*PEACE OR PIECES?*

*AWARDS OR NEWS?*

*BOMBING EARTH*

All eyes again on Israel this morning, as the clean-up continues after yesterday’s latest bloody terror attack — designed, in the words of Hamas, to torpedo all peace talks, including the Saudi proposals unveiled formally yesterday in Beirut. Once again, the US and Israel lashed out at Arafat; once again, the Palestinian Authority formally condemned violence against civilians on all sides. Once again there was horror and sadness and new calls for revenge. And, yes, once again, the conflict was pictured as only two-sided when it is so clear that there are many players with different agendas at work here, a reality that much of the media has not caught up with.

IT IS A MANY-SIDED CONFLICT

Of course, the terror attack was horrific, as was logic of the young man Adel-Basset Odeh who made a videotape explaining the political rationale behind his “payback.”

To be sure, more “payback” is on the way, and once again, voices for sanity are, if not sidelined, virtually silenced in the media accounts that usually play up only one side of the senseless suffering. In the E-mail, this morning is an assessment from Rabbi Michael Lerner, editor of TIKKUN, a progressive Jewish voice in the USA. I have yet to see him quoted elsewhere:

“This horrendous deed gives new urgency to our demand on thePalestinian movement: that it stop, renounce and preach against the use of violence. …. I am also deeply disturbed by those who use this kind of act of violence to say, ‘See, the Palestinian people only want to destroy us.” This racist summary of the desires of millions of people is as misleading as the description of Israel as having offered a good deal to Arafat, which he rejected.”

“My response: When are youwho have given Ariel Sharon a free hand going to recognize that hispolicies are not and cannot bring security, but only more murders.”

Last week it was Jews in a pogrom against Palestinian civilians in Ramallah, this week Palestinians killing Israelis. When will you recognize that there will be no peace till you get out of the West Bank and Gaza? How many Israelis and Palestinians have to die before you recognize that your policies are self-destructive and immoral?”

“Both sides are acting terribly, and both sides have tobe confronted and challenged. Don’t let anyone tell you that morekillings of Palestinians in retaliation is going to bring an end to the madness–it will just guarantee more of the same.”

ARAFAT’S CLAIMS

It will–because even now, with funerals mounting on both sides, there is little understanding of the fact that an Arafat does not have the power (and, perhaps, not the will, even if he had the power) to push a button and turn off the violence that he condemns on both sides. Those of us who rely on TV interviews rarely, if ever, get to hear him talk about his view of the extent of the damage on his side. You may not agree with him, or respect him, but the arguments he makes need to be understood because they offer insight into why many Palestinians think that their intifada is their only option.

I have been thinking twice about quoting him, especially now, in the aftermath of this latest atrocity, and in the midst of the Passover holiday, but perhaps as Jews worldwide celebrate their festival of freedom, they can at least acknowledge that others are fighting for theirs. He was not really allowed to travel to the Arab Summit in Beirut so he sent a message with this catalogue of suffering, citing 47,000 casualties, that rarely percolates into the mainstream media. I am not sure what the evidence is for the figure but it certainly is far larger than any I have seen in western media accounts.

“Majesties, Excellencies and Highnesses, meeting now in Beirut, you are following all this, and I hope that you are actually following this warthat has been declared against us, a war that did not leave anyreligious, educational, medical, cultural or security institution orplaces without inflicting upon them heavy human losses, that have, so far, exceeded 47,000 martyrs and injured as well as causing heavy losses to our official and people’s institutions and even to our steadfastrefugee camps, towns, cities and villages.

“It is a war that has destroyed the infrastructures of our people, their factories, farms and houses. Even hospitals, schools as well as churches and mosques were not spared. The international assessment of the lossesinflicted upon our people, has so far exceeded 7.5 billion U.S. dollars.

In this war even internationally prohibited weapons were used by the government of Israel and its occupation army, including depleted uranium, gasses and even poisonous waste…”

US WAR PLANS IN THE ARAB WORLD

While Saudi Arabia was spelling out its peace plan, a plan rejected by many Palestinians, the United States was quietly moving troops out of Saudia Arabia into Qatar, best known recently as the home of Al-Jazeera TV. Julian Borger has that story from Washington, one more scoop that makes US coverage pathetic in contrast.

“The US Air Force has begun preparations to move its Gulf headquarters from Saudi Arabia to Qatar, to bypass Saudi objections to military action against Iraq, according to Saudi analysts and businessmen involved in therelocation.

A senior executive of a Saudi contracting firm told the Guardian that several companies had been invited to prepare bids to move computers and electronics from the hi-tech command center at Prince Sultan Air Force Base.

“The independent Saudi Information Agency, based in Washington, reported thatUS military trucks had been seen leaving the base at al Kharj, 50 miles south of Riyadh, and arriving at the border with Qatar in the second week of March.

“The vast al-Udeid air base in Qatar has become increasingly important to the US Air Force since the Saudi government refused to allow air raids on Afghanistan to be launched from its soil. The movement of trucks to Qatar may represent a temporary redistribution of resources to pursue the Afghan war, but the request for bids to move sophisticated equipment suggests a more permanent relocation, analysts said.

