FAIR Blog

Un de ces articles infiniment fumistes dont le #New_York_Times a le secret dés qu’il s ’agit d’#Israël et de ses #crimes : un titre (le Hamas est coupable du crime des 3 ados israéliens) qui contredit un contenu (le Hamas ne l’est probablement pas) qui s’évertue par ailleurs à disculper le #criminel #Netanyahu.

New Light on Hamas Role in Killings of Teenagers That Fueled Gaza War
▻http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/05/world/middleeast/killing-of-3-israeli-teenagers-loosely-tied-to-hamas-court-documents-show.h

JERUSALEM — The abduction and killing of three Israeli teenagers in the occupied West Bank in June, which helped fuel the biggest escalation in Palestinian-Israeli tensions in years, was set in motion by Hamas operatives from a local Palestinian clan and was financed with about $60,000, mostly obtained through a relative who worked for a Hamas association in Gaza, according to official Israeli documents released on Thursday.

But the documents, related to an investigation and indictment of the man suspected of leading the kidnappers, provide no evidence that the top leaders of Hamas directed or had prior knowledge of the plot to abduct the three Israeli youths.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel and his subordinates asserted as fact that the kidnapping and killing of the three youths was orchestrated by Hamas, which Israel regards as a terrorist group committed to its destruction. He responded by ordering a severe crackdown on Hamas suspects and institutions in the West Bank.

Though the documents released on Thursday do not necessarily undercut the Israeli government’s assertions, they present a more nuanced picture.

How to Decode the New York Times
▻http://www.fair.org/blog/2014/09/05/how-to-decode-the-new-york-times

How does that final sentence logically follow from the previous two? If the documents do not support Netanyahu’s claims, then they would most certainly undercut his assertions.

So what, then, is the “more nuanced picture”? #Kershner writes that the legal documents “depict the plot as more of a family affair, a local initiative organized and carried out by members of a clan in Hebron.” That was what many analysts had been saying all along, offering a very different interpretation than the one being put forth by Israel–though it was the Israeli line, not the one offered by independent analysts, that made its way into US media (FAIR Blog, 7/2/14, 7/28/14). Kershner speaks to one Israeli source who, she reports, still thinks it “was fair to blame Hamas, as an organization, for the kidnappings.” The source added that “it is still possible that we will find evidence of a direct connection.”

The Times headline writer is correct that these documents shed “new light” on this tragedy. But it’s hard to see how light is shed on a “Hamas role,” since it’s still not clear there is any such role at all. These new revelations do not provide any support for the Israeli government’s claims about Hamas’ responsibility, instead depicting it “as more of a family affair.” The implication is that the horrific bloodshed of the Israeli assault on Gaza followed from a groundless charge. But Kershner’s article works hard to de-emphasize that conclusion.

How the #New_York_Times Twists #Gaza
▻http://www.fair.org/blog/2014/08/22/how-the-new-york-times-twists-gaza

One could just as easily write a piece about how a terrified and suffering civilian population has found itself facing another round of attacks, with dozens of new deaths in a matter of a couple of days. But that’s not the story the Times wanted to tell. It wanted to let readers know that the new attacks are all Hamas’ fault–but that Israel is being especially precise this time around.

#Jodi_Rudoren #chauvinisme

NYT Rewrites Gaza Headline : Was It Too Accurate ?
▻http://www.fair.org/blog/2014/07/17/nyt-rewrites-gaza-headline-was-it-too-accurate
Avant :

http://www.fair.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/NYT-Gaza-headline-600x304.png

Après :

http://www.fair.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/strife-boys-drawn-557x450.png

#Gaza #israel

The CIA Aided Polio’s Comeback–but #Media Have Forgotten the Story
▻http://www.fair.org/blog/2014/05/07/the-cia-aided-polios-comeback-but-media-have-forgotten-the-story

#Polio had been battled to near-extinction after decades of effort, but this year the WHO confirmed 68 new cases and declared it an international public health emergency. Nearly 80 percent of those cases are in Pakistan.

Why is this? According to the New York Times’ Donald McNeil Jr. (5/6/14), “Polio has never been eliminated there, Taliban factions have forbidden vaccinations in North Waziristan for years, and those elsewhere have murdered vaccine teams.” McNeil also quotes a WHO spokesperson towards the top of the piece: “So we’re saying to the Pakistanis, the Syrians and the Cameroonians, ’You’ve really got to get your acts together.”’

