Comments on Gaza Media Coverage

August 21st, 2005 - by: danny

GAZA GASHRAI

Whenever you write about the Middle East, you brace for an onslaught of response because the issues and even “the facts” are so contested. The folks behind the Wikipedia have even closed their open editing system on articles on these issues because no sooner than someone writes in one direction, someone else rewrites in another–and that is on a site that believes almost religiously on a writing from a neutral point of view.

My recent analysis of the coverage of the Gaza disengagement evoked some provocative responses–perhaps fewer that usual because my writing on my blog and in a piece posted on Mediachannel and other websites focused on the coverage, not just the issues. (For the original article see the Mediachannel.org homepage or features page.)

Before I leave for a week in London, I wanted to share these reader comments with you as well as some additional info:

FROM ISRAEL

The Israeli writer Hillel Schenker who has been writing on TheNation.com website responded to my request for his take on my take:

“I liked the “what did we learn” segments in your piece.

“My sense (an educated guess) is that Rice is much harsher on Sharonthan Powell the moderate was, being an effective servant of her boss’s true interests. I doubt whether the AIPAC scandal has anything to do with it.

“By the way, this is the first time that the Jewish right-wingmurderers are being openly labeled in the Israeli media “Jewish terrorists.” Even Sharon and IDF Chief of Staff Halutz (a real tough cookie) called them terrorists. Halutz also said that under no circumstances will he draft the Gaza teenage rooftop hooligans into the army. Hopefully they’ve learned their lesson not to give sanctioned arms to irresponsible hands.”

LOCATION. LOCATION.

Ellie Dawson from the USA:

Dear Mr. Schechter, thank you for this very thought provoking essay. It brought many questions to light. Referring to Ariel Sharon you include the following quote in your piece:

“Israeli writer Hillel Schenker was mystified. ‘So why is he doing this?, ‘ he asked in the Nation.”

“The first thing that comes to mind is LOCATION! LOCATION! LOCATION! Now that Iraq’s infrastructure is debilitated, its economy lost to the control of foreign/corporate hands, its capability to defend itself, thwarted and weakened very likely beyond repair and its land fast becoming the new Israel of the middle east (in this I mean, a area that will be a primary location for U.S. operations in it’s quest for as much oil ownership as possible) Israel becomes less important on the empirical stage as a primary strategic point for launching offensives or assuring regional control.

“Many well intentions folks (Jews and non-Jews standing up for their passions regardless of funding source) caught in the crossfire. Our sad world, saddened more by gross confusion.

Just some thoughts. So appreciate your contribution.”

FROM CANADA: “ADMIRABLE”

Esther Vanderpot writes:

“Thanks for the gaza coverage. This kind of broad coverage is really admirable

“I wanted to let you know of a friend, Paul Dana, who is in the area right now leading an american student delegation to see for themselves the situation, they can’t get inside gaza but they are all around meeting with israelis & palestinians

www.binakehilla.org

is his blog

“…also i read with great interest your message to community & overwhelming response. I currently live in Ottawa but am planning a move back to nyc in march 2006, i hope to volunteer at that time.

Penina Coopersmith asks:

“One other thing I haven’t seen covered (which doesn’t mean it hasn’t been) is why the agreement included destroying all the [illegally-built] settlers’ homes when the Palestinians need them? One of the first things Abbas has promised to do is build a lot of homes.

“Does no one else find this bizarre?”

SUPPORTS BREAKING INTERNATIONAL LAWS BECAUSE…

Here is an anonymous letter from Flutie 54 which ignores what I wrote:

“Hello, I saw your article about Gaza. You mentioned alot, what Israel is doing is against what the U.N and international law say.
I have 2 questions for?
Do you agree or disagree with Israel bombing Iraq’s nuclear facility in 1981?
Do you agree or disagree with Israel kidnapping Adolf Eichmann from Argentina in 1960.
When Israel bombed Iraq’s nuclear facility.
We all know how the U.N went ballistic against Israel.
We all know, if Israel didn’t bomb Saddam Hussein’s nuclear facility.
Iraq would have had 9 nukes by 1988.
Which means, instead of gassing the Kurds, Saddam would have used nuclear weapons against them.
Israel by defying the world saved possibly millions of Kurds.

