Jon Snow is the presenter of the UK’s Channel 4 flagship news program. After the tragic downing of Malaysia flight MH17 over Ukraine, he tweeted the following:
Awful danger that the shooting down of flight MH17 will provide cover for an intensification of Israel’s ground war in Gaza — Jon Snow (@jonsnowC4) July 18, 2014
Unfortunately it is far too similar in sentiment to tweets such as this:
Could the downing of #MH17 be the work of Israel to deflect world attention from the crisis in Gaza?Mossad have done this in the past. #MH17
— Shakir Yasin (@Shakir___) July 17, 2014
The shocking event in Ukraine has fueled the usual contemptible anti-Semitic conspiracy theories. It is highly unlikely that Jon Snow subscribes to these conspiracy theories even if he has demonstrated a particularly hostile attitude towards Israel. Even more reason, therefore, that he shouldn’t be giving oxygen to this sort of disgusting nonsense.
What, however, is Snow implying when he writes of “providing cover?” While it is legitimate to point out that the Malaysia airline disaster may have pushed Israel’s Gaza operation off the front pages, Snow’s turn of phrase implies that Israel has something to hide from the media. Israel has nothing to hide and has been open and transparent concerning its reasons for a ground operation and providing the media with credible information.
Either way, Snow should apologize for his ill-thought tweet. In the context of conspiracy tweets spreading around Twitter, Snow needs to be more careful how he, an experienced newsman, expresses himself.
And while we are on the subject, take a look at Snow’s appalling treatment of Israeli government spokesperson Mark Regev in a recent interview.
[sc:graybox ]You can email the Channel 4 newsroom and demand an apology – [email protected]
Image: CC BY HonestReporting, flick/Chatham House
