Why no balanced reporting on Gaza invasion in US?

[janet118]

From the Huffington Post:

In the usual process, the U.S. government, media here -- and many of the leading liberal bloggers -- are silent or playing down questions about whether Israel overreacted in its massive air strikes on Gaza, while the foreign press, and even Haaretz in Israel, carries more balanced accounts.

Anyone who cares should consult the respected Haaretz site often, if for no other reason than to learn that criticism of Israeli military actions are usually more heated inside that country than in the USA. The New York Times, for example, as of today (Monday), has not yet editorialized on the air assault. You may recall the lockstep support in the U.S. for Israeli's invasion of southern Lebanon, which included the use of U.S.-made cluster bombs. That invasion turned out to be a genuine fiasco.

The Israeli press is more tolerant of debate and alternate opinions than the U.S. Why is that? Why is our press so cowed by the Israeli government? Here are a portions of Haaretz editorials quoted in Greg Mitchell's piece:

Another opinion piece in Haaretz -- titled, "Neighborhood Bully Strikes Again" -- by Gideon Levy: "Israel embarked yesterday on yet another unnecessary, ill-fated war. On July 16, 2006, four days after the start of the Second Lebanon War, I wrote: 'Every neighborhood has one, a loud-mouthed bully who shouldn't be provoked into anger... Not that the bully's not right - someone did harm him. But the reaction, what a reaction!' Two and a half years later, these words repeat themselves, to our horror, with chilling precision. Within the span of a few hours on a Saturday afternoon, the IDF sowed death and destruction on a scale that the Qassam rockets never approached in all their years, and Operation 'Cast Lead' is only in its infancy."

Also from Haaretz, Zvi Barel writes: "Six months ago Israel asked and received a cease-fire from Hamas. It unilaterally violated it when it blew up a tunnel, while still asking Egypt to get the Islamic group to hold its fire." Yet the U.S. media refers that only Hamas violated the ceasefire.

The problems between Israel and the Palestinians will never be solved until there is a balanced and fair discussion of the problems there. I am sick of the portrayal of Israeli atrocities as being defensive actions while Palestinian atrocities are exaggerated and deemed without provocation. The Israeli government should listen to its own people. Many of the Israeli people recognize that the Palestinians have legitimate grievances that must be addressed before any lasting peace can be achieved.

[crikkett]

1. No balanced reporters? Noone wants to be put on the No-Fly list?

[Soylent Brice]

8. BINGO

[LynnTheDem]

2. You mean versus the balanced reporting in the US on Iraq? On Georgia and South Ossetia?

All that kind of "balanced" reporting?

How come the majority of Americans still think Vietnam vets were spat on by lefties?

How come the majority (albeit now a slim one) of Americans still think nuking Japan "saved a million US lives"?

How come the majority (71%) believed Iraq did 911?

How come far too many Americans are the most ignorant people on the planet?

How come America is listed as #53 in the world rankings for freedoms of the press?

[blueraven95]

3. I don't know what reports you are seeing

but many of the ones I am seeing are neglecting to mention that Israel is reacting after days (weeks, months, years) of rocket attacks on it's borders by terrorists. If they mention it at all, it's buried in the eighth paragraph.

[LynnTheDem]

4. You thus prove the reports you're seeing are unbalanced.

Bet you believe it was Palestine that violated the truce.

And that's the complaint; too much bullshit and not enough fact & balance is being reported in the US "media".

[mike_c]

5. that's a smoke screen to hide the truth...

Israel is engaging in collective punishment of the innocent, killing and wounding Palestinian civilians in an approximate 1:1000 ratio for the death of ONE Israeli near the Gaza border, and committing its usual war crimes by targeting civilians for maximum terror. After it finishes the current terrorism, Israel will go back to slowly starving the residents of its Gaza ghetto as usual.

[newtothegame]

6. At the same time I saw literally NOTHING last week about the increased rocket attacks from Hamas...

In fact, my neocon Dad was right for the first time ever. He commented on the lack of coverage on Israel's warnings and predicted that when Israel responded, it would be front page news.

[European Socialist]

7. Next, You will probably want to take a close look at Joe the Plumber.

Why do you Hate America?

[StudsT]

9. it is achieving the desired effect in perpetuating the apartheid - as well as out right censorship

even here online :puke:

StudsT

[specimenfred1984]

10. Ut oh, here comes the "Drunken Jew-hater" snipes

from people who could care less about objective journalism. The reality is the U.S. just wants to cash in on hate and war everywhere.