2nd, when Israel kidnapped Eichmann in 1960.
The U.N condemmed Israel.
Not only did they condem Israel. The U.N had an emergency meeting calling on Israel to return Eichmann to Argentina.
If this is international law.
I’m glad Israel is defying it..

FROM HAWAII

Aloha Mr Schechter writes M Johnson:

“Thanks for an excellent article. Not enough American journalists are pointing these things out, though their European counterparts (I use the term “counterpart” loosely) have been doing so for some time (see UK’s Steele also on today’s Common Dreams).

“The most obvious point to me is the depth of coverage and what it implies. Thousands of Palestinians are made homeless regularly without so much as a notice by the MSM. Some don’t even make it out of their homes alive. Yet these “settlers” (a euphemism on par with calling a child molester “young at heart”) are shown over and over weeping and praying. They can’t even go to their favorite surfing beach! And the poor soldiers, how hard it must be on them (though appraently shooting Palestinian children does not bother them). And we are expected to feel pity. I do not. I feel utter, bile-producing loathing. These are people who have no right whatsoever to be where they are. They are supremacist pigs.

“I am not alone in these sentiments. The gross hypocrisy and unending irony of the coverage, and the supremacist beliefs of the settlers going unquestioned (even romanticized) by the MSM does not bode well for American Jews like yourself or for the arrogant state of Israel. More and more Americans are not buying this bullshit. And if there were any doubt about Zionist control of media, this should remove that last, lingering doubt (if Judith Miller didn’t already accomplish that). It is obvious that the MSM is simply following the Likud script, challenging nothing and abetting the further theft of the West Bank and Jerusalem. It is abundantly clear that this is exactly what they did in the run-up to the Iraq invasion, and the tired liberal mantra of “no war for oil” is now giving way to “no war for Israel,” as many Americans – liberal and conservative – are waking up and are furious at just how much control Israel has over this country’s media and government. When enough people come out of the ether, there will be a backlash. I do not look forward to this or relish it in any way. I certainly do not hope for it. I just believe it will happen. It has before.

BIAS IS DEEP

From Ned Kelly in St. Paul

“I describe the media coverage of Gaza last week as”biased” in favor of Israel would be a colossal understatement, the word bias doesn’t even approach the level of distortion happening in the American media’s coverage of Israel and Palestine.

“The basic facts and history of the conflict are totally ignored. No background is ever given as to how Israel was founded and how the Palestinians became refugees. Zero mention of the occupation or the settlements being illegal under international law and condemned by the UN.

“Never did I hear the most telling and obvious statistic – that 8000 settlers occupy 30% of Gaza land and monopolize 25% of water resources while 1.5 million live in crowded poverty, Gaza having the highest population density in the world. Perhaps
making mention of this would convince more Americans that Palestinian hatred of Israel isn’t all just blind anti-Semitism and rage.

“The Gaza coverage was peculiar in that at times it *barely* mentioned the Palestinians – in fact, I am certain that I saw entire stories on the pull out that made no significant mention of Palestinians, instead focusing on the ridiculous settlers protests where they are calling IDF soldiers “Nazis” (apparently they think Hitler’s greatest crime was that he moved Jews into condos and paid them each half a million dollars for their trouble).

“I saw lots of sentimental human interest type profilesof settlers who were sad about losing their homes..And again, zero mention of the thousands of Palestinians whose homes have been bulldozed in thelast few years.

“When the Palestinians were mentioned, what was shown? Men wearing ski-masks and carrying kalashnikovs, parading through the streets of Gaza, shouting threats into the thin air, at nobody in particular, promising death to Israel or whatever.

“The bias is so overwhelming that the conflict only appears to have one side to it – that of Israel.I’m not even sure if you can call it a “bias” in the traditional sense if they aren’t even willing to acknowledge the existence of the “other side” – how can you have a bias against something that in your world view doesn’t even exist? It’s one step beyond enemy, into nothingness.

“I wish the IDF would have just pulled out and left thestubborn settlers there, telling them to leave or fendfor themselves. Ha! I think the world would have seenjust how deeply they held their convictions aboutZionism and Gaza belonging to the Jews. Most of them would have run for their lives like cowards, and those
who stayed probably would be torn limb from limb by
Palestinian mobs before the sun set that day. I’m SURE the U.S. media would find plenty to cover in a gruesome story like that with plenty of Arab violence to get outraged over (Remember, violence AGAINST any Arabs is cheered on, and violence carried out by anyArabs always angrily condemned).”

