Ibtisam Posted January 4, 2009 Peace, Propaganda & The Promised Land {Part 1} For those who can't watch it, you can read it below: The Israeli - Palestinian conflict dominates America and news coverage of international issues. Given that news coverage is America's main source of information on the conflict. It becomes important to examine the stories the news Media are telling us. And to ask the question does the news coverage reflect the reality on the ground? Prof. Robert Jensen Journalism, University of Texas-Austin, USA. "One of the things you have to keep in mind when you are looking at how media report on something like Israeli - Palestinian conflict. It is not only understanding what is there in the story but more importantly what is not there or being left out. In that sense, absence is as vital as the presence in terms of how people make sense of the story. CONTEXT IS EVERYTHING" Alisa Solomon Journalist, The Village Voice USA The context that is often missing from the current reporting is that the Palestinian uprising is the revolt against the 34 year (actually 38) long occupation and if there is no occupation in the story then the story does not make any sense and the occupation is frequently missing. Seth Ackerman Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting, USA A typical TV news reporter for example of some ABC news will show dramatic pictures of these confrontations, where Palestinians are confronting Israeli troops and the troops are responding. The most Americans donʼt understand the history of the conflict and this is an example of riots that are going on where the authorities are taking measures to crack down. What is not mentioned is the fact that these confrontations are taking place on occupied territory and the Israeli troops which are there are defending an occupation that does not have any international legitimacy. Major Stav Adivi, reserves Israeli Defense Forces, Israel. The American Media are concentration only on the violence but not on the reasons and the basic facts of occupation. Hanan Ashrawi Palestinian Legislative Council, West Bank This is not presented as an army using its arsenal against young people who are largely unarmed and who are protesting because of the occupation, the siege and total oppression over the nation. The lack of context is so dramatic that only 4% of the network news reports on the occupied west bank and Gaza strip mention that the west bank and Gaza strip are occupied. Seth Ackerman The Israeli military sends its troops into the occupied territories to defend what is considered to be an illegal occupation and when the population there resist Israel is presented as being under attack. Hanan Ashrawi They donʼt present it as Israel is the aggressor or Israel is killing people on their own land in their own homes as an occupied nation but it is presented as Israel is defending itself. Hussein Ibish American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, USA Israel's basic posture is anything but defensive. Israel is the only country in the world right now which in contravention to the UN security council resolutions maintains tens of thousands of heavily armed troops outside and inside its borders in someone elseʼs country for the sole purpose of taking their land away from them and in the process forcing them to live under the worst form of tyranny imaginable which is a foreign military dictatorship. Hanan Ashrawi The tanks, gunshipʼs, snipers are all on Palestinian land and I donʼt see why they have to protect themselves on our land if they have occupied our land. That context is always missing. So even if Israel is busy murdering people in our land it is always presented as a part of the self defense mechanism of Israel. Naom chomsky Linguistics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology , USA When Israel in the occupied territories now claim that they have to defend themselves, they are defending themselves in the sense that any military occupier has to defend themselves against population aggression. You cant defend yourselves when you are militarily occupying somebody elseʼs land, call what you like it but this is not defense. Public relations works not only by controlling the content of media reports but also by making sure that some voices are never heard. The marginalization of the Israeli peace movement in the American media is an example of how this works. Seth Ackerman says It is being the point of view that of the Israeli peace movement for years that the fundamental cause of the conflict is Israeli occupation in Palestinian land and settlement policies. But that view in the United States is considered extremely marginal and you rarely see that view is put forward in the American media. Gila Svirsky Coalition of Women for a just Peace, Israel. We in the women's peace campaign Israel, organized a mass vigil of women in black and a mass march through the streets of Jerusalem with two thousand women strong both Israelis and Palestinians. Can you picture that dramatic moment of two thousand women dressed in black marching down the streets of Jerusalem so that we hung banners on the walls of the old city saying peace in three languages Hebrew, Arabic and English and Guess what IT DID'NT GET INTO THE MEDIA. Prof Neve Gordon Ta'ayush (Arab-Jewish Partnership), Israel. That is not the kind of image that the media wants to create because then all these images of Jews and Arabs working together of Palestinians wanting peace would create a kind of dissonance and would contradict that kind of message the media has been giving us for years and years, then how do u explain it? YOU CANT EXPLAIN IT.. Prof. Robert Jensen Israeli public relations machine knows that if the views and voices of Jews who disagree with its policies will become public it would be impossible to maintain the lie that any criticism towards Israel is by definition Anti-Semitic. In fact the accusation of Anti-Semitism is been Israelʼs most effective strategy in silence in descent and American journalism in particular have been targets of this tactic. Robert Fisk Journalist, The Independent, UK Any environment in which journalist or any person steps forward and starts making serious criticism of Israel, of Americas relationship with Israel, the unconditional support for Israel, the failure of any serious pressure to be put upon Israel by the united states to prevent the building of further settlements for Jews and Jews only on Arab land or any suggestions on the war between the Israelis and the Palestinians as a colonial war will be met by a definite chorus of accusations, slanderous and lying that they are that the person who brings up that subject is some form of Anti-Semite or racist and this remains the constant weapon that is used. Prof. Robert Jensen The fact that Anti-Semitism is a lie that are well in the world today makes it all the more important to differentiate between the real Anti-Semitism it needs to be condemned and opposed in its own right and its misuse as a PR strategy. Trying to scare people in the silence by conflating any criticism in the Israeli policies as Anti-Semitism. In fact the tracks of the real threat that Anti-Semitism does oppose. Robert Fisk ........Because they are Anti-Semites and there are racist in the world. And if this continued campaign of abuse against decent people and trying to shut them up by falsely accusing people of Anti-Semitism continues, the word Anti-Semitism will begin to become respectable and that is a great danger. Then the really bad guys which are around and they are people who would want burn synagogue just like they are people who would want burn the mosques will start coming of their own. Provided by: http://www.dictatorshipwatch.com/ Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
LayZie G. Posted January 4, 2009 ^way to rally the troops of SOL. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ibtisam Posted January 4, 2009 ^^^Do you have something to say about the video? :confused: if so spit it out. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
