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Previous <<-- Table of Contents -->> Next Dateline:
Middle East
As a general rule, the media held to their own beliefs. Fox News was proudly pro-Israel, mainstream North American media tried their best to be “evenhanded”, while the overwhelmingly popular Qatari-sheik-owned network Al-Jazeera stuck to their notorious “a jihad-report-a-day-keeps-the Jews-at bay” attitude. Despite the mainstream
media faithfulness to their usual positions, there were still some differences
in the media coverage of Operation Cast Lead when compared to prior Israel-related
crises. The first change involved the conscious, deliberate attempt by
the Israel Defense Forces to use the media as an offensive weapon instead
of playing catch-up with dishonest reporting. The IDF even used Youtube
to upload surveillance videos of Hamas terrorists committing war crimes,
such as deliberately firing rockets from amongst throngs of people. The
Israeli government also organized tours of beleaguered southern Israeli
cities to demonstrate The awful truth is that there are simply not enough Israeli deaths or body parts to alter the disproportionately negative coverage of Israel in the media. In journalism, “blood sells.” It is irrelevant that the pieces of metal shrapnel packed into these Qassam rockets are designed to maim kindergarten children. Remarkably, and thanks largely to effective shelters and alarms, residents of targeted Israeli cities still go about their daily lives, but normalcy is counterproductive to fighting the media war. On the other hand, the Palestinian ethos is one that encourages a grotesque form of human recycling. Palestinian children are taught to hate and kill Jews from a young age. Some are sacrificed as human shields in order to vilify Israel when the IDF conducts counter-terrorism operations. When these children inevitably become casualties in the fighting, their bodies are further recycled for use in the propaganda war. When this culture of death faces off against the Judeo-Christian belief in preserving human life, Israel simply cannot win. As for those Arab media outlets of Egyptian influence, the fact that they are controlled by the state ironically ended up working in Israel’s favour this time. Egypt, for all intents and purposes, was Israel’s ally against Hamas and, more specifically, against Hamas’ patron, Iran. This permitted Israel to have more positive media coverage in some parts of the Middle East. Moreover, the Egyptian government made many blunt statements against Hamas, most notably foreign minister Ahmed Aboul-Gheit’s harsh words of December 28, 2008, when he blamed Hamas in no uncertain terms for forcing Israel to attack. However, where the media is concerned, the bottom line is that we all have responsibilities. Each of us has an obligation to stand up for Israel. We are duty bound to educate ourselves in order to correct our friends and colleagues when fraudulent news reports appear, or write that letter to the editor when publications decide to print hateful anti-Israel material. When all is said and done, the Jerusalem Post can only do so much—it is up to us here to do the rest. Previous <<-- Table of Contents -->> Next |
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WAS
THE MEDIA FAIR TO ISRAEL DURING CAST LEAD?
