October 16, 2000
Shalom CAMERA E-Mail Team,
LACK OF FOCUS ON PA INCITEMENT AND PA DEMONIZATION OF ISRAELIS/JEWS
Palestinian children are encouraged by Palestinian leaders to engage Israeli soldiers in violent confrontations; Jewish worshippers at the Western Wall are stoned by Palestinians; Israeli reservists taking a wrong turn into an Arab neighborhood are lynched in the most barbaric fashion; sermons broadcast on PA TV call for the murder of Jews and Americans wherever they are. Yet the media still has not examined prominently or consistently the issue of PA incitement against Jews and Americans. Many people feel that the Arabs' demonization of the Jews is at the heart of the continued conflict, yet the press cast only an occasional glance at this important topic.
As reported by Middle East Media Research Institute (www.memri.org), PA TV broadcasts call for the killing of Jews and Americans:
"Following are excerpts from a Friday sermon in the Zayed bin Sultan Aal Nahyan mosque in Gaza, broadcast live on the official Palestinian Authority television. The speaker is Dr. Ahmad Abu Halabiya, Member of the PA appointed 'Fatwa Council' and former acting Rector of the Islamic University in Gaza:
'None of the Jews refrain from committing any possible evil...The Jews are Jews, whether Labor or Likud... They do not have any moderates or any advocates of peace. They are all liars. They all want to distort truth, but we are in possesion of the truth...'
'Have no mercy on the Jews, no matter where they are, in any country. Fight them, wherever you are. Wherever you meet them, kill them. Wherever you are, kill those Jews and those Americans who are like them and those who stand by them they are all in one trench, against the Arabs and the Muslims because they established Israel here, in the beating heart of the Arab world, in Palestine. They created it to be the outpost of their civilization and the vanguard of their army, and to be the sword of the West and the crusaders, hanging over the necks of the monotheists, the Muslims in these lands. They wanted the Jews to be their spearhead...'"
In light of the violent attacks against Israelis, the terrorist attack against the USS Cole in Yemen, and synagogue arson attacks in France and the United States, urge the press to pursue the topic of incitement and demonization of Jews and Americans. Insist that, during interviews, reporters read excerpts of recent hatemongering/incitement and challenge Palestinian speakers directly about the virulent statements. Reporters should ask why such statements designed to foment hatred and escalate the violence are chosen by the PA to be broadcast on PA-controlled TV and radio programs.
See media phone numbers and addresses below.
JEWS "RAMPAGE," ARABS "DEMONSTRATE":
In coverage of the current violence between Palestinians and Israel, many news correspondents are using lopsided language in reporting on Jewish attacks against Arabs versus Arab attacks against Jews. Arab mobs, whose actions range from stoning Jews praying at the Western Wall to firing guns at Israeli soldiers to destroying Joseph's Tomb in Nablus, are typically characterized as "protesters" or "demonstrators." In contrast, Jewish mobs, who since Monday night (10/9) have attacked Arabs and their places of employment, homes, and worship, are described as "rampaging."
For example, on Oct. 10, 2000, New York Times' Deborah Sontag writes that:
"Thousands attended funerals there [in Nazareth] on Monday for two Israeli Arabs killed on Sunday night, by Israeli riot police, after Jews rampaged through the heart of town."
The accompanying photo is similarly captioned:
"Funerals were held in Nazareth yesterday for two Israeli Arabs killed in confrontations after Jews rampaged through Arab areas. Masked Arab youths roamed the town, where many criticized Israeli police." In contrast, when it comes to Palestinian rampaging, Sontag uses the softer term "protest," which gives a false impression of non-violence. In the same article, she writes that:
". . . the Israeli cabinet decided early this morning to avoid exploding a tense situation and gave Yasir Arafat more time to quiet protests."
Further on she writes:
"Palestinians began gathering in the city center for a protest against Mr. Barak's ultimatum. Then, the demonstration-in-the-making collided with a funeral procession for a rioter who had just died of wounds sustained last week. Already combative, the protesters and mourners became enraged . . ."
Similarly, towards the end of the article, she writes:
"The demonstrators threw rocks and firebombs at the soldiers, and taunted them over loudspeakers."
