↑ Watch the showcase – Instant Middle East Archive

The Associated Press has launch ‘a fully digitized archive of video footage from, about and relevant to the Middle East and North Africa.’
They say: ‘This innovative new product, AP Instant Middle East Archive, includes more than 60,000 news stories from 1900 to the present day sourced from AP Archive, the film and video archive of the AP, as well as from the world-renowned British Movietone News archive. New coverage is added every day from AP’s video newsgathering activities around the world.’
AP Instant Middle East Archive charts the history of the region, documenting such key events as World War I and II, the crisis in Palestine and the founding of Israel, the Arab-Israeli conflict, war in Lebanon, revolution in Iran and both Gulf wars. It also includes more recent footage from the Arab Spring, the upheavals in Egypt and the Syrian civil war. Significant events that took place outside the region are also included, such as the Camp David peace accords, the 1972 Olympics in Munich and the Sept. 11 terror attacks.
Among the personalities featured prominently are Lawrence of Arabia, King Idris of Libya, King Faisal of Iraq, Golda Meir, Moammar Gadhafi, Yasser Arafat, Saddam Hussein and the Shah of Iran. The economy of the region is also covered extensively, as well as the development of the oil industry and the rise of the Gulf States. Other areas of interest include the arts, religion, culture, entertainment and sports.
“This product is simply the finest visual document of the history of the Middle East and North Africa,” said Alwyn Lindsey, AP’s director of international archives. “It is a must for any news organization that is serious about covering the region.”