Rating: 
Summary: Interesting, but incomplete
Review: PBS took an interesting and useful approach with this documentary, but ultimately it's limited by the simple fact that you can't squeeze the history of the Arab-Israeli conflict into two DVDs.
Many of the major players are interviewed on the Israeli side. Fewer major Arab figures are there to present their views, partly due to death/assassination, and you're left to speculate as to other reasons. Thus smaller figures usually speak for the Arabs, from generals to foot soldiers, and footage from old interviews fills in some of the gaps. There are no reenactments, and little modern-day footage aside from the interviewees. There is a minimum of judgment or criticism, which may leave viewers wishing for a bit more analysis. Still, it's a generally pleasing format which uncovers many interesting factlets.
Unfortunately, you don't need to dig very far to find problems, as they begin at the wildly optmistic title: '50 Years War' seems more tragicomic with each passing year, and limits the film terribly in that it starts just after World War II, and ends with a sudden stop fifty years later with peace talks on the horizon and an air of 'happily ever after'. One gets no backgrounder on the controversies over Jews initially moving to the area, WWI power plays, or the conflict between 1918 and 1945, let alone the collapse of Camp David talks and Intifada II.
What is there is heavily truncated to fit into five hours of film, while a really comprehensive treatment would probably require a full shelf of DVDs. But anybody trying to gain a thorough understanding of the conflict should review information from as many sources with as many viewpoints as possible, and PBS takes a decent stab at a summary. It's just a shame about the title.
Rating: 
Summary: Dare or T R U T H...
Review: The contents of this DVD are not all to be taken as absolute truth, because the documentary is based on:1. The interviews with politicians and leaders where many are well known to be LIARS in their countries and among the nations. 2. Enemies point of view that can be very manipulative for strategic reasons. The main advantages of this DVD, that you may take as facts: 1. The conspiracies between Arab leaders. 2. The conspiracies against Arab nations. 3. The negative influence of USSR. 4. The endless support of USA & Europe to Israel. My advise is not to focus on the conflict between Arabs & Jews, but focus on how the Jews were UNITED with the West... and how the Arabs were BETRAYED by their leaders! THIS DVD IS A MUST BUY!
Rating: 
Summary: Good as far as it goes, but definately pro-israeli
Review: This documentary "only pretends" to be unbiased. It is still valuable, but should contain at least another hour to include Israeli misconduct that is conspicuously absent here.
For starters, the beginning really glosses over the fact that theft of the land now called Israel was accomplished primarily through Jewish / Zionist terrorism and that several of Israel's first Prime Ministers were wanted terrorists by the British government. There is a segment dealing with this in the first 30 -45 minutes of the documentary, but it is exceptionally thin, especially on relevant facts; and very heavy on "man-on-the-street" accounts of extremely isolated incidents that are of no great significance. The film never addresses the issue of what right did the UN have in the first place in voting on the disposition of Palestinian land, and not the people who were living there. Why didn't they vote to give the Jews a block of land in Germany, or say, Texas. There is some good information on this era in the documentary, but it is overwhelmed by the fluff, lack of balance, and a great deal of time being devoted to personal accounts of events that have no great overall importance.
In the latter sections, there is virtually no mention of Israeli misdeeds during the Oslo period. The documentary never really addresses the issue of settlements except in very brief and superficial terms. The issues surrounding these settlements are astounding & appalling; but no illumination is ever given on this crucial topic. Not once do I remember seeing any mention or coverage of the Israeli policy of "bulldozing" Palestinian homes and buildings. Nor again any mention of how the Israeli's have taken over water rights in the West Bank in an uneven & patently unfair manner. Nor is there any mention of how the Israeli's have created "bypass roads" to make Jews first class inhabitants and herd the Palestinian inhabitants into ever more numerous and smaller concentration camps. Likewise, the Camp David episode was given the traditional pro-Israeli spin only.
Overall, I have to say that this is mostly a Pro-Israeli whitewash, but unfortunately it is the best thing like it that is available and is certainly a very valuable historical primer. If I didn't own, I would certainly buy it again.
Rating:
Summary: Well Done but...
Review: This documentary is well done. I believe that most of what's in this amazing documentary movie is true except the part about 73 war and thats why I gave it 3 stars only. (...)This very true and important part is completely omitted from this documenatry!!
