Coverage Trends

The notion that Palestinian parents send their children to die is yet the latest reincarnation of a well-known scapegoating strategy known as ‘blaming the victim.’

Much of the media portrays the current conflict between the Palestinians and the Israeli occupying army as an encounter or contest between equals, ignoring the massive imbalance of military, economic, political and diplomatic power between the Palestinian and Israeli sides.

Many unwitting journalists and politicians continue to reproduce the baseless Israeli claim that former Prime Minister Ehud Barak was “generous” in an “unprecedented” way in the offer he made to the Palestinians at Camp David.

Since the “unilateral cease-fire” was declared (22 May 2001) and the “restraint” buzzword started appearing (28 May 2001), Israeli actions on the ground have clearly not been restricted to acts of “self-defence”, as Sharon put it.

The Palestinian people, who sit glued to their television sets in disturbed silence like the rest of the world, are actually better placed than most to understand what those of us living in America currently feel and are finding it hard to express.

The condemnation of terrorism should not be reserved for the terrorism of one side in any conflict. Israel’s actions following the suicide bombings of 1st and 2nd December demonstrate this perfectly.

Contrary to what US President George Bush and various media sources have said about Palestinian President Yasser Arafat needing to condemn suicide bombings “in Arabic”, below are translations of three recent statements made by Arafat or representatives of the Palestinian Authority and broadcast in Arabic over the Voice of Palestine radio station, Palestine TV, or WAFA.

On 29 March 2002, Israel began what it called “Operation Defensive Shield”, an unprecedented invasion of Palestinian towns to “defeat the infrastructure of Palestinian terror in all its parts and components” according to the Israeli Cabinet Communique that announced the massive military operation.

Only those who want the conflict to continue will maintain the lie about Palestinian textbooks and find in them non-existent excuses to continue the oppression and dehumanisation of the Palestinian people while what little is left of their country is stolen from under their feet.

The UN report provides no new information to those who are seriously interested in the truth of what happened in Jenin last April. To the Israelis it provides another propaganda coup and plenty of misleading headlines clearing it of any fault, to Kofi Annan and the UN it provides a welcome end to an embarrassing and politically awkward chapter, and to Palestinians it proves yet again that for Israel impunity, not law, is the rule.