When I look at the current Gaza crisis, it reminds me of the July 2006 offensive in Lebanon and Gaza. This post intends to bring out how media has been systematically hiding facts. It is so surprising that balanced-media like National Public Radio (NPR) have cried loud lies that the violence was started by Palestinians.
The purpose of this post is to show how these supposedly “neutral” public-media wants you to hear what the popular opinion is, instead of bringing the true story. This type of behavior is expected from Fox news, whose mere purpose of existence is to satisfy the news-lust of right wingers. But it is extremely disappointing when public-media, which thrives on our donations, presents distorted stories.
Most of the US media has attributed the start of upsurge of violence in Gaza and Lebanon (in July 2006) to the capture of Corporal Shalit (an Israeli soldier) in June of 2006. Either the media coverage was so weak that they could not obtain the complete story or they intentionally wanted to hide the fact that Israeli forces captured two Gaza Civilians (A doctor and his brother) a day BEFORE the capture of Corporal Shalit. This was in addition to numerous Palestinians who were kidnapped by Israeli soldiers on suspicion and have been held in prison for eternity.
Noam Chomsky argues “ …. Kidnapping of civilians is a far worse crime than capture of soldiers. The Western response was quite revealing: a few casual comments, otherwise silence. The major media did not even bother reporting it. That fact alone demonstrates, with brutal clarity, that there is no moral justification for the sharp escalation of attacks in Gaza or the destruction of Lebanon, and that the Western show of outrage about kidnapping is cynical fraud.” (more of this interview)
Yet, a few days later, Neal Conan of NPR falsely claims that July 2006 violence started because of Israeli soldier’s kidnapping by Hamas (even when Noam Chomsky explicitly corrected the chronology of incidents on NPR).
Yet, a few days later, Neal Conan of NPR falsely claims that July 2006 violence started because of Israeli soldier’s kidnapping by Hamas (even when Noam Chomsky explicitly corrected the chronology of incidents on NPR).
This deceptive scheme is being continued in December-2008 Gaza Massacre reporting. The buzz word is that Hamas broke the truce. This has become like a hymn for leading news agencies like New York Times, Washington Post and of course the liberal Fox-News. None of them have cared to bring out the fact that during this “truce”:
1) Israel has killed more than 49 people in Palestine (many of them were kids).
2) Israel had a blockade on Gaza (all borders and sea crossings included), and even supply of essentials like medicines were restricted. This has made the humanitarian conditions worse than war-time. Is this how the truce works?
Media is not the only one, President-elect Obama in quest for gaining Jewish support visited Israel (before the November election) and said:
"If somebody was sending rockets into my house, where my two daughters sleep at night, I’m going to do everything in my power to stop that. And I would expect Israelis to do the same thing."
Well, somebody should ask Mr. President-elect what he would do if his daughters were denied basic medical needs and were forced to live under a blockade which denies them basic medical needs and food.
All this things simply points to one fact: if you have money/power then whatever you do is justified and people from President to Media will vow their allegiance to you. All this talk of CHANGE, protecting freedom, human rights and democracy is nothing but an articulate sham!
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