The death of Yaser Arafat was seen by many in the media as a new opportunity for peace in the Middle East. But many outlets took the news as a chance to recycle some very old and discredited charges. What else was notable about the coverage of Arafat’s death? CounterSpin spoke to Ali Abunimah of the website Electronic Intifada. CounterSpin is FAIR’s weekly radio show, hosted by Janine Jackson, Steve Rendall and Peter Hart. It’s heard on more than 125 noncommercial stations across the United States and Canada. Also this week on CounterSpin: News reports about Alberto Gonzales’s nomination as the next U.S. Attorney General have concentrated more on Gonzales’s ethnicity and his friendship with Bush than on his radical views on civil rights, human rights and international law. This could explain why Gonzales has not faced much opposition. CounterSpin talks to Michael Ratner, president of Center for Constitutional Rights and a strong Gonzales critic about coverage.
