On 17 May 2005, some 180 journalists from the Arabic and Hebrew media, as well as representatives of foreign embassies, media students, representatives of NGOs and the general public attended I’lam’s presentation on “Patterns of Media Consumption and Perceptions of Media Reliability in Arab Society in Israel.” The event was held at the Cinematheque in Nazareth. Dr. Amal Jamal presented a summary of some of the preliminary findings. The research forms part of I’lam’s “Responsible and Professional Media� project and is the first of a three-part comprehensive research project. Read more about Consumption of Media Amongst the Arab Society in Israel
On Capitol Hill yesterday, a two-year study of network news coverage of Israel/Palestine revealed extensive underreporting of Palestinian deaths, particularly of children’s deaths. In reporting on this situation, the organization found that the networks reported on Israeli children’s deaths at rates up to 13 times greater than Palestinian children’s deaths. In reality, 22 times more Palestinian children were being killed than Israeli children. “Since American taxpayers give Israel over $10 million per day, it is essential that we be accurately informed on this issue,” says executive director Alison Weir Read more about Study Reveals TV News Vastly Underreports Palestinian Children's Deaths
“Daniel Okrent’s attempt at further Israeli apologia in the Sunday NY Times (“The Hottest Button: How the Times Covers Israel and Palestine”, April 24, 2005), in which he pretends to summarize the ‘criticisms’ of the paper of record, conveniently ignoring the crucial aspect of anti-Arabism visible throughout regular Times reports.” Dane Baker submitted this response to the article in New York Times.Read more about Israeli apologia in the Sunday New York Times
A little over a week ago, some members of our organization, If Americans Knew, met with New York Times Public Editor Daniel Okrent to discuss the findings of a detailed study we had completed of two years worth of Times news stories on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Okrent was going to be writing a column discussing the paper’s coverage of Israel/Palestine, and we felt our study would be an important resource. We presented our findings, complete with charts, spread-sheets, clear sourcing, and extensive additional documentation, to Okrent and his assistant. His subsequent column was perplexing. Read more about When the New York Times' distortion gets up close and personal
With activists increasing pressure on Caterpillar to stop supplying the Israeli military with equipment it uses to demolish Palestinian homes and businesses in violation of international law, press accounts surfaced in support of ‘poor’ Caterpillar, ranked #57 in the Fortune 1,000 corporate index with 2004 revenues of some $30 billion. Support for CAT is primarily limited to the second-tier intellectual press, mainly the Los Angeles Times and Boston Globe. Dane Baker reports. Read more about Press sides with Caterpillar's 'right' to sell tools of destruction to human rights violators
Tim Llewellyn was the BBC’s Middle East correspondent twice from 1976 - 1982 and from 1987 - 1992. Based in Beirut and Cyprus, Llewellyn covered the Lebanese civil war, the Iranian Revolution, the Tanker Wars, the first Palestinian intifada, and the first Gulf War. He was one of the first foreign correspondents to enter the camps of Sabra and Shatila after the massacres there by Phalangist Forces under the auspices of the Israeli army in September 1982. In this interview, exclusive to the Electronic Intifada, Llewellyn talks candidly about the BBC, and the pressures that organization and its correspondents are under, when reporting from the Middle East. Read more about BBC reporting doesn't tell the whole story
The Palestinian Authority has denied Israeli press reports citing concessions from President Mahmud Abbas on the issue of Palestinian refugees’ right of return. The Israeli newspaper Haaretz on Monday quoted unnamed Palestinian sources as saying that Abbas would present Palestinian leaders, who are due to meet in Cairo on Tuesday, with a new position on the “right of return”. The new position would seek to convince faction leaders to recognise that the refugees’ right of return could not be implemented in full given current political and demographic realities, Haaretz said. The PA called the report a “fabrication”. Read more about PA: Palestinian refugees' right of return paramount
Well, I just got hung up on again. This time by an editor on the Los Angeles Times foreign desk. I had called and attempted, as politely as possible, to give him a correction for the story on the Times’ website tonight. This will probably be their front-page lead news story tomorrow morning. The headline proclaims: “Palestinian Suicide bomber Shatters Calm of late.” The lead sentence then goes on to state that this bomber “shattered a months-long period of relative calm…” The fact is, however, that the truce and this “calm” were shattered long before this. The last suicide bombing against Israeli civilians was Nov. 1, 2004. It took three Israeli lives. Since that time, while Israelis have basked in “relative calm,” 170 Palestinian men, women, and children have been killed. Read more about The LA Times' notion of "relative calm"
The Star Tribune’s editorial (“Aiding Abbas”, Feb 12th) lauded President Bush’s “remarkable new initiative, a $350 million fund for Palestinian humanitarian and security projects, which would give the peace process important new momentum.” The problem is that part of the money is earmarked for human rights violations. Glenn Kessler noted in the Feb 6th Washington Post, that “A White House official said $50 million of the $350 million that Bush announced in his State of the Union address to ‘support Palestinian political, economic, and security reforms’ could be given to Israel for [checkpoint] terminals because faster passage through Israeli checkpoints is presumed to be a help to the Palestinian economy.” EI’s Nigel Parry challenged the Star Tribune in this unpublished letter. Read more about Star Tribune praises President Bush's commitment to a human rights violation
Two innocent Palestinians were killed by the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) on 12 January 2005. Although they were the latest in a long line of Palestinian victims, and from a tiny village near Ramallah, they made headlines all over the world. They were the first Palestinians to be assassinated by the IOF since the election of Mahmoud Abbas, which had taken place just three days before. The so-called ‘period of restraint’ had come to an abrupt end with the killings. For this reason, the assassinations were portrayed by the commercial media as a necessary response to two violent militants who had opened fire at Israeli soldiers. However, eyewitnesses on the ground report an entirely different story. Read more about Behind Israel's official version of the news
