I thought that I had grown used to mainstream media in the U. S. reporting from a pro-Israeli stance. Sometimes it’s subtle, these days it’s unabashed, a reportage that sounds more like the government-controlled media one finds in many controlled societies around the world. No, they don’t come right out and say, “We are for Israel!” It’s built into the editorial framework: how they ask questions; of whom; whether or not they follow up with challenging questions based on good prior research; whether or not they examine all sides of a question with equal diligence; and finally, what they train their cameras on. What moved me to talk about this is my frustration at watching CNN coverage of the Israeli invasion of Lebanon. I sent the following feedback to CNN: Read the rest of this entry »
A friend recently passed this on to me in an e-mail. The comment claims to summarize “Reality in the Middle East”:
Regardless of your feelings about the crisis between Israel and the Palestinians and Arab neighbors, even if you believe there is more culpability on Israel’s part for whatever reason, the following two sentences really say it all.
If the Arabs put down their weapons today there would be no more violence.
If the Jews put down their weapons today there would be no more Israel.
I have a very different reaction to that author’s picture of “Reality in the Middle East.” Read the rest of this entry »
