Educational Media Reviews Online

Containing five one-hour programs, this set of DVDs is a compilation of selected talks from the New York City session in May 2004 and the final session in Istanbul, Turkey in June 2005. The WTI’s “Declaration of the Jury of Conscience” states, “In February 2003, weeks before an illegal war was initiated against Iraq, millions of people protested in the streets of the world. That call went unheeded. No international institution had the courage or conscience to stand up to the threat of aggression of the US and UK governments. No one could stop them. It is two years later now. Iraq has been invaded, occupied, and devastated. The attack on Iraq is an attack on justice, on liberty, on our safety, on our future, on us all. We, people of conscience, decided to stand up. We formed the World Tribunal on Iraq (WTI) to demand justice and a peaceful future.” The WTI states that its purpose was not to give a verdict but rather to challenge the justifications concerning the lead-up and execution to the war in Iraq.

The events of the DVD are heavily weighed with selective truth which demonstrates most clearly the moral frivolity of the proceedings. However, adult audiences should discern their own conclusions, accepting participant’s viewpoints or contending them. Bonus material includes “Reflections of War: Conversations with David Barsamian”, The Alternate Radio interviews with WTI participants, plus a special Deep Dish TV sampler DVD. Participating speakers include Arundhati Roy, Rana Mustafa, Dahr Jamail, Hans von Sponeck, and others in a fantastic masquerade of dissenting bravery. This production is recommended for adult audiences and library collections in human rights, journalism, law, Middle Eastern studies, and political science.