With some 28 Lebanese civilians killed following an Israeli Air Force strike against a building in the village of Qana, Israel is once again subject to some severe criticism in the UK and international media. TV viewers and newspaper readers are confronted with highly emotive and disturbing images and front pages such as that of the Independent.
Undoubtedly, the loss of life is extremely tragic and the vast majority of Israelis deeply regrets this incident. However, while some media wishes to portray Israel as a malevolent force that deliberately murders civilians, some wider context needs to be added to the coverage of the Qana story:
Some 150 rockets have been fired at Israeli cities from Qana over the past 20 days. This IDF map traces how these rockets have been launched in 30 salvos at Haifa and other locations, including Nahariya, Ma’alot and Kiryat Shmona. To date, 18 Israeli civilians have been killed and hundreds wounded as a result of this rocket fire.
Hezbollah has been deliberately hiding behind and operating from within civilian areas in the knowledge that Israel does not deliberately target civilians. Thus, when a terrible accident such as Qana occurs, Hezbollah is presented with a propaganda coup, as is currently the case. Indeed, Australia’s Herald Sun published damning photos “showing that Hezbollah is waging war amid suburbia. The images…show Hezbollah using high-density residential areas as launch pads for rockets and heavy-calibre weapons. Dressed in civilian clothing so they can quickly disappear, the militants carrying automatic assault rifles and ride in on trucks mounted with cannon.”
As the Daily Telegraph rightly points out:
The Qana bombing cruelly underscores the high risk associated with Israel’s wholly justifiable attempt to eradicate Hizbollah.
The terrorist organisation, with lethal cynicism, routinely locates its rocket sites in densely populated areas, making tragic incidents of this kind almost inevitable, and so adding grist to Hizbollah’s propaganda mill.
Despite its own editorial, the paper then runs this accusatory headline:
The children went to sleep believing they were safe. And then Israel targeted them as terrorists
Letters to the Daily Telegraph.
While Israeli civilians in northern towns and cities have between 15 seconds and one minute to find cover after an air raid siren is sounded, Lebanese civilians have been forewarned of IDF operations, in some cases, by days. The residents of Qana were warned 48 hours in advance of potential IAF air strikes.
DOUBLE STANDARDS
The Qana incident is likely to be a defining incident in this current conflict, aided by a media that lacks context and prefers to judge Israel by different standards to other nations involved in military actions. It is, for example, interesting to examine the record of NATO forces that bombed the Serb military in Kosovo in the late-1990s. In the face of an estimated 500 civilian deaths, NATO admits that: “Strikes were also complicated by the cynical Serb use of civilian homes and buildings to hide weapons and vehicles, the intermixing of military vehicles with civilian convoys and, sometimes, the use of human shields. In this way, NATO’s concern to avoid civilian casualties was exploited by the Serbs.”
PLAYING THE “NUMBERS GAME”
The Guardian states: “At a stroke, Israel’s armed forces destroyed almost as many Lebanese lives as the total number of Israelis who have died since this conflict began nearly three weeks ago.” While, more Lebanese have died than Israelis, it is simplistic and misleading to play the “numbers game”. Many more Israelis would have died had some 330,000 citizens not fled the north of the country, mirroring the exodus of Lebanese from Southern Lebanon. Those Israelis who have remained have spent their time in bomb shelters or reinforced rooms thus reducing the death rate. However, it must not be forgotten that Hezbollah’s expressed intent is to kill as many Israeli civilians as possible – in stark contrast to the aims of the IDF to avoid civilian casualties as much as possible.
How many Israeli civilians need to die before Israel’s actions are deemed to be “proportionate”?
Letters to the Guardian.
Sky News‘ David Bowden also offers a simplistic view of Qana:
As a correspondent it is my job to tell you the facts as I see them… and here are the facts of what happened at Qana… a superior military power launched a devastating and deadly attack on scores of women and their children, most of whom are now dead.
Comments to Sky News.
HonestReporting UK does not wish to minimise or cheapen the deaths of innocent civilians. We do, however, call for the media and the court of international opinion to treat Israel fairly and to view this terrible incident within the wider context of Israel’s fight to protect its own citizens from the continuing threat of Hezbollah’s rockets. Hezbollah, which hides behind women and children as they fire these rockets, is directly responsible for the situation now occuring within Southern Lebanon.
Above is only a small selection of UK media. Due to the incredible volume of coverage, not all instances of media bias can be specifically highlighted by HonestReporting UK. We call on our subscribers to go the extra mile and respond to the media where necessary. Click here to find contact details for UK and other major international media outlets.
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