“The move to Qatar, which has been the subject of speculation in Washington for the past few weeks, would allow the US to conduct an air campaign against Iraq in the face of Saudi refusal to collaborate, overcoming a seriousobstacle to the second phase of the US ‘war on terror.’

“It would also help alleviate the threat to the stability of the Saudi royal family posed by Sunni Islamic militants for whom the US military presence is a burning issue. Osama bin Laden has challenged the Saudi government’slegitimacy on the grounds that it permitted the American ‘occupation’ of Islam’s holy places….”

THE ATTACK ON IRAQ: IF AND WHEN?

Will there be an attack on Iraq? Or is the real question, when, in his weekly column, Alexander Cockburn discusses this issue in a way that most US media outlets will not: “In terms of domestic politics, the opportune time for a U.S. attack would be at the time of the midterm elections in the fall, with the Congress up for grabs. The White House plainly feels it would win the battle for public opinion, with the flag-waggers routing all dissidence in government except for the usual 30 or so holdouts among liberal Democrats and a handful of Republicans like Rep. Ron Paul of Texas.

“….How long can the Bush regime threaten Saddam Hussein, without actually following through? Is the Bush regime blustering itself into war? Many knowledgeable people with excellent experience of Iraq and of political currents in Washington feel that the U.S. will indeed launch a military attack on Iraq later this year. I’ve heard one spirited dissent, from a former Pentagon official, arguing that the net effect of the ranting about the axis of evil has been to redemonize Saddam Hussein and to diminish pressure to lift the sanctions.”

REPORTS FROM OTHER FRONTS

Global coverage of US military intervention in other parts of the world seems weak. This morning Adam McConnel fills us in from Turkey on some maneuvers in his part of the world: “The American military presence in Georgia seems to be worsening an already tense situation in the region. In the months following 11 Sept., relations between Russia and Georgia soured as Russia accused Georgia of allowing Chechen militants to stay in the Pankisi Gorge region of the country.

This was followed last month by accusations that Al-Qaeda had arrived in Pankisi. In response, the US sent military advisors to Georgia two weeks ago, followed several days later by military equipment from Turkey.

“Now, Georgia seems to have found renewed courage to strike at Russia in the presence of the US advisors and the support from the US government that those advisors imply. RFERL reported in its 25 Mar ‘Caucasus Report’ that two recent incidents, the 14 Mar attack on a Russian peace-keeping force in Abkhazia and then the 19 Mar kidnapping of four Russian peacekeepers in the same region, have raised suspicions that Georgia may use the presence of US military forces to launch a renewed attempt to subvert Abkhazia back to Georgian control.

“… What seems to be happening, in a nutshell, is that Russia, which is concerned with Chechnya, wants to pressure Georgia into pushing out the Chechen militants which are hiding there; in response, the Georgians are trying to pressure Russia, which is the peace-keeping force in Abkhazia, to leave Abkhazia. This is the situation that the US, which most likely is more concerned with the Baku-Cayhan natural gas pipeline, is getting involved in.”

GET THIS: “THE ROBUST NUCLEAR EARTH PENETRATOR”

Also on the military front, a frightening story about nuclear weapons from the San Jose Mercury News:

“SAN JOSE, Calif.–The Pentagon and the Energy Department havedirected the nation’s nuclear weapons laboratories in Livermore, Calif., and Los Alamos, N.M., to compete for the chance to design a hydrogen bomb that could destroy targets underground.

“To the dismay of arms-control proponents, the Bush administration is advocating such weapons ‘which would slam into the earth at high speed and then explode underground’ as a means of attacking command bunkers or biological and chemical weapons facilities possibly buried insuch places as Iraq, Iran or North Korea.

“Work on preliminary designs for the weapon known as the ‘Robust Nuclear Earth Penetrator,’ begins next month at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in northern California and Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico.

Scientists at both labs will propose modifying weapons rather than designing a new bomb from scratch….”

UNCOVERED IN PERU

We all read about the bombs and protests that greeted President Bush’s visit to Peru. What I didn’t see reported is this item about Lori Berenson, the young American being held in that country on bogus terrorism charges. Lori’s father, Mark Berenson writes:

“Despite all the predictions and statements from Peruvian officials that Lori’s case would not be on the agenda when President Bush made his historicvisit to Peru on Saturday, Secretary of State Colin Powell told reporters that President Bushraised the issue, and again, like last June, forcefully expressed hiscompassionate concerns. Taking time out from this important meeting to discuss Lori’s situation was clearly an indication to Peruvian PresidentAlejandro Toledo that Lori’s case remains an important issue for the Bush administration and for bilateral relations between the US and Peru.

HOPSCOTCHING THE MEDIA WAR

On to my occasional media wrap up. ABC’s Nightline won a prestigious Peabody award to add to its collection, but that may be the death knell. TV producers know that many awards which they celebrate are often followed by cancellations of their shows. It happened to me years ago in Boston. We won an Emmy award one week, and the next, the talk show I produced was out of business.

