Okay, so now I'm offending everybody because I'm over-simplifying all these issues, making generalized statements and assumptions, and foregoing my previous good-efforts of trying to be "balanced."
Sure, I can blame it on deciding to poison myself by watching FOX and CNN.
I agree with this part of the last comment and think it is very well-stated:
"In reality, all sides bear great responsibility for the escalation of the conflict and all sides have unfulfilled responsibilities. On Israel's side, I see the need for (at least) a full pull-out from the Palestinian territories (with an possible exception for the heavily populated settlements right on the Green Line), a clear endorsement for a Palestinian state, and a commitment to end the blockades which make trade and travel difficult. On the Arab side, it is imperative that they recognize the state of Israel, commit themselves to land negotiations, and - this is really important, I think - begin to build a culture the cohesion of which does not depend on the continued demonization of Israel. One of the possible reasons why the Arab world is so slow to help the refugees is because without the spector of Israel, the Arab world might have to actually consider some of the other reasons why their society is plagued with structural problems. Israel functions as an effective scapegoat, but this isn't doing much to get people jobs."
As for the issue of media bias. . . Is the U.S. media controlled by the Israel lobby? Is Europe showing things that you don't see on U.S. media and being more critical about Israel than the U.S. media? Of course. Why is that? I will stick to the fact that the Israel lobby is the second-most powerful in Congresss. I have seen way too much footage and heard way too much honest questioning of Israeli policies on media sources that are not based in the U.S.
I'm not exaggerating or being too simplistic. It is true. Americans do not know what is going on. I've been asking people if they know what is happening right now in Gaza. They don't know that there is no power in Gaza, which means there is no clean drinking water, that civilians and too many children have been targeted and killed while hanging out at the beach. Arabs know this. Europeans know this. It is a basic story that their news channels carry. Why don't Americans know?? Why will I never see this on an American news source?
Obviously, the situation is complicated. And I do have a horrible tendency to talk in black and whites and start offending everybody, especially when upset and tired. Of course, the Israel-Palestine issue is always the same. So it's tiring. I'll do the PC-thing and talk about it in a way so as not to offend. But then I just give that up.
I don't see how anyone can think that the U.S. media is not biased towards Israel. What bad things do they show about Israel? And they always try to stay balanced. So if they mention that 2 Palestinians got killed, they'll say 2 Israelis got killed--to stay balanced. But of course, percentage wise that means they're reporting Israeli victims far more than Palestinian victims. NPR, CBS, ABC, NBC all do this. Go to and
But again, I don't want to blame people. I think it's these bad governments. I'll put the Israeli, the U.S., the Lebanese, the Palestinian, and all these governments in the category of bad. People are people. And I think they will do the right thing. But they need to be informed correctly.
Of course, it's always the same reverse culture-shock, when I return to the U.S. I haven't been here for this long in a while. And it does freak me out when I talk to people and see how they think and how little they know.
Maybe all the well-informed, intelligent people who post here (and believe me, that's not sarcastic, but I think it could have sounded sarcastic) don't realize or think about those people at the YMCA and my church--who are well-meaning people, but so lacking on real information. They really are manipulated by FOX News. They really think Islamo-fascists are out to get them. They really did buy those lies about WMD in Iraq. They really thought that occupying Iraq would protect them from terror threats. These lies are so dangerous
1 comment:
where's Wally?
Post a Comment