In the clip below from January 12, 2014, CNN’s anchorwoman interviews Mohammed Jamjoom who is reporting from CNN’s Beirut studio on Arab reactions to Ariel Sharon’s death. While Jamjoom mentions that Sharon was “held indirectly responsible” for the 1982 Sabra and Shatila massacre, not once does he state that the actual perpetrators were Lebanese Christian Phalangists.
A segment is then played of Jamjoom’s visit to the refugee camps where, unsurprisingly, survivors from 1982 place the blame solely on Sharon as a “war criminal.”
Captions at the bottom of the screen do nothing to dispel the notion that Sharon carried out the massacre himself:
“Arabs blame Sharon for massacre at Lebanon refugee camps”
“Hundreds killed at Sabra and Shatila refugee camps in 1982”
and worst of all:
“Israeli inquiry found Sharon responsible for 1982 massacre”
This final caption is deliberately misleading.
From the Arabs interviewed to the on-screen captions and Jamjoom’s reporting, the uninformed viewer is receiving the false message loud and clear – Ariel Sharon personally carried out a massacre.
