An afternoon in occupied Hebron

Occupation 101: Hebron from JD Lasica on Vimeo.

Here's a 22-minute video of Hebron, the history-rich ancient city in the West Bank that is now a source of conflict between Palestinians and Israeli settlers, with Israeli security forces placed squarely in the middle.

I took out an afternoon during the weeklong Traveling Geeks trip in April 2008 to visit the West Bank. Serving as tour guide was Mikhael Manekin, co-founder of Breaking the Silence, a human rights group made up of former Israeli soldiers who participated in the occupation. Accompanying Mikhael and me was Naomi Schacter, director of development of Shatil.

The documentary short offers a fascinating glimpse into the obstacles that many Palestinians face in their day-to-day lives under Israeli occupation. This work of citizen journalism serves to throw a spotlight on what's happening; fashioning a solution is much more complicated.

I set off for this highly unusual personal tour (Manekin usually takes busloads of 30 Israelis, not a lone independent U.S. journalist) with just a Samsung palmcorder, with no lights, no wind guard and no spare battery pack, so I captured as much as I could in 90 minutes of footage, edited down to:

Part 1: A drive through the occupied territories (19 minutes)
On Vimeo (Flash)
On Ourmedia (H. 264 QuickTime)

Part 2: Occupation 101: Hebron (22 minutes)
On Vimeo (embedded above)
On Ourmedia (H.264 QuickTime)

Cross-posted to Socialmedia.biz

A 20something's take on social networks and news

Lauren on social media & modern news from JD Lasica on Vimeo.

Here's one of a series of interviews I'm doing on social media and the future of news and journalism. Those in the news business, and journalism educators, can learn a lot from Lauren of San Francisco, who sat down with me last month to discuss how she uses social networks and how she and her 20something friends are getting their news today. Young people's media habits are rapidly changing and traditional media organizations haven't kept pace.

Watch video in Flash on Vimeo (7 minutes, embedded above)

A sitdown with the CEO of Ford

From JD Lasica on Vimeo.

At the Ultimate Bloggers Dinner on the opening night of the 2009 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas on Jan. 7, Alan Mulally, CEO of Ford Motor Company, took out time to sit down with a few bloggers for a live Webcast, a couple of cell phone interviews, and the interview above, which I captured with a Canon HV20 hi-def camcorder.

Chris Heuer of AdHocnium (and the Social Media Club) and I interviewed Mulally about how Ford is using social media to drive innovation and transformation inside the company. Chris and I both found Mulally to be incredibly personable and knowledgeable about the social forces swirling through the economy.

The video is 10 minutes long and a bit noisy because we didn't have a lavalier mic, but you can hear Mulally throughout.

Watch in H.264 QuickTime on Ourmedia (or download it)
Watch in Flash on Vimeo (embedded above)

Bonus: Flickr photo set of Mulally (at bottom) and others at CES.

Cross-posted to Socialmedia.biz.

A drive through the occupied West Bank

A drive through the occupied territories from JD Lasica on Vimeo.

During my trip to Israel in April 2008 I took a solo journey into the Israeli-occupied city of Hebron. My tour guide was Mikhael Manekin of Breaking the Silence, an extraordinary human rights organization founded by veterans of the Israeli military. Mikhael himself served as a lieutenant during the second intifada. The organization chiefly focuses on documenting testimonial accounts of the occupation by 20something Israeli ex-soldiers themselves.

Manekin usually takes a busload of 30 Israelis through Hebron for the tour, but he gave me a personal tour alongside Naomi Schacter, Development Director of Shatil. 

In this 19-minute video, the first of a two-part documentary, we began our trip in Jerusalem, drove through the West Bank on Route 60 past Bethlehem and the astonishing Separation Barrier being erected, into the settlement of Kiriath Arba/Qiriat Arba, and into Hebron, a city of 166,000 Palestinians and the only Palestinian city with a Jewish settlement in the city center.  

A quick note: I did not have the proper equipment — just a small handheld Samsung camcorder with no remote mike and no lighting — so you'll notice some production lapses. But the 19-minute video still came out well.

Watch video in H.264 QuickTime on Ourmedia

Watch video in Flash on Vimeo

See my full report here on Socialmedia.biz.