Palestinian terror groups in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip have made good on their threat to turn southern Israel, in particular, “into hell,” by firing hundreds of rockets and mortar shells at the Jewish state in the last 36 hours. Scores of them have been intercepted by the Iron Dome missile defense system, whose batteries have successfully downed more than 90 percent of the projectiles headed towards populated areas.
Yet, while each and every launch constitutes a war crime, The New York Times, BBC, Washington Post and other news organizations have attempted to draw a moral equivalence between Iranian-backed Hamas and Islamic Jihad — both designated as terrorist organizations by the United States and other Western countries — and the Middle East’s only democracy: namely, Israel.
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Triggered: Deceiving Readers With Background Information
Media all-too-often attempt to obfuscate what should be clear moral distinctions between annihilationist Palestinian groups and the Jewish state by confusing the root causes of outbreaks of violence and their resulting effects.
Consider the headline above produced by the NYT. To begin with, it effectively blames a fully decontextualized Israeli ‘raid’ on a Muslim holy site for the ensuing military escalation. In reality, though, Palestinians had for days on end been rioting in the eastern part of Jerusalem, including atop the Temple Mount, clashing with police who were attacked with, for example, rocks and firecrackers that were stashed inside the mosque itself.
Notably, The New York Times repeatedly refers to such wanton violence as ‘protests.’
Moreover, the headline does not make clear that rocket fire from Gaza prompted Israel to respond with airstrikes. Additionally, by including in the title a mention of the ‘raid’ on al Aqsa, the NYT is suggesting that Israel’s defensive actions to thwart Palestinian violence was the mitigating factor in Hamas’ decision to open fire.
This is merely a reiteration of the terrorist group’s own claims. “Tampering with Jerusalem will burn the heads of the occupiers,” Saleh al-Arouri, a senior Hamas official, had said.
As such, The New York Times is, in practice, serving as a mouthpiece for a terrorist group that in the past month repeatedly launched projectiles at the Jewish state and that has never needed excuses to attack Israel.
Furthermore, the NYT seemingly tries to cement its false narrative by including above the story tabs leading to ‘explainers’ — that is, hit pieces about Israel — about ‘Violence in Jerusalem’ and ‘Understanding the Aqsa Mosque.’
Related Reading: Media Blackout as PLO Commits War Crimes — Days After Abbas Calls for its Removal from US Terror List
Disconnecting Hamas From Terrorism
For its part, the Washington Post in its coverage of the story attempted a similar linguistic sleight. Its article references ‘Hamas’ six times, but not once is the word ‘terrorist’ included in the same sentence as a modifier. In fact, ‘terrorist’ appears only once in the entire piece within a quote by an Israeli official; this, in the final paragraph of the article. And while the term ‘militant’ does appear twice, it is used broadly to describe various groups that operate inside Gaza, and not Hamas specifically .
WaPo then goes one step further by seemingly connecting the Gaza rocket fire to a small fringe group of young Jewish extremists who took part in the May 10 Jerusalem Day parade; which, mind you, authorities had canceled amid the unrest before reversing their decision after Hamas launched rockets at the holy city:
The sight of Muslims protesting at the mosque, which was built on the Temple Mount — the holiest site in Judaism — also inflamed the passions of far-right Jewish nationalists who want to see a third Jewish temple built on the ruins of the mosque. “
Over the years, Jews harboring controversial views have participated in the annual event commemorating Israel’s reunification of Jerusalem in the aftermath of the 1967 Six-Day War. However, those who have hurled racist slurs or perpetrated act of violence against Palestinians have been held to account by Israeli security forces and condemned by Israeli politicians.
The same cannot be said of officials in Ramallah, who not only hail terrorists but provide them and their families with monthly stipends as part of the Palestinians’ ‘Pay-for-Slay’ policy.
Turning Hamas Human Shields Into Victims of Israeli Aggression
Meanwhile, news organizations such as the BBC seemingly construe the tragic deaths of a number of Palestinian youths in Gaza as evidence that Israel simply bombs away without taking precautions. But the truth is that the IDF goes to great lengths to limit Palestinian casualties, including by at times putting its soldiers in harm’s way; and in other instances providing advanced warning of impending strikes so that Palestinian civilians can evacuate — even though this means that terrorists might simultaneously escape.
Unfortunately, civilians are liable to get hurt in every war, and more so with respect to Gaza given that Hamas deliberately operates within densely populated urban areas. Moreover, the terrorist organization uses its official media channels to actively encourage Palestinian civilians to act as human shields.
But none of that seems to matter, and readers are generally fed misleading details such as this:
Israeli air strikes against militant targets in Gaza have killed up to 20 people, including children.”
Or, there is this headline from The Telegraph (UK):
Another point: Many Gazans reported killed in conflicts between Hamas and Israel have later been identified as terrorists. This is because news outlets often unquestionably recycle statistics from the Hamas-run Health Ministry.
For example, the Health Ministry in Gaza claimed that between Monday night and Tuesday morning at least 24 people were killed. Yet, the IDF contended that at least 15 of those were members of terror groups. Finally, some of the deceased were reportedly hit by errant Hamas or Islamic Jihad rockets that landed in the Palestinian coastal enclave.
Related Reading: The Hamas Charter: A Manifesto for Destroying Israel
By Equating Israel With Hamas, The New York Times, Washington Post and BBC Are Playing With Fire
By not reporting certain facts while distracting readers with extraneous information — this, apparently, with a view to perpetuating anti-Israel narratives — some of the world’s largest news organizations are engaging in a form of moral relativism that is making it increasingly difficult to identify and subsequently hold human rights violators to account.
Such agenda-driven journalism not only does a great disservice to people who rely on The New York Times, Washington Post, BBC and other media for accurate stories.
Even worse, it guarantees that Palestinians living under Hamas’ iron fist will continue to suffer so long as the terrorist group’s war crimes against Israel are minimized.
Featured Image: Photo by Ilia Yefimovich/picture alliance via Getty Images
