windrem, 2018), and disclosed past investments (Reilly, 2016) make her an incredible source and take away from the rest of the video.
The final ten minutes of the video focuses on the 2024 presidential candidates Kamala Harris and Donald Trump, becoming an advertisement for Jill Stein. TRT shows a video of Harris professing her support for “Israel’s right to defend itself” and a clip of Trump debating Biden, saying Israel should “finish the job” and calling Biden “basically a Palestinian.” Both parties are bought and paid for by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) and defense contractors; however, the documentary fails to criticize Jill Stein’s campaign funds either.
Ehrenberg describes AIPAC as a “single-issue apparatus” because it is only concerned with affairs endemic to Israel. Credible news articles about AIPAC donations are shown while he speaks. Ehrenberg says that AIPAC used to trend towards the center of the political spectrum, but now that Israel has become an “overtly racially organized, theocratically driven right-wing government,” AIPAC has followed. The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) and AIPAC have created a hostile environment for Muslim members of Congress and anyone who wants to speak against Israel, stopping the advancement of human rights. Jill Stein says that AIPAC removed two congresspeople who spoke against Israel by conducting smear campaigns. A clip is then shown of Trump saying, “If you said anything bad about Israel or Jews, you were finished as a politician…the most powerful lobby in this country is Israel and Jewish people.” Stein continues to say, “There is nothing more antisemitic than to say that criticizing genocide is antisemitism.”
The documentary also interviews Dalia Fahmy, Director of International Relations at Long Island University. Fahmy says the definition of antisemitism changed to include criticism of Israel and Israeli policy despite the criticism the Israeli government faces from its citizens. By calling any political discourse antisemitic, you eliminate any chance of political discourse.
Stein’s call to action is to switch out the politicians working with AIPAC and the war contractors, but it is a difficult issue to correct because our government has been bought. She says we must call out hate crimes and peruse them as federal crimes because this election is the perfect time for a political transition. The documentary includes statistics showing that since October 7th, we have seen levels of anti-Arab, anti-Palestinian, and Islamophobic behavior increase. Fahmy speaks about three university students who were shot while wearing keffiyehs and a six-year-old boy who was stabbed to death by his neighbor for being Palestinian.
Rosalind Petchesky says she cannot imagine Trump being reelected and that we cannot sink into fascism. She says Israel is a state terrorist institution. As a Jew, she supports the right to Palestinian Resistance. Smith says he will not vote for either candidate because they both defend genocide. Ehrenberg says the future of American democracy is on the line. Salam asks, where do the Muslim Americans go in an Islamophobic country? The documentary ends powerfully, despite the Jill Stein interruptions, with videos of protests while Petchesky says, “Not in our name,” and Salam says, “Ceasefire now.”