The Times underlined the emergency today in an editorial, explaining that Pakistan has such high numbers “largely because Taliban factions have forbidden vaccinations in conservative tribal areas and attacked healthcare workers elsewhere.”

There’s a crucial piece of information missing here—one that these outlets know full well. In 2011, the British Guardian (7/11/11) reported that the CIA used a fake vaccination drive led by Pakistani Dr. Shakil Afridi to gain entry to bin Laden’s compound and gather DNA to confirm his presence there. As McNeil himself reported in 2012 (7/9/12), that revelation led to suspicion and banning of vaccination teams in the tribal areas of Pakistan. At the time, the WHO argued that, while it was a “setback…unless it spreads or is a very longtime affair, the program is not going to be seriously affected.”

Then the killings started; the #Times reported several times on killings of polio vaccination workers in Pakistan, noting in June 2013 that these attacks “escalated” after the revelation of the #CIA plot. And the following month, McNeil reported that after Dr. Afridi was sentenced to 33 years in prison for treason, “Anger deepened when American lawmakers called Dr. Afridi a hero and threatened to cut off aid if he was not released.”

Fast forward to this week, and CBS Evening News (5/5/14) likewise avoided the CIA connection in reporting the most recent story, as anchor Scott Pelley noted: “Most cases are in Pakistan, where vaccine workers have been murdered on suspicion that they’re spying for the United States.”

The PBS NewsHour (5/6/14) was one of the only outlets that mentioned the CIA issue, in a report by correspondent Jeffrey Brown:

BROWN: Dr. Anita Zaidi, a pediatrician, cited a fake vaccination campaign that the CIA used in the hunt for Osama bin Laden.

ZAIDI: Which has hugely damaged public health programs, not only in Pakistan, but in many, many countries, because people ask all kinds of questions. They now think that they might—the vaccine programs might be actually spy operations.

This story was well-reported in the past, particularly by the Times; why the silence now that the problem has been declared an international emergency?

#oubli #New_york_times

Le bateau chargé d’armes en Israël samedi, l’Iran dénonce une manipulation
▻http://www.romandie.com/news/n/_Le_bateau_charge_d_armes_en_Israel_samedi_l_Iran_denonce_une_manipulation

JERUSALEM - Le navire intercepté en mer Rouge transportant selon Israël des armes envoyées par l’Iran à Gaza est attendu samedi soir au port israélien d’Eilat, Téhéran ironisant sur l’incroyable coïncidence entre cet arraisonnement et le voyage américain du Premier ministre Benjamin Netanyahu.

Actuellement, ce navire qui transportait des dizaines de roquettes de type M-302 d’une portée de 150 à 200 km selon les modèles, se trouve à 100 km au nord de Port-Soudan et il doit arriver à Eilat samedi soir, a affirmé le porte-parole de l’armée israélienne, le général Motti Almoz.

Une fois qu’il sera arrivé, nous allons vérifier si d’autres armes et munitions ne sont pas dissimulées dans ce navire, le Klos-C, battant pavillon panaméen, a-t-il ajouté.

Le chef du renseignement militaire israélien, le général Aviv Kochavi, a affirmé que ceux derrière cette affaire et qui l’ont conduite de bout en bout sont les Gardiens de la révolution (garde prétorienne de la République islamique, NDLR) et en particulier la Force Qods, leur unité chargée des opérations extérieures.

Pete Seeger: ’It’s Hard for Me to Talk About the Media Without Getting Angry’
▻http://www.fair.org/blog/2014/01/29/pete-seeger-its-hard-for-me-to-talk-about-the-media-without-getting-angry

if the United States or the world goes down in disaster, I would blame the media first of all, because the people running it are intelligent people. They know very well how evil they are. And when they say, “Oh, I’m just giving the people what they want.” Sure–so do the drug pushers.

TV Hires That Keep the Debate Narrow
▻http://www.fair.org/blog/2014/01/23/tv-hires-that-keep-the-debate-narrow

La CBS engage un ancien de la CIA partisan de la surveillance de la NSA pour éclairer ses spectateurs sur la sécurité nationale et la CNN un ancien ambassadeur israélien pour aider son public à mieux comprendre le Moyen-Orient.

These are the kinds of hires that remind you that corporate media aren’t looking to expand the debate on important issues. They’re interested in keeping things as narrow as they already are.

