Israel Would Get Hell? Gimme a Break!
Reader comment on item: Cut Gaza's power?
in response to reader comment: Israel would get hell internationally at first but they're tactics worth using

Submitted by Sofa Sogood (United States), Sep 17, 2007 at 01:48

Until there's a complete change in the world situation and/or until Europeans see the similarilties in the way they themselves are and will continue to be treated in the Press (Is that when pigs fly?) , especially by the BBC and Reuters (and this biased coverage is going to escalate in the U.S.), the public will never get press coverage that approaches decent reporting concerning Israel.

After a week that included the shelling of a schoolyard, and rockets that injured between 40 - 69 military trainees, The NY Times printed the following Reuters report on 9-15-07:

http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/world/international-palestinians-israel-gaza.html?_r=2&oref=slogin&oref=slogin

In summary -

"ISRAELI FORCE CLASHES WITH MILITANTS IN GAZA"

AFTER 5 PARAGRAPHS OF: [Israel] "pushed into" "bulldozing areas of farmland" -- [repeated in 2 separate paragraphs], "17 year old Palestinian male ... in serious condition...shot in the stomache..." "what it called terror threats"-- [referring to reports from the Israeli forces]

IN THE SIXTH PARAGRAPH "they finally get around to:

"Tensions between the Jewish state and Hamas...have increased sharply after a makeshift rocket" [did they mean a cute little harmless toy?]

"fired into Israel" -- [with no mention of the schoolyard]

"by militants wounded at least 35" -- [better than saying "at least" 10] -- "Israeli army conscripts"-- [those forced to serve?].

AFTER FOUR MORE PARAGRAPHS of characterizing a group which was "throwing rocks at soldiers" and "trying to force their way through a checkpoint" as a "rally" [a word associated with football games]

- IT ENDS WITH THE BLAMING WORDS ... [Israel's] "planned road block in the area."

Israel needs to get it's own satellite television station broadcasting at prime time into Europe and North America that broadcasts hourly repeats of nothing but debunking phoney news stories. They wouldn't have to present their own case -- the "corrections" would do it for them.

As for Cutting Gaza's Power? Israel should do what any nation would be entitled to do to protect itself. But it would be helpful (even if very few would pay attention at this point) to accompany all actions with very, very good planned, professional media action, instead of the namby-pamby unprepared off-the-cuff attempts they made last summer...

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