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Media Bias - Palestine and Israel

Rules of the Western Media in dealing with the Middle East - 1

Rule 1: See the Middle East through Israeli eyes.
Rule 2: Treat American and Israeli governmental statements as hard news.
Rule 3: Ignore the historical context.
Rule 4: Avoid the fundamental legal and moral issues posed by the Israeli occupation.
Rule 5: Suppress or minimize news unfavorable to the Israelis.
Rule 6: Muddy the waters when necessary.
Rule 7: Credit all Israeli claims, even if wholly unfounded.
Rule 8: Doubt all Palestinian assertions, no matter how self-evident.
Rule 9: Condemn only Palestinian violence.
Rule 10: Disparage the international consensus supporting Palestinian rights.

– The Media's Middle East Rules of Engagement by Robin Miller, 06 June 2002

Rules of the Western Media in dealing with the Middle East - 2

Rule 1: In the Middle East, it is always the Arabs that attack first, and it's always Israel who defends itself. This is called "retaliation".
Rule 2: The Arabs, whether Palestinians or Lebanese, are not allowed to kill Israelis. This is called "terrorism".
Rule 3: Israel has the right to kill Arab civilians; this is called "self-defense", or these days "collateral damage".
Rule 4: When Israel kills too many civilians the Western world calls for restraint. This is called the "reaction of the international community".
Rule 5: Palestinians and Lebanese do not have the right to capture Israeli military, not even a limited number, not even 1 or 2.
Rule 6: Israel has the right to capture as many Palestinians as they want (Palestinians: around 10000 to date, 300 of which are children, Lebanese: 1000s to date, being held without trial). There is no limit; there is no need for proof of guilt or trial. All that is needed is the magic word: "terrorism"
Rule 7: When you say "Hezbollah", always be sure to add "supported by Syria and Iran"
Rule 8: When you say "Israel", never say "supported by the USA, the UK and other European countries", for people (God forbid) might believe this is not an equal conflict.
Rule 9: When it comes to Israel, don't mention the words "occupied territories", "UN resolutions", "Geneva conventions". This could distress the audience of Fox.
Rule 10: Israelis speak better English than Arabs. This is why we let them speak out as much as possible, so that they can explain rules 1 through 9. This is called "neutral journalism".
Rule 11: If you don't agree with these rules or if you favor the Arab side over the Israeli side, you must be a very dangerous anti-Semite. You may even have to make a public apology if you express your honest opinion (isn't democracy wonderful ?).

Source: Yahoo group Assawra

Misuse of words and phrases

By the use of words such as "clashes" or "fierce fighting between the Israelis and the Palestinian militants", the corporate media give the impression that there is a parity between the two sides. As the chart on the right shows, this is far from the truth. This explains why the number of Israeli military casualties in the 'clashes' is almost always zero.

For a list of misleading words and phrases see Alternative Media and Criticism of Western media/How to Interpret What the Mass Media Say.

A 'free' press

Shai Bazak, former spokesman for former prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and then consul-general in Miami, recalled what happens when the American media gets into a tussle with Jewish capital. "I have a friend in Miami who used to take out a lot of advertising in the Miami Herald. There was a time when the paper's reporting was very hostile to Israel. He told them 'I'm going to pull all my advertising.'" Two weeks later, their reporter here was recalled, a new reporter showed up and since then they've reported objectively and he's advertising with them again. The Americans understand only money."

– The whole world's against us by Aviv Lavie, 24 June 2002.

The word is out: Any U.S. journalist, columnist, editor, college professor, student-activist, public official or clergy member who dares to speak critically of Israel or accurately report the brutalities of its illegal occupation will be vilified as an anti-Semite by the well-oiled Israeli lobby and its supporters. And any who dare speak truth about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict aren't simply vilified: Many have been threatened with death, some have been fired from their jobs; other's families have been driven from their homes. Every effort is made to silence these voices and suppress discussion of what Israel is actually doing to the Palestinian people.

– Strangling the Messengers - Palestine & the High Price of Truth-Telling by Dennis Bernstein, Summer 2002.

Reports on deaths

If the corporate media really were unbiased, one would expect the reporting of the death of children on both sides to be fair. Whatever the arguments about the events in Palestine and Israel, the death of a child is a tragedy. As the following research documents, the reporting by the three main US TV networks shows that the death of a Palestinian child is considered less 'news-worthy':

Eight Israeli children and 179 Palestinian children were killed in 2004.
[…]
ABC World News Tonight reported on 8 Israeli children’s deaths and 20 Palestinian children’s deaths – 100% of Israeli children and 11% of Palestinian children.

CBS Evening News reported on 4 Israeli children and 7 Palestinian children – 50% of Israeli children’s deaths and 4% of Palestinian.

NBC Nightly News reported on 8 Israeli children’s deaths and 18 Palestinian children’s deaths – 100% of Israeli children and 10% of Palestinian killed during 2004.

– Accuracy in Reporting of Israel/Palestine from FAIR (Fairness & Accuracy In Reporting), 2005.

Media Bias in the UK

The extent to which some journalism simply assumes the Israeli perspective can be seen if the statements are 'reversed' and presented as Palestinian actions. The group did not find any reports stating that 'The Palestinian attacks were in retaliation for the murder of those resisting the illegal Israeli occupation'. The incursions by Israeli forces into Palestinian towns in April 02, occasioned heavy loss of life and much International criticism. On BBC Radio 4 news they were described using the phrase 'there is a determination to carry on until the job is done' (9/4/02). Would Palestinian attacks be described in this fashion? A news journalism which seeks neutrality should not endorse any point of view, but there were many departures from this principle.

The analysis found other differences in the manner in which Palestinians and Israelis were described in news reporting. Words such as 'murder', 'atrocity', 'lynching' and 'savage cold-blooded killing' were only used to describe Israeli deaths but not those of Palestinians.

– Bad news from Israel: media coverage of the Israeli/Palestinian conflict by Greg Philo, 2004.