Attack on Gaza: As Usual, U.S. Media (And Most Liberals) Silent -- As Israeli Newspaper Raises Doubts

In the usual process, the U.S. government, media here -- and many of the leading liberal bloggers -- are silent or playing down questions about whether Israel overreacted in its massive air strikes on Gaza, while the foreign press, and even Haaretz in Israel, carries more balanced accounts.

Anyone who cares should consult the respected Haaretz site often, if for no other reason than to learn that criticism of Israeli military actions are usually more heated inside that country than in the USA. The New York Times, for example, as of today (Monday), has not yet editorialized on the air assault. You may recall the lockstep support in the U.S. for Israeli's invasion of southern Lebanon, which included the use of U.S.-made cluster bombs. That invasion turned out to be a genuine fiasco.

One Sunday analysis at Haaretz: "A million and a half human beings, most of them downcast and desperate refugees, live in the conditions of a giant jail, fertile ground for another round of bloodletting. The fact that Hamas may have gone too far with its rockets is not the justification of the Israeli policy for the past few decades, for which it justly merits an Iraqi shoe to the face."

Another opinion piece in Haaretz -- titled, "Neighborhood Bully Strikes Again" -- by Gideon Levy: "Israel embarked yesterday on yet another unnecessary, ill-fated war. On July 16, 2006, four days after the start of the Second Lebanon War, I wrote: 'Every neighborhood has one, a loud-mouthed bully who shouldn't be provoked into anger... Not that the bully's not right - someone did harm him. But the reaction, what a reaction!' Two and a half years later, these words repeat themselves, to our horror, with chilling precision. Within the span of a few hours on a Saturday afternoon, the IDF sowed death and destruction on a scale that the Qassam rockets never approached in all their years, and Operation 'Cast Lead' is only in its infancy."

Also from Haaretz, Zvi Barel writes: "Six months ago Israel asked and received a cease-fire from Hamas. It unilaterally violated it when it blew up a tunnel, while still asking Egypt to get the Islamic group to hold its fire." Yet the U.S. media refers that only Hamas violated the ceasefire.

Another columnist there, Yossi Sarid, writes: "I can only hope that this time, for a change, we will know when to stop. This war must be described from the get-go as a war 'to be on the safe side,' rather than of necessity, and it is still unclear whether the last missile fired will be fired by us or by them."

Amira Hass, the paper's correspondent in Gaza, reports: "There are many corpses and wounded, every moment another casualty is added to the list of the dead, and there is no more room in the morgue. Relatives search among the bodies and the wounded in order to bring the dead quickly to burial. A mother whose three school-age children were killed, and are piled one on top of the other in the morgue, screams and then cries, screams again and then is silent."

From the lead Haaretz editorial: "[T]he inherent desire for retribution does not necessarily have to blind us to the view from the day after....Israel's violation of the lull in November expedited the deterioration that gave birth to the war of yesterday. But even if this continues for many days and even weeks, it will end in an agreement, or at least an understanding similar to that reached last June."

UPDATE: A McClatchy dispatch quotes Daniel Levy, a political analyst in Israel who once served as an adviser to Ehud Barak, who is leading the military campaign against Hamas: "I don't see how this ends well, even if, in two weeks time, it looks like it ends well."

Haaretz has just posted this from another columnist, Tom Segev: "[T]he assault on Gaza does not first and foremost demand moral condemnation - it demands a few historical reminders. Both the justification given for it and the chosen targets are a replay of the same basic assumptions that have proven wrong time after time. Yet Israel still pulls them out of its hat again and again, in one war after another."

And this from another columnist, Akiva Eldar: "The tremendous population density in the Gaza Strip does not allow a "surgical operation" over an extended period that would minimize damage to civilian populations. The difficult images from the Strip will soon replace those of the damage inflicted by Qassam rockets in the western Negev. The scale of losses, which works in 'favor' of the Palestinians, will return Israel to the role of Goliath."

The Monday editorial from the paper declares: "The current Israel Defense Forces operation in Gaza began with air strikes. In its first two days, there have been no reports of ground troops entering the Strip. But appetite is liable to overcome common sense and this tendency must be fought. Israel must adhere to the outline of Operation Cast Lead thus far, eschewing any major invasion that will end in occupation, a military administration and months (if not years) of fighting the local forces who will inevitably oppose the occupiers."

The New York Times late Sunday reported, "At Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, women wailed as they searched for relatives among bodies that lay strewn on the hospital floor. One doctor said that given the dearth of facilities, not much could be done for the seriously wounded, and that it was 'better to be brought in dead.'"

The Washington Post's update: "By late Sunday night, the toll had reached 290 dead and as many as 1,300 wounded, Moawia Hassanain, a senior Palestinian Health Ministry official, said in an interview. The fatalities included 22 children younger than 16; more than 235 children were wounded, he said."

