Editorial

Why We Start With Coverage of Israel and Palestine

As noted elsewhere, in order to get our new site launched and out in front of the public, we have decided to present it piecemeal and expand it as we can over time. Given that we will ultimately cover ten to twelve wide-ranging categories of new and events, why select the Israel-Palestine situation as the first to present?

Well, what better topic could we use to illustrate the fundamental reason that we have launched this site; shedding light on what the American media keeps in darkness. The reasons for the media keeping readers in darkness are complex and controversial and will be discussed in some of the articles in our archives and in editorial. The point here is that it is very obvious to those of us who keep in touch with news from outside sources, that we are not party to what is going on in other areas of the world, and most particularly in Palestine.

Let us state at the outset that we abhor, totally and unequivocally, the violent, destructive suicide bombings in Israel. They are not productive of anything except human misery. However, we do not deal with most of them on this site because coverage of Israeli news events is reasonably frequent in most American newspapers and TV and radio news programs.

What is notable to us is the almost complete absence of news coverage of the details of what is going on in Palestine, particularly concerning human rights and human misery. Believing that a well-informed citizen is an effective citizen, we bring you coverage about Palestine from credible Palestinian and Israeli sources, which, combined with what you typically get from the American media, will enable you to have a more balanced picture of the situation.

Recent examples from the Boston Globe, the main newspaper in our own geographical area, serve to illustrate our point. On January 28, 2004, page A4, there is an article by Globe correspondent Nancy Updike, datelined "Nablus, West Bank," and headlined "Closures, imports dent West Bank town's economy." The West Bank town is Nablus.

Amazingly, to us, the article focuses on two small businesses and their troubles. One businessman is a "Palestinian Diaper magnate" who bemoans his difficulty in getting the powder that makes diapers fluffy and absorbent. A second businessman, in the glass business, complains of a number of hardships, including that he has to now restrict his business to Nablus and can't deliver outside of the town.

There is nothing in the article, not a word, about the political or military situation in Nablus. One is simply given the impression that all is well except that diapers aren't as fluffy anymore, and that glass retailing has its troubles.

Well, fine, we have here a nice little human interest article. However, the article cited apparently is the Globe's detailed coverage of news in Nablus. One searches in vain for a sign, any sign, of detailed news about the political, human rights, health, environmental and other aspects of life in Nablus and other Palestinian cities and towns. None. Only rarely is Palestine covered in the Globe. True, in the February 2nd issue of the Globe, there is an article with a photograph that actually shows a Palestinian house that was demolished by the Israeli Defense Force (IDF). However, the article is written primarily from an Israeli viewpoint and appears to imply that the IDF raids on Palestinian towns are justified because of Palestinian terrorism. No mention at all of how ordinary Palestinian citizens, including women, children, the elderly and the infirm are indiscriminately killed, humiliated and otherwise abused by IDF troops as they pursue Palestinian men suspected of being terrorists.

However, if you look in our Israeli-Palestine archive you will find several articles about Nablus. You will find that fluffy diapers are not an issue or concern. What you will find is a detailed UN report condemning wanton destruction of life and property in Nablus by the IDF. What you will find is another article detailing the siege of Nablus by the IDF. What you will find are stories about IDF bulldozers leveling homes in Nablus and other communities with the inhabitants inside! We are sure that none of those people were thinking about fluffy diapers when the walls came down upon them and the only glass they were thinking of was that from the windows shattered by IDF gunfire.

A second article, this one on the front page of the Globe a few days later, described a brutal suicide bombing in Israel, an event that we totally condemn. We note, however, that in this article, bloody, gory descriptions of what happened to the victims were reported in what seemed unusual detail.

We ask here if equally evident bits and pieces of Palestinian victims bodies occurred as a result of IDF activity in Nablus or elsewhere in Palestine, would the Globe have reported that in similar detail or, for that matter, would the event even have been reported at all? Not in all likelihood, judging from what we have seen in the Globe compared with what we post in our archives.

We single out the Globe only because it is one of the papers that we read regularly. We suspect that most of the newspapers you read are no different. Perhaps you may think that they are and that you are receiving unbiased coverage. We ask you to read our archives with an open mind and then compare our news with coverage of Palestine given by the newspapers that you read and draw your own conclusions.

B. J. F. 2004-02-16