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| Israel-Palestine-Jordan |
| Israel controls access, message in Gaza assault |
| 2009-01-16 |
| The Israeli military took about a dozen foreign reporters on a rare foray into the Gaza Strip Thursday, a day when a bombardment killed the Hamas security chief and an Israel shell landed on the United Nations headquarters there. But the journalists saw none of the action. Their 30-minute drive from an army base near the border took them to an unpopulated area where a commander arrived in a tank, gave a statement and answered a few questions. They saw no troops, no combat. If Israel's 2006 war with Lebanon was a media free-for-all, its offensive against Hamas militants in Gaza has been a model of media control. That's your just desserts for when you don't report the truth, whether intentionally, or by allowing yourself to be misled. Journalists are barred from freely entering the war zone. They are granted only limited access even when embedded with Israeli troops, which is rare. And military interviews, few and far between, have been tightly controlled. The military also has closed off large sections of southern Israel to reporters and a number of journalists who have gone into those areas have been arrested. Photographers have had their disks erased. The military has explained its restrictions in southern Israel by noting large concentrations of forces there. Israeli officials, addressing the larger issue of banning reporters from Gaza, have said that journalists would be in danger if they entered. Also, they say that many journalists would relay the views of Hamas without checking their facts, leading to a distorted picture of the conflict — admitting that banning reporters is a policy matter, not security. Note to reporters: The Israeli government is speaking the truth. Please return the favor and maybe they'll let you play next time. Media outlets have criticized Israel's tactics for severely inhibiting the free flow of information from the Israeli assault on Hamas militants in Gaza, a story that has captured world attention as Israeli forces penetrated civilian areas and the Palestinian death toll rises to 1,088, according to Palestinian health officials. Thirteen Israelis have been killed. The Foreign Press Association, representing journalists covering Israel and the Palestinian territories, petitioned the Israeli Supreme Court and won limited access to Gaza — which had been blocked more than a month before the Israeli offensive began, a period of relative tranquility. But the army has not complied with the ruling to the satisfaction of the FPA, which rejects the miltary's claim that allowing groups of reporters into Gaza briefly under strict supervision is compliance. Drop them off near the UN building why don't you? "It is not just the journalists. They are keeping a lid on broad information that is important in terms of being able to fight the war they want to fight," said Gad Wolfsfeld, a communications professor at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, noting that soldiers are banned from taking their cell phones into battle. Kinda makes me wonder how WWII was fought when they didn't have cell phones. "I think the conclusion from the last war was, right or wrong, the less said, the better, and the less filmed, the better. Worked pretty well for the Turkey Shoot in Kuwait. I'll bet they don't try that again. Wolfsfeld said the move seems to be helping Israel control the message, but he noted the tactic has backfired in the past. I'm starting to wonder if Wolfsfeld is the guy who coined the idea of a "proportional" response. Words are cheap. And seem to screw up people's ideas of the reality of what they are asking for. During the 2002 invasion of the West Bank town of Jenin, media barred from the area relied on Palestinian accounts reporting that some 500 people had been massacred. When U.N. officials were later granted access to the site, it was revealed the number of dead was closer to 50. More like the media tried to blackmail Israel into opening up by threatening to use their unimpeachable Gaza news sources - and got their bluff called and a$$es handed to them in a very expert manner by the IDF. The Israeli army even cited Jenin in 2005 when it gave free access to its withdrawal from Gaza. But then came the Lebanon war of 2006. Not only did foreign reporters roam freely, but soldiers called in their complaints about inadequate training and equipment to Israeli television. Foreign media — who could access the zone from Lebanon anyway — were granted free movement and easy access even to the upper echelon of the military. By contrast, the government even tightly controlled an interview it set up with a fighter pilot earlier this week, handlers instructing the pilot not to answer certain questions as authorities sought to illustrate how the military avoids civilian casualties. The fifth column would be only too happy to give away other's lives for a chance for a Poolitzer prize. Friction between the government and the media heightened Thursday after Israeli attacks in Gaza struck two high-rise buildings housing international media, injuring two journalists in a Palestinian media center two floors above the offices of Reuters news agency. Were they hosting a Hamass social there or something? Bullets also flew into the office of The Associated Press in another building several hundred yards away, entering a room where two staffers were working. No one was injured. The Foreign Press Association has demanded a halt to the kind of attacks that hit the buildings, saying the Israeli military was "severely violating basic principles of respect for press freedom." And the press is severely violating basic principals of honesty that are supposed to come with that that very same press freedom. It is no longer journalism. It is sensationalism that preys on people's ignorance and distorted perceptions that has been carefully crafted by years of journalistic dishonesty. The organization called the attacks and other restrictions "unconscionable breaches" and demanded a formal apology. Clueless fuc&s. The Army in a statement said that it only targets buildings or locations "from which fire on (Israeli) troops or civilians emanates," saying the Hamas terrorist organization that the 20-day old offensive is targeting "deliberately and cynically operates from within civilian areas." And I'll bet they have footage and evidence to prove it. Or do they suppose the IDF leadership lays awake at night figuring up which innocent civilians to blow up next? Both The Associated Press and Reuters had provided the military with the coordinates and address of the office. And Hamass has them too, apparently. "The military knows what it is, and where it is, and have assured us it is not a target," said Julian Rake, Reuters deputy bureau chief in Jerusalem. No, the target was the terrorists you were hosting. Figure it out. But Rake said his staffers and other journalists in the building were certain that "at no stage" did militants fire from inside the building. Splitting hairs. They were probably firing mortars from behind the dumpster right outside your walls. Which, coincidentally, is probably why your building is still standing. |
| Posted by:gorb |
| #3 "If I had my choice I would kill every reporter in the world but I am sure we would be getting reports from hell before breakfast." -- William Tecumseh Sherman "Every attempt to make war easy and safe will result in humiliation and disaster" -- Ditto |
| Posted by: mojo 2009-01-16 11:18 |
| #2 Journos want to go to Gaza? Fine, they can start at the Egyptian side and crawl through the tunnels. Then the IDF can play whach-a-mole as they pop up on the other side. |
| Posted by: AlanC 2009-01-16 09:27 |
| #1 Dumbass reporters aren't worth the powder it would take to blow them to hell and gone. |
| Posted by: bigjim-ky 2009-01-16 08:27 |