Greg Mitchell is editor of Editor & Publisher. His latest book, on Iraq and the media, is "So Wrong for So Long."

Comments

[Freenation]

Haertz commands respect for their sincere efforts in 'true' reporting, US media NYTIMES, WSJ, NYPOST are acting like PR arm of IDF mis-information campaign to all of the US public...

[Arawak]

The U.S. government occupies two countries in the Middle East. They sell billions of dollars worth of weapons to Israel. Years ago the U.S. funded Indonesia and they slaughtered the people of East Timor. I expect our government to "support Israel's right to defend itself using the weapons we sold them." The customer is always right! I wonder if there is anything Israel can do to the Palestinians that would motivate the U.S. government to say "WTF?"

[BigPictures]

Many world's problem requires a more effective world government, the United Nations. According to the UN resolution, if the Arabs renouce violence, Israel is obligated to return the Arabs land. Hamas should voice their complaints about Israel peacefully. For a weaker power, the path to its people's dignity is through non-violence principle of Ghandi and Martin Luther King. Israel should consult the UN regardiing how to deal with the Hamas' rocket attacks. The Abrabs Peace Initiative based on the UN resolution is a good principle for permanent Middle East peace. If Obama really wants to break away from Bush's policy and become a true leader of the world, he should find ways to strengthen the UN. One problem with the UN is it is not democratic, so a better UN would be more democratic. Many work needs to be done in international law. Until powerful nations decide to adhere internation laws, there will be no peace on earth. For example, the veto power of the UN security councile present a conflict of interests, which should be abondonded in order to be more democratic.

[CroatianCritter]

I agree with your evaluation. Despite our news being run by supposedly "free" private institutions, it SURE FEELS LIKE STATE RUN media to an outsider's eyes. Our media continues to be a disgrace and will slide into irrelevancy before we know it. This will be good for the world and the United States.

[sparkandy]

The first time I saw news in another country (Germany) I was astounded at the different perspective. Same when I watched news in France and England. It was an eye opener for me to say the least.

[serena1313]

You are correct the US media reports lack balance and omits facts. Consequently with plenty to spread around, placing the blame entirely on Hamas makes resolving the conflict in a fair way that much more difficult and prolongs the process.

Haaretz reported in a recent article that while negotiating a cease fire (6 months ago) Israel's Defense Minister Ehud Barak instructed Israel Defense Force (IDF) to prepare plans for military operations against Palestine.

A month ago, according to the same article, the IDF carried out a military incursion during the cease fire to take out a tunnel in Gaza did so with the intention of facilitating an attack by Palestinian militants on IDF troops.

Israel's disproportionate attacks on Palestinians further incites citizen anger in the region which in turn heightens Israel's vulnerability. Violence begets more violence. Israel and Palestine are trapped in an endless loop of retaliation. The onus is on both sides to honour their agreements.

While Israel is launching a PR campaign to sway world opinion, it will not change reality. Although it works in the West, but not on the rest of the world because they have the facts. So without a true assessment or a full understanding of the situation Americans, none the wiser, form an opinion based on skewed and distorted information.

In the absence of balanced reporting along with the disinformation campaign and bias shown toward Israel makes the media culpable in exacerbating the conflict.

[PazPraSempre]

I have never understood why the US is so protective of Israel. What does Israel do for us? Thank you, Mr. Mitchell for pointing out Haaretz...I will take a look at it for some true journalism instead of the American MSM crap.

[rwt1138]

Israel runs this country. Nobody in any position of power got there without proudly and defiantly touting their support for Israel, and nobody who wants to get elected will be without doing the same. Wake up. In the presidential and vice-presidential debates this year, every candidate made a point of stressing their undying support of Israel. In what other country is a declaration of fealty to another country a mandate for electoral victory?

[cylindar]

Well you know if you start lobbing rockets at people you can get blown up. That's show biz.

[Melkor]

If you seize a country and herd its people into camps and then slowly suffocate the life out of them through poverty and starvation you get rocket attacks.

[newworldman777]

Hmmm...I don't suppose the fact that 25% of American media's being Jewish (compared with their comprising 2% of America's total population) has anything to do with it.

[piul05]

Exactly - and that also explains the overrepresentation of this ethnic group in most series, films, sitcoms, etc. The result is the naturalization of a particular minority, which is, in principle, good until you realize that this is not a privilege that is extended to other minorities.

You have the overbearing but doting mother; the nerdish but loyal high school friend; the wise rabbi; the communal warmth of rites of passage such as Bar Miztva*s. But alternatively, Mus*ims, whose population is very close in numbers in the US to their semitic cousins, are mainly represented as te**orists; at best, they've been accused but are innocent - it is as if they don't have families, don't worry about their children's future, don't have celebrations, don't relate to their neighbors and co-workers, don't display different personalities and aspirations. According to US media, they are an undistinguished mass who live in a vaccum; doing so is just a step away from dehumanization.

