Truth under siege by US media in Gaza war coverage

Watching and reading American media coverage of this week’s Hamas terror attacks and Israel’s response is like living in a scene from director James Cameron’s 1986 science fiction film ALIENS. In it, a character named Ripley, played by actress Sigourney Weaver, returns to Earth after a long hibernation in deep space…only to encounter disbelief and accusations from officials who do not believe her reports of alien life killing everyone in the crew of her space ship, despite her proof and eyewitness testimony.

An astonished Ripley asks, “Did IQs suddenly drop while I was away?”

I channeled that feeling at 2:45 a.m. Dallas time on Thursday, Oct. 12. ALL ISRAEL NEWS Founder Joel Rosenberg had just arrived at the residence of Israel’s president, Isaac Herzog, for the president’s first press briefing for international media outlets since the war began. Wanting to follow the news conference as it unfolded, I turned on my TV.

Perhaps predictably, there was no live coverage of President Herzog’s briefing, but plenty of video footage featuring dead bodies and injured women and children on the streets of Gaza.

Ultra-liberal news network MSNBC was bemoaning Israel’s “military attacks” in the aftermath of bloody incursions by Hamas terrorists. The chyron on the lower third of TV screens read: “HIGH CIVILIAN CASUALTIES FEARED AS ISRAEL RETALIATES.”

Switching to CNN, I landed on a live interview with IDF spokesman, Maj. Doron Spielman. From CNN’s London bureau, with her co-anchor, Max Frost, staring stone-faced at Maj. Doron’s image on the split-screen, anchor Bianca Nobile stated: “I’d like to begin by asking whether or not you think this approach – an absolute siege on Gaza where civilians are being affected, um, killed – is ultimately the right thing to do.”

Nice slanted blame-the-victim weasel wording.

At that point, I began wondering if this clear media bias was restricted to broadcasting, so I turned to Thursday morning print coverage looking for some modicum of objectivity. Once again, I came up short.

The lead story in The Washington Post – a newspaper whose comically ironic slogan is Democracy Dies In Darkness – was headlined “Humanitarian crisis unfolding in Gaza; Hospitals running out of supplies amid siege.” The front page also displayed a photo of a distraught Palestinian man, running through the streets carrying his daughter after an Israeli “offensive.”

Over at the newspaper USA TODAY, the headline read: “US death toll rises; Hamas denies targeting kids.” (Apparently USA TODAY has not yet seen any graphic videos of young people being shot at point-blank range as Hamas militants paraglided into the Supernova Music Festival field outside the Kibbutz Re’im. Or multiple bodies of Israeli babies found beheaded in their cribs. Or toddlers kidnapped and spirited away, screaming, into Gaza.)

Elsewhere, the New York Times published a story whining about the president of New York University’s Student Bar Association president facing “backlash” over his stated support of Hamas. The student posted comments that “Israel bears full responsibility for this tremendous loss of life. This regime of state-sanctioned violence created the conditions that made resistance necessary,” adding “I will not condemn Palestinian resistance.”

The “backlash” the Times referred to came in the form of prominent law firm Winston & Strawn announcing it was rescinding an offer of employment it had extended to that same NYU student. Winston & Strawn said the aforementioned comments made by the student “profoundly conflict” with the firm’s values, so he was not a good fit for their law practice. 

Maybe the kid could apply for a job at CNN. Or Al-Jazeera. But I repeat myself.

The NYU incident – outbreaks of pro-Hamas demonstrations at prominent United States colleges and universities, including Harvard, accompanied by vile anti-Israel rhetoric – is a disturbing trend on American college campuses. I heard from a friend this week, whose college-age daughter texted: “Isn’t Israel the terrorist group? Didn’t they steal the land belonging to Palestinians and build a wall?”

My friend was able to set this student straight with facts to counter the message being promoted by left-leaning college professors and hotheads at student demonstrations, but one wonders how many other young minds are being indoctrinated with this anti-Israeli poison slithering around university campuses, disguised as higher education.

Lest I imply that there’s absolutely no ray of hope, truth-wise, in American media consider the following:

On MSNBC, Jonathan Greenblatt – CEO of the Anti-Defamation League – blasted the network for rationalizing terror attacks and for calling Hamas terrorists “fighters.”

Following the New Testament command in Romans 12:9 (“Hate what is evil; cling to what is good”) Greenblatt quietly but firmly stated: “I’ll be honest. I am angry with a world that allowed the dehumanization of Israelis and sanitized the terrorism of Hamas. I must say I love this show, and I love this network. But I’ve got to ask who’s writing the scripts?”

ADL’s @JGreenblattADL blasts MSNBC for calling Hamas “fighters” & rationalizing terror attacks: “Who’s writing the scripts?” pic.twitter.com/2QHGdrKvcu

— Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) October 9, 2023

It was a classic, spellbinding takedown of MSNBC. As anchor Jonathan Lemire sat in stunned silence, Greenblatt added: “Guys, get the story right. And all these pictures of missiles. Or the rubble in Gaza? Please talk to the Israeli mothers and fathers who lost their children. Talk to the children whose grandparents were seized as hostages. And please stop calling this a retaliation. This is a defensive measure against an organization that is committed to one thing: Killing Jews.” 

That, friends, is speaking truth in love.