Israel Palestine

[Capitalist Octopus]

I have a minimal knowledge of the history and politics in the conflict here.
Can you list some of (or) the best documentaries on the subject?

[Aussie Trotskyist]

The Balfour Declaration and the Letters between Henry McMahon and Sherif Hussein are prime sources for he beginning of the conflict.

If you can turn up a full copy of 'Hamas: A Historical and Political Background' by Ziad Abu-Amr, that's a good source for information about Hamas (as the author has great credentials, he's unbiased, mediated talks between Hamas and Fatah [PLO], and is a Professor of political science).

I have also written an essay for Modern History that covers a bit of Hamas, and the relations between the Muslim Brotherhood and Israel, I intend to post that at some point in the 'History' section.

There is also this: http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/mideast/R41514.pdf
Its an American Congressional Report on Hamas. It may be rather biased, but because its not intended as propaganda, it may very well be reliable.

[Sir Comradical]

You can watch 'Peace Propaganda and the Promised Land' as well as youtube videos by Noam Chomsky and Norman Finkelstein. The main events which you should research are:

1917: Balfour Declaration.
1947-48: Arab-Israeli War.
1948: Israel established.
1967: Six day war.
1973: Yom Kippur war.
1983: Israel invades Lebanon.
1987-93: First Intifada.
2000-04: Second Intifada.
2006: Hamas wins election.
2006: Israel-Lebanon war.
2008: Israel-Gaza war.

Also the Lebanese Civil War, and Black September in Jordan are also important to understanding the conflict.

[Peoples' War]

Tony Cliff's archive on MIA is full of writings on the issue from a Marxist perspective.

[blake 3:17]

I'd recommend the documentary film, Slingshot Hip Hop, the lives and music of young Palestinian hip hop artists. It's not an any kind of overview, but it does show the day to day oppression and resistance of young Palestinians. http://www.slingshothiphop.com/about/

[Peoples' War]

Also, would have been good to mention these two documentaries earlier:

Peace, Propaganda and the Promised Land and Occupation 101.

You can probably find both of them on youtube.