REALLY EXCELLENT

Sarah Meyer from England on my Gaza piece:

“Danny, this is what you do best: dissecting. Really excellent.

“I would be happy, with all your output, with only articles such as this”

ON OTHER SUBJECTS

Edward Flaherty writes from Paris:

first, cindy – crawford.

“now, this. november 06 is not that far away – let’s see how the pols distance themselves from dubya.”

THE MIGUEL PLAN

Miguel Lanigan writes from Clearlake Oaks, CA

Plan to stop the war:

“In the days of yore, leaders led from the front, not sitting in front of computer monitors thousands of miles away from the carnage. I propose that every politician who votes to send our children off to slaughter should be trained, then sent to spend six-months inside the theater of action, be it Iraq, Afghanistan or whatever war-du-jour.

“Every day, after legislating and voting via secure channels, younger politicians would be issued weapons and combat gear (including body armor–but only after all the young soldiers got theirs) and would patrol in the same armorless Humvees our young troops are dying in.

“Older pols would work as orderlies with the grave registration units preparing the mutilated bodies of our young for shipment back to their parents. Also, health permitting, older politicians must put on their pin-striped suits and escort the dead on the body-planes shuttling back and forth to the Dover body-processing-center. They, and at least 10 congressmen and 5 senators must stand at attention and salute the coffins of our youth as they are unloaded from every dead-shuttle-plane.

“Photos must be taken and at least three network TV teams must record the arrivals. Two congressmen and one military person must then continue on with each body to personally present an American flag to their grieving parents in lieu of their children. (Note: The Secretary of Defense will be required to actually sign the death letters and not use his signature machine.)

“If travel is deemed too hard on the aging bodies of these politician/warriors, they must then also be assigned to work as orderlies in MASH tents where they can clean up the body-fluids and bloody gauze created by amputation operations.

“It’s easy to strut around saying, “Bring ‘em on.” when you’re thousands of miles away from the awfulness of war. It’s easy to “get on with your life” if all you have to do is collect your pay check and go on another vacation ( over 300 days to date and counting) where one can fish and nap and peddle your mountain bike. It’s not easy when you are asked to stop by the side of the war and explain to a grieving mother camped on your driveway why her son is dead. It’s a lot easier to blow past her on the way to yet another fund raiser. Someone wrote, if Cindy Sheehan could donate $25,000, he might have stopped for a chat. — all she had to offer was a dead son.

“Perhaps when these spine-challenged politicians are required to see and hear and smell the reality of the armless, legless, eyeless and dead young men and women their bellicose policies have created, they will quickly legislate a new foreign policy?especially when they learn their tour of duty has been extended.”

LAUNCHING A NEW PRODUCT IN AUGUST

Jack Shultz lives in Canada:

Do you remember Andy Card explaining why the Bushites put out their campaign against Saddam in September. “Everybody knows that you don’t launch a new product on the market in August. You wait and launch in September. ” or something like that. Cindy Sheehan launched her campaign in August, the soft underbelly of the Bush calender. Her attack was never expected but was always inevitable.

“In case friends haven’t seen it yet, there’s a new petition being
circulated by Peace Action advocating a 5-step process for withdrawing U.S.troops from Iraq. Tom Hayden, who helped write it, was on Democracy Now talking about it.”

The petition is online at:

http://www.demaction.org/dia/organizations/Peaceact/petition.jsp?petition_KE

RUMINATION RESPONSE

Sorry this came in some days ago and I have misplaced the writer’s name. Written from the vast Schechter estate…..:

“I wanted to respond to your “ruminations’” It’s strange how we form impressions of each other. I can’t help but think of you in an English estate with a cluster of adoring children.

“Thoughts on broadening your base and increasing revenue

August 16, 2005

My two cents worth.

“Donations are often used as a leash to control non-profits and other organizations. Once you are dependent on your sponsors, you sometimes have to tread lightly, worrying about not displeasing them.

“Far better to have your own income stream by selling a valuable product. While continuing the free newsletter, you could expand your work into audiovisual summaries that could be archived for members only.