The New York Times also published an article by Chris Hedges titled "Crowds of Jews Rampage in Nazareth," which begins:
"Several hundred Jews, apparently tired of feeling trapped for 12 days in this predominantly Arab city, rampaged on Sunday night. . . " The caption on the accompanying graph also reads "Jews rampaged through Nazareth. Two Arabs were killed." Yet, in all the coverage of the Palestinian attacks against Jews and Jewish places, not once are these actions described as "rampaging" with such prominence and repetition.
Gillian Findlay of ABC News reports October 11 on World News Tonight about the attack against mourners at the funeral of Rabbi Hillel Lieberman, who was found murdered. She states:
"The settlers say the Palestinians threw the first stones, but soon the settlers were on a rampage."
Like many of her colleagues, Findlay does not use the word "rampage" in reference to Palestinian attacks against Jews.
The Los Angeles Times, like the New York Times, uses this uneven terminology. In an article entitled "Militant Jews Take Anger to the Streets.
Israel: Hatreds Erupt as Scores of Youths Rampage Through an Arab Neighborhood in Retaliation," readers are told that on the Jewish holiday Yom Kippur:
"scores of Jewish youths went on a rampage in an Arab neighborhood." (Marjorie Miller, Oct. 10)
A separate article, on October 11, differentiates between Jewish and Arab rioters as such:
"In the West Bank, several hundred Palestinian demonstrators battled with Israeli troops on the northern outskirts of the city of Ramallah."
Jewish actions are not labeled as demonstrations; they are rampages:
"Inside Israel proper, meanwhile, police fended off criticism Tuesday that they had failed to stop rampages by Jewish mobs who attacked Arab mosques, stores and homes Sunday and Monday nights."
Likewise, Susan Taylor Martin reports in the St. Petersburg Times that "hundreds of Jews went on a rampage Monday night, breaking windows, smashing furniture, setting fires."
Yet, referring to the Arab gun, stone, and molotov cocktail attacks against Israeli soldiers, she writes: "Many of the Arab casualties have occurred during protests against Israel's treatment of Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip."
Please call/write the NY Times, LA Times and St. Petersburg Times about their prejudicial word choice.
Please call news editors often (and if you have time, also write) to protest the two issues raised in this alert:
1) Protest lack of media attention on PA incitement and PA demonization of Israelis/Jews. Insist that reporters ask PA representatives about specific examples of incitement. Be sure to contact CNN, ABC, MSNBC, NY Times and Washington Post.
2) Demand fair, accurate descriptions. Object to prejudicial choice of "rampage" for Jewish mobs and "demonstrate" for Arab mobs.
Call/write:
letters@nytimes.com (NY Times) 212-556-1157 212-556-3690
letters@latimes.com (Los Angeles Times) 213-237-5000
letters@sptimes.com (St. Petersburg Times) 800-333-7505
foreign@washpost.com (Washington Post) 202-334-7512
letter@globe.com (Boston Globe) 617-929-3049
letters@suntimes.com (Chicago Sun-Times) 312-321-2502
forum@nando.com (Raleigh News and Observer) 919-829-4517
feedback@herald.com (Miami Herald) 305-350-2111
insight@orlandosentinel.com (Orlando Sentinel) 407-420-5070
letters@time.com (Time magazine) 212-522-3817
letters@newsweek.com (Newsweek magazine) 212-445-4585
letters@usnews.com (US News & World Report) 202-955-2000
editor@usatoday.com (USA Today) 703-276-3400
CNN 1-404-827-1500 1-404-827-1519
eason.jordan@turner.com
scott.woelfel@turner.com
MSNBC: 1-201-583-5000 NBC: 1-212-664-4444
world@msnbc.com
michael.moran@msnbc.com
Fox News Channel
1-212-301-3000 1-212-301-5226 1-212-301-3164
ABC News 1-212-456-7777
peterjennings@worldnewstonight.abcnews.com
CBS News 1-212-975-4321 1-212-975-3019
With thanks,
Lee Green
Director, National Letter-Writing Group
CAMERA
***
CAMERA
P.O. Box 428
Boston, MA 02456-0428
Phone (617) 789-3672
Fax (617) 787-7853
http://www.camera.org