[Jimboz22]

I don't disagree with you that Jews are overrepresented, compared to other groups, in congress. There are, for instance, 13 Jewish Senators and they make up 2%ofthe population. However, the argument that American policies are biased in support of Israel because of the disproportionate power of Jews in our society misrepresents, in my view, the situation. Israel is of great strategic and economic significance to USA. Israel is, in the words of Chomsky, our "cop on the beat" in the Middle East. It's a major purchaser of American-designed jets and surveillance equipment and plays huge role in high-tech economy. As such, there are powerful interests including the defense establishment, military contractors, partsof high tech industry, etc which benefit from our relationship with Israel and the Israeli war machine. Blaming US support of Israel mostly on all-powerful Jewish lobby is in my view, inaccurate. American Jews are also highly supportive of peace and the two-state settlement. If Jews in congress, the media are particularly supportive of Israeli aggression, i think it's because American elites in general support Israel's brutal occupation of Palestine.

What we need is a broad-based citizen movement similar to the Anti-Apartheid movement to stand up to the corporations which profit from Palestinian suffering.

[dm10003]

i'm gobstopped how to react to it. of course it's atrocious. neither side is exactly heroic here.

[max08]

Good article, Greg. Needed.

[zaz33]

I had to leave early this morning but did have time to check out Haaretz first. I was amazed at the tone of the lead stories, Subdued, critical, and reflective. I asume it was completly different from the MSM in the US. I did have time to read one piece and the "talkback"

One comment from a man in California said it all.

And she (Israel) has no one but herslf to blame. She has created a cornered victim, and that victim has no chioce but to struggle"

[noralou]

The state of Israel is a good example of the fact that being treated horribly in the past does not make you act better towards others. I am not an anti-Semite, or an anti-any nation, tribe, group or people.
I just wish that religious ideaology was not such a driving force behind killing human beings.
It would be wonderful if we could remember (and live by) the Golden Rule.
There is no doubt that grave injustices have been done on both sides of this conflict, but as it has been noted, "an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, and pretty soon everyone is blind and toothless).
I have little hope that humans will survive for much longer due to our contentious behavior toward each other.
Oh well, it was an interesting experiment...

[lwaldmann]

Line up all the brave collumnist's and ask them will you stand for Israel or will you stand for Hamas? After this we can begin a conversation about how you politly, and in a civilized way, deal with a monster that wants to crush you like a bug? Got it, Haaretz.

Lary Waldman
Qualicum Beach Canada

[research]

"It unilaterally violated it when it blew up a tunnel, "

BEING USED TO BRING IN ROCKETS!

[zaz33]

Israel has become experienced and expert at baiting her enemies.

"Haaretz{ reported yesterday that Israeli jets created sonic booms over southern Lebanon on Sunday.

[research]

So have the Palestinians and the Arabs.

Rockets are weapons of terror.

[MoistvonLipwig]

Israel never implemented a single UN resolution since its anomalous and questionable creation including UN 181 which created it-by devouring large chunks of the would be Palestine state in 1947, nor UN 194 of the same year which dictates the return of Palestinian refugees now multiplied into seven million who are still living in refugee camps outside Palestine for the past 60 years.
Jewish terrorist gangs such as Haganah, Palmach, Shtern and Argun used extreme violence to ethnically cleanse millions of Palestinians and destroyed over five hundred Palestinians villages to prevent their return as per UN 194-which 60 years later Israel still refuses to implement. Israel was built on and continues to survive on respectively gang and state terrorism. Even Israeli revisionist historians have uncovered and documented Israeli ethnic cleansing to establish the racist state in 1947.
No land or resources are left whatsoever for a Palestinian state: Israel occupied 78%of Arab historic Palestine in 1947/8 and 22% in 1967 (West Bank, Gaza and most importantly Jerusalem which was built by the Canaanite Arabs long before there ever were Jews on earth) AND again Israel annexed-slowly but surely by implanting settlements in full day light- over 58% of the West Bank, Gaza, and Jerusalem-leaving less than 10% of original Arab historic Palestine for a Palestinian state???
Even the present Israeli defense minister Yahoud Barrack once said: “If I were a Palestinian I would be a terrorist.”

[piul05]

Nice and concise. Thank you.

[rtal]

This situation keeps repeating itself. People living in misery provoke the bully next door with a stone and the bully responds with a cannon. The world, and the US in particular, is not doing enough to force Israel to work with the Palestinians towards a real peace process, one that removes the settlers from occupied lands. They must do this to marginalize the radicals and encourage the average citizen. Instead they inspire hatred and revenge and they use our military hardware and money when they do it. It is an outrage!