“My thought is you might have a membership service similar to
http://www.prisonplanet.tv for $5.95/mo. I think this is the maximum many people are able to budget for a news service.

“By adding audio interviews and video weekly reports to your format you would attract a wider base of those people who are eager to understand the media better but who don’t read much. (Most people)

“It’s good to have free audio/video resources on the site to attract foot traffic. These links could be shared by your readers in their groups and forums, attracting more people to your site.

“The weekly video meetings would also be a way to connect with potential volunteers and donors. Interested members could also arrange to air them on public access TV as well, and this would be a way volunteers could get involved sharing the word.

“Alex Jones has a certain genius for connecting with the average person by summarizing the written word in audiovisuals. He then gives the reference for those who want to read them at length. Of course, he is a news junky like you. He is like a interpreter for the blind (who cannot read, do not have the time to read, or do not have access to the broad sources.).

I appreciate the way Alex archives all of his article references so that the information does not disappear and can be accessed easily for later reference.

I also like the article archives he has created on key topics. His website is a virtual library.

I’m not sure about the money problem ever going away, but some of these approaches might broaden your audience and increase your potential impact for education and change.”

MEDIA CHANNEL EVENT SEPTEMBER 6

On September 6, Mediachannel is co-sponsoring a publicspeak out at the LAUGH FACTORYY, a night club at 42nd Street and 8th Avenue around the corner from the NY Times to allow the public to discuss the jailing of Judith Miller and the reporting of the Valerie Plame affair. So far, media writer Michael Wolff and New York Civil Liberties Union Director Donna Lieberman have agree to come. Jamie Masada who owns the club believes that Miller’s jailing is “NO LAUGHING MATTER” and has put a Free Judith Miller-Support the First Amendment call on the club’s marqee, a gutsy act for a businessman. Most avoid all controversy. (All Mediachannel readers are invited)

Judith Miller elicits strong reactions, especially for her anti-war coverage. One person, writing anonymously reacted in a way I totally disapprove:

“high-plains” wrote to organizer Steve Zuckerman of the Global Entertainment and Media Summit, another co-sponsor:

“How about EXECUTE Judith Miller?

“THAT I would happily attend!

“Couching this issue in First Amendment self-righteousness is just the sort of bad comedy one has come to expect in this vile country which ought to have been blown to bits 100 years ago.

“Far from honoring her profession by taking a principled stand on the public’s right to know the truth about Iraq’s non-existent weapons of mass destruction and the laundry list of other atrocious lies put forward by the Bush administration, she acted as an unofficial mouthpiece for these lies, even going Bush/Cheney/ Powell one better in her dissemination of outright fraud and disinformation in the pages of the New York Times.

“While marginal non-entities like Jason Blair become poster children for irresponsible journalism, plagiarism and fraud, the Times’ darling Judith Miller, (who systematically concocted the most hair-raising, entirely bogus propaganda leading to the destruction of a sovereign country and the murder of tens of thousands of people), has metamorphosed into a model of press integrity under fire!

“The whole thing stinks to high heaven. “

This event could be really interesting. Please pass the word along.

MOVE-ON AND CINDY

I was glad to see Move-on moving back to the ant-war issue which it has downplayed over the last year. Please check out Norman Solomon’s piece. He wonders why MoveOn and others back Cindu but not her call for withdrawal of the troops.

IN LONDON NEXT WEEK

I am of to London tonight to help on a documentary about the murder of reporter Daniel Pearl. That’s an issue we should all feel strong about. I was hoping to spend the rest of these dog days of August hibernating–but duty calls. I doubt I will have time to blog but you will find continuing coverage on Mediachannel.org.

Mediachannel is looking for a new webmaster. Please apply to David@mediachannel.org

Please also let David know if you have problems posting on my blog. I had a call from the webmaster of 9llblimp.net who for some reason the technology stopped from telling us us that he believes that President Bush COULD have seen that first plane slam into the World Trade Center on 9/11 BECAUSE his presidential limo is tied into a DISA Defense Department communications network with its own closed circuit satellite TV capacity, I didn’t know about that,Ã¢â‚¬Â¦

Onward Mediachannel soldiers in the fight for truth! (Smile>

Write: dissector@medachannel.org

The News Dissector