PBS programs were also honored for their program excellence once again, but PBS is also undergoing a major shift towards becoming more like the commercial networks to which it supposedly is an alternative.

The Baltimore Sun reports:

“Under President Pat Mitchell, PBS is embracing market-driven research as it seeks to reshape its fare for adults. Partnerships have flourished with Bloomberg, The New York Times and other outlets.”

Beacon Douglas writes to the Media Channel: “I’m shocked not to see any stories discussing the further erosion of PBS’mission with the latest unfolding story at Maryland Public Television over the program Wall Street Week.

“As I’m sure you know, there’s been assorted hoopla regarding the firing of Lou Rukeyser last week. All that aside, the kicker for me is the new program being entitled Wall $treet Week with FORTUNE. FORTUNE, as in FORTUNE magazine, as in one of AOL’s media properties.

“PBS is assuring us that ‘it’s good to see FORTUNE is making itssubstantial and highly credible journalistic resources available to public television viewers.’

“This to me is even more disconcerting than ExxonMobil’s name slapped on Masterpiece Theater, we’re talking about massaging of actual content in this case (how will the very concept of corporate media be treated on this new show?).

NAOMI CAMPBELL WINS ONE

Over in England, The Mirror has lost a legal action brought by super model Naomi Campbell, Sarah Russell, an expert on privacy law offered this analysis in the Guardian:

“Ms Campbell sued the Mirror for breach of confidence and breach of the Data Protection Act following publication of photographs of her leaving a Narcotics Anonymous meeting and details of the therapy she was receiving.

“Taking the media somewhat by surprise, the high court ruled in her favor, awarding her £3,500 in damages.

“Having listened to detailed evidence of how the supermodel had consistently lied to the press about her alleged drug addiction and the unconvincing performance that she gave in the witness box, it was generally perceived in the media that the Mirror would win.

“Concern at what the judgment would mean for the future of press freedom was quickly voiced as Ms. Campbell’s legal team pronounced it a victory for celebrities seeking to protect their private life [sic].

“But on closer reading of the judgement it is clear that, although Ms. Campbell has been declared victorious in legal terms, her case does not sound the death knell for press freedom.

Speaking of the Mirror, now Great Britain’s “newspaper of the year,” my thanks to Paul O’Hanlon in Scotland who sent me a recent copy of the Scottish Mirror, which in best tabloid style, had a gripping front page. It was consistent with that paper’s anti-war stance. The headline: “AN AMERICAN WARWOLF IN LDONON.”

Next to it was a a digitally altered photo of US Vice President Dick Cheney with long teeth looking just like the wolf man in Lon Chaney Jr’s film of that name.

The story begins: “Warmongering US Vice president Dick Cheney was last night luring Tony Blair into invading Iraq.”

The US media would see this as biased journalism but is it any more so than the uncritical news coming out of Pentagonland?

MORE ON “LIBERAL MEDIA BIAS”

Newsday’s Richard Reno considered bias in the media in his column yesterday: “There’s been an epidemic of self-conscious navel-gazing in the news mediaover the question of whether it is disproportionately infested withliberals.

“This debate is ludicrous because looking for systematic liberal bias in the media is like trying to prove the Weekly World News doesn’t make up storiesabout space aliens giving birth to full-term litters of grandmothers.

“It’s also like arguing that the Enron scandal is bipartisan because the company gave money to a few Democrats while placing its big bet on the election of George W. Bush.

“The idea that the media deliberately slants news leftward ignores the reality that most major outlets are now owned by a few large, publicly held corporations that must operate under rules dictated by unforgiving market forces…”.

See newsday.com for more.

MEDIA REIGN IN SPAIN

Jeane writes from Spain: “I’d listened to the rather negative developments from Lebanon (Arabsummit) today on Radio France Internationale between 6:30 and 7:00 pm local time here, and lo and behold, I turn on my computer to read your column et. al. at8:30 pm and the Spanish “Terra” web page comes up and says there has just been another suicide attack. I tell you, this has become daily fare almost–everytime you turn on the radio, you wonder, “should I brace myself for the latest?”

“God, Allah, Buddha, whoever out there, please save usfrom this madness, and soon!” Amen.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

Finally, today, apologies for yesterday’s typos. My editor was celebrating a holiday and forgot to tell me…. (JF: sorry, folks, I was preparing to feed Danny and Co.)

Final quote of the day, courtesy of Ted Pease, comes from Nina Totenberg, NPR’s Supreme Court reporter: “Sure, the justices care what we say about them–they’re human after all–but unlike politicians, they don’t, and shouldn’t, care enough to change anything they do. Indeed, most justices probably view most reporters like cockroaches–pests to be lived with and squashed whenever possible.”

Well, they haven’t squashed us yet, even if the New York Times reports today that the Internet isn’t fun anymore.

We are having fun, aren’t we? Share you comments with me by writing: dissector@medichannel.org, or just click on RESPOND. Got that?