>Media spin remains in sync with Israeli occupation > >By Norman Solomon > >October 13, 2000 > >The formula for American media coverage of the Israeli-Palestinian >conflict is simple: Report on the latest developments in the fragile >"peace process." Depict U.S. officials as honest brokers in the >negotiations. Emphasize the need for restraint and compromise instead of >instability and bloodshed. > >In the world according to news media, the U.S. government is situated on >high moral ground -- in contrast to some of the intractable adversaries. >"The conflict that had been so elaborately dressed in the civilizing cloak >of a peace effort has been stripped to its barest essence: Jew against >Arab, Arab against Jew," the New York Times reported from Jerusalem. > >Soon afterwards, Secretary of State Madeleine Albright proclaimed: "The >cycle of violence has to be stopped." Such pronouncements from Washington >get a lot of respectful media play in our country. > >Rarely do American journalists explore the ample reasons to believe that >the United States is part of the oft-decried cycle of violence. Nor, in >the first half of October, was there much media analysis of the fact that >the violence overwhelmingly struck at Palestinian people. > >Within a period of days, several dozen Palestinians were killed by heavily >armed men in uniform -- often described by CNN and other news outlets as >"Israeli security forces." Under the circumstances, it's a notably >benign-sounding term for an army that shoots down protesters. > >As for the rock-throwing Palestinians, I have never seen or heard a single >American news account describing them as "pro-democracy demonstrators." >Yet that would be an appropriate way to refer to people who -- after more >than three decades of living under occupation -- are in the streets to >demand self-determination. > >While Israeli soldiers and police, with their vastly superior firepower, >do most of the killing, Israel's public-relations engines keep whirling >like well-oiled tops. Early this month, tilted by the usual spin, American >news stories highlighted the specious ultimatums issued by Prime Minister >Ehud Barak as he demanded that Palestinians end the violence -- while >uniformed Israelis under his authority continued to kill them. > >Beneath the Israeli "peace process" rhetoric echoed by American media, an >implicit message isn't hard to discern: If only Palestinians would stop >resisting the Israeli occupation of the West Bank, it would no longer be >necessary for Israeli forces to shoot them. > >"Israel Extends Time For Peace," said the lead headline on the Oct. 10 >front page of USA Today. "Israel early today extended a deadline for >Palestinians to end rioting," the article began. At this rate, we may >someday see a headline that reads: "Israel Demands Palestinians Stop >Attacking Bullets With Their Bodies." > >Of course, amid all the nifty Orwellian touches, the proper behavior of >people whose homeland remains under occupation has never quite been >spelled out. But U.S. media coverage has reflexively mimicked the themes >coming out of the White House and State Department. It all makes sense -- >as long as we set aside basic concepts of human rights -- as long as we >refuse to acknowledge that without justice there can be no real peace. > >For American journalists on mainstream career ladders, it's prudent to >avoid making a big deal about Israel's human rights violations, which >persist without letup in tandem with Israel's occupation of land it >captured in the 1967 war. Many pundits are fond of cloaking the occupiers >in mantles of righteousness. And we hear few questions raised about the >fact that the occupiers enjoy the powerful backing of the United States. > >The silence is usually deafening, even among journalists who write opinion >columns on a regular basis. The U.S. government's economic and military >assistance to Israel adds up to a few billion dollars per year. Among >media professionals, that aid is widely seen as an untouchable "third >rail." To challenge U.S. support for Israel is to invite a torrent of >denunciations -- first and foremost, the accusation of "anti-Semitism." > >Occasionally, I've written columns criticizing U.S. media for strong >pro-Israel bias in news reporting and spectrums of commentary. Every time, >I can count on a flurry of angry letters that accuse me of being >anti-Semitic. It's a timeworn, knee-jerk tactic: Whenever someone makes a >coherent critique of Israel's policies, immediately go on the attack with >charges of anti-Jewish bigotry. > >Numerous American supporters of Israel resort to this tactic. Perhaps the >difficulties of defending the Israeli occupation on its merits have >encouraged substitution of the "anti-Semitic" epithet for reasoned debate. > >Like quite a few other Jewish Americans, I'm appalled by what Israel is >doing with U.S. tax dollars. Meanwhile, as journalists go along to get >along, they diminish the humanity of us all. > >"Ask not for whom the bell tolls." > > >Norman Solomon's book "The Habits of Highly Deceptive Media" >won the 1999 George Orwell Award for Distinguished Contribution >to Honesty and Clarity in Public Language, presented by the National >Council of Teachers of English. > >Norman Solomon's archived columns may be found at ><http://www.fair.org/media-beat/index.html>
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