In July 2006, Israel and Hezbollah fought a bitter and brutal war in Lebanon that was featured in media coverage around the world. Israel bombarded Lebanon from the air, and Hezbollah rained rockets on Northern Israel.

Civilians on both sides of the conflict were injured and killed, with hundreds of casualties among the Lebanese population. Back in the Detroit area – home of the largest concentration of Arab people outside the middle east and a substantial Jewish population – both Jews and Arabs demonstrated in support of their compatriots, and the Arab demonstrations in particular featured inflammatory chanting and signs that infuriated members of the Jewish community.

In a sense, the war in the Middle East transported to Michigan, rupturing long-standing ties between the Jewish and Arab communities. News coverage of the war and of the demonstrations was controversial and condemned by both sides. In a 30 minute documentary, “Arabs, Jews, and the News” combines footage of the war and the demonstrations, with interviews with community leaders, journalists, performers, and people who were in the Middle East during the war, to present the Middle East conflict and the parallel conflict that erupted in Michigan.