Rating:
Summary: Good Primer That Excites You To Learn More
Review: This DVD set is a must for anyone interested in the ... intifada. Unfortunately, both sides have produced their share of propoganda with Israel being the more successful of the two in having its version being heard. However, the true historical context of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is complicated and deserves deliberate research and reading. This PBS documentary provides a quick review (5 hours) of the historical events leading from the end of the British Mandate in 1947 to the ascendancy of Netanyahu in the late 1990's. Most importantly, it is about as unbiased as is possible (which will probably anger many supporters of Israel). I watched the entire 5 hours in one sitting. It filled in gaps while parading many film and phtographic images I had yet to view. Afterwards, I ordered several more books from Amazon.com as my interest in the topic was piqued.
Rating:
Summary: Moving. The human face of a bitter political conflcit.
Review: This is a moving story that shows the human face of one of modern history's longest and bitter conflicts. "The 50 Year War, Israel and the Arabs" shows in two Dvds, with a running time of five hours a complete and balanced account of the Middle East, starting in the first episode with Israel's struggle for statehood, the partition of Palestine and the war of 1948. Also on the second and third part of the first DVD, the viewer will find about the Six Days War of 1967, the history of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and Yasser Arafat's turbulent rise to the leadership of his people, the lebanese war and the tragedy of the refuggee camps. On DVD number 2 also divided in 3 chapters, the film deals with the Yom Kippur War, the peacemaking process, the Camp David accords of 1978, the Palestinian Intifada, the Oslo agreements of 1993 and later events up to 1999. Included in this documentary are interviews with Middle East leading statesmen, political leaders and warriors, such as the late King Hussein of Jordan, Nobel Peace Prize winner Shimon Peres, Arafat, former israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and U.S presidents Jimmy Carter, George Bush Sr. and Bill Clinton among others. A well made documentary, a complete and balanced film that show us the tragedy and the drama, the hopes and the dreams of arabs and jews, and in a sense of the whole world that has been protagonist and witness of one of the most dramatic events of modern times
Rating:
Summary: Moving. The human face of a bitter political conflcit.
Review: This is a moving story that shows the human face of one of modern history's longest and bitter conflicts. "The 50 Year War, Israel and the Arabs" shows in two Dvds, with a running time of five hours a complete and balanced account of the Middle East, starting in the first episode with Israel's struggle for statehood, the partition of Palestine and the war of 1948. Also on the second and third part of the first DVD, the viewer will find about the Six Days War of 1967, the history of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and Yasser Arafat's turbulent rise to the leadership of his people, the lebanese war and the tragedy of the refuggee camps. On DVD number 2 also divided in 3 chapters, the film deals with the Yom Kippur War, the peacemaking process, the Camp David accords of 1978, the Palestinian Intifada, the Oslo agreements of 1993 and later events up to 1999. Included in this documentary are interviews with Middle East leading statesmen, political leaders and warriors, such as the late King Hussein of Jordan, Nobel Peace Prize winner Shimon Peres, Arafat, former israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and U.S presidents Jimmy Carter, George Bush Sr. and Bill Clinton among others. A well made documentary, a complete and balanced film that show us the tragedy and the drama, the hopes and the dreams of arabs and jews, and in a sense of the whole world that has been protagonist and witness of one of the most dramatic events of modern times
Rating:
Summary: Decent documentary
Review: This is a pretty open minded documentary dealing with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. As it is produced by an american TV network, you will expect little information about how Israel literally stole a country from the Palestinians, but apart from that, it's a good documentary.
Rating:
Summary: Very Detailed Documentary
Review: This is a set of 2 DVD's on the history of the Arab/Israeli conflict. Though it is SLIGHTLY pro-Israel, it still is a fair acessment of the situation. It has many interviews with leaders and figures of the time as well as footage and maps of the conflicts. Very in depth on most issues. I recomend it. I would have given it 5 stars, but it deserves 4.75 stars.
Rating:
Summary: Great Documenatry!
Review: This is a two-part video: the first covers the Israeli fight for independence and the successive Arab-Israeli Wars from 1948; the second covers many of the political activities towards peace since 1980. PLUSSES:
1) Refreshingly unbiased towards either point of view, merely presents facts. 2) Covers many things not commonly known about the Arab-Israeli conflict (stuff you won't find on the news). 3) Pulls no punches with its facts; the sins of both sides are laid bare with no buttering up. 4) Chock full o' interviews with many principles of the conflict's history (leaders, policymakers, etc.). I thought this was one of the best documentaries I've ever seen, and that it has something to offer if you sympathize with either side of the conflict or if you just want to be better informed about it.
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