CNN anchor claims Gaza is in Israel

Michael F. Brown Media Watch 23 November 2023

Dana Bash waves in front of a blue background with white lettering saying White House Correspondents' Association and WHCA

CNN anchor Dana Bash put Gaza in Israel and conflated equal rights with anti-Semitism.

Julia Nikhinson CNP

Does Dana Bash believe Gaza is in Israel?

It certainly sounded that way when she wrapped up a segment on Tuesday by referring to “Gaza, which is in the southwest of Israel.”

Gaza, of course, is not part of Israel, though Israeli expansionists certainly lay illegal claim to it.

Bash did not respond to my inquiry on the subject asking for a correction.

The erroneous geography comes from the CNN journalist who has been most insistent that the chant “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” is anti-Semitic.

Initially, she relied on the anti-Palestinian Anti-Defamation League to assert the case.

Now, she makes the claim on her own, ascribing anti-Semitism to millions of advocates for equal rights between the river and the sea, including Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib.

And she gives cover to Twitter/X owner Elon Musk, saying, “But he said something about from the river to the sea, which is an anti-Semitic chant, full stop, that when he sees that or when that is up there, it will be policed.”

She then pointed out that Musk is, however, posting clear right-wing anti-Semitism.

Musk’s right-wing bigotry was quickly given cover by the Anti-Defamation League’s CEO Jonathan Greenblatt when he applauded Musk’s announced move against the term “decolonization” and the “from the river to the sea” slogan.

Bash appears to be right there with Musk and Greenblatt on shutting down free speech for those favoring equal rights between the river and the sea. It’s the Palestine free speech exception on steroids.

The CNN anchor, of course, doesn’t highlight Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s anti-Palestinian racism.

She ignored his decision to display cartographic props at the UN in September, including a map of an expanded “Israel in 1948” (sweeping up Gaza and the West Bank), and a 2023 map of Israel controlling all the land between the river and the sea. The 2023 map further included the occupied Golan Heights from Syria.

Netanyahu tweeted at the time that it’s the great privilege of his life to fight for “our country,” clearly signifying with the accompanying map that he thinks the apartheid country extends from the river to the sea.
Bash and CNN are giving Netanyahu a pass – precisely as she did on 12 November when she interviewed the prime minister and ignored his map of an expansive Israel and failed to question him vigorously on the number of Palestinian children killed during Israel’s onslaught against Gaza.

Interrogating Israeli apartheid and expansionism in 2023 is not of interest to Bash in the current anti-Palestinian political climate she is helping to promote.

Better and easier, in the view of Bash and CNN, to go after equal rights and call it anti-Semitism.

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Michael F. Brown

Michael F. Brown is an independent journalist. His work and views have appeared in The International Herald Tribune, TheNation.com, The San Diego Union-Tribune, The News & Observer, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The Washington Post and elsewhere.