#MSM #pseudo_débat

Ventriloquie

Candidat à la Maison Blanche à chaque scrutin entre 1996 et 2008, M. Ralph Nader a adressé une lettre ouverte au Washington Post à la suite du rachat du quotidien par M. Jeff Bezos, patron d’Amazon. Il y pose notamment cette question :

Il y a quelques années, votre journal m’a indiqué que ses éditoriaux présentaient le point de vue de la Washington Post Company [société éditrice du Washington Post], ce qui expliquait pourquoi ils n’étaient pas signés. Maintenant que M. Bezos est propriétaire du journal, qui parlera à travers ses éditoriaux ?

« An Open Letter to the Washington Post, Fair.org, 6 novembre.
▻http://www.fair.org/blog/2013/11/06/an-open-letter-to-the-washington-post

#Coupures_de_presse - Décembre 2013
►http://www.monde-diplomatique.fr/2013/12/A/49915

« Drones, the Media and Malala’s Message »

▻http://www.fair.org/blog/2013/10/15/drones-the-media-and-malalas-message

http://www.fair.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/Malala-Yousafzai_2700395b-e1381850189266-600x299.jpg

Pakistani teenager Malala Yousafzai’s visit to the United States was widely covered in the media, including interviews with ABC’s Diane Sawyer (10/11/13), CNN’s Christiane Amanpour (10/14/13) and Jon Stewart of the Daily Show (10/8/13). She was selected as ABC’s “Person of the Week” on October 11, and was considered a serious contender for the Nobel Peace Prize.

And for good reason; just one year ago, Malala was attacked by the Taliban for her outspoken advocacy on behalf of educational equality, surviving a an attack where she was shot in the head.

But one part of her message didn’t seem to penetrate the corporate media.

During her October 11 visit to the White House, Yousafzai told Barack Obama that his administration’s drone strikes were fueling terrorism. As McClatchy’s Lesley Clark (10/11/13) reported:

In a statement released after the meeting, Malala said she was honored to meet with Obama, but that she told him she’s worried about the effect of US drone strikes. (The White House statement didn’t mention that part.)

"I thanked President Obama for the United States’ work in supporting education in Pakistan and Afghanistan and for Syrian refugees," she said in the statement. "I also expressed my concerns that drone attacks are fueling terrorism. Innocent victims are killed in these acts, and they lead to resentment among the Pakistani people. If we refocus efforts on education, it will make a big impact."

This exchange, for some reason, didn’t register in a corporate media that followed Malala’s visit, and her story, very closely.

#Pakistan #drones #US #Malala_Yousafzai #femmes #plo

Anonymous Israeli Official Tells Post: You Can’t Trust Persians
▻http://www.fair.org/blog/2013/10/01/anonymous-israeli-official-tells-post-you-cant-trust-persians

Anonymity is, according to the Post’s own rules, something to be granted to sources very rarely, and for good reason. I’m not sure “Persians are liars” meets those standards. The Post’s rationale for granting anonymity here is that the government officials were told not to speak before Netanyahu’s address. But it’s hard to imagine how “Don’t trust Iranians” might be considered an especially risky bit of information to share.

Or is the Post now ready afford other government officials the permission to make anonymous ethnic smears? The Post’s rules state, “Sources who want to take a shot at someone in our columns should do so in their own names.” I guess, in this case, a “shot” wasn’t taken at “someone”–just all Iranians.

Which Syrian Chemical Attack Account Is More Credible ?

Une analyse intéressante à partir de témoignages de journalistes mettant en cause les rebelles dans l’utilisation des armes chimiques. Elle confirme surtout qu’il faut donner le temps aux inspecteurs des Nations unies de travailler.

▻http://www.fair.org/blog/2013/09/01/which-syrian-chemical-attack-account-is-more-credible

Let’s compare a couple of accounts of the mass deaths apparently caused by chemical weapons in the Damascus suburb of Ghouta on August 21. One account comes from the U.S. government (8/30/13), introduced by Secretary of State John Kerry. The other was published by a Minnesota-based news site called Mint Press News (8/29/13).
The government account expresses “high confidence that the Syrian government carried out a chemical weapons attack” on August 21. The Mint report bore the headline “Syrians in Ghouta Claim Saudi-Supplied Rebels Behind Chemical Attack.” Which of these two versions should we find more credible?
The U.S. government, of course, has a track record that will incline informed observers to approach its claims with skepticism–particularly when it’s making charges about the proscribed weapons of official enemies. Kerry said in his address that “our intelligence community” has been “more than mindful of the Iraq experience”–as should be anyone listening to Kerry’s presentation, because the Iraq experience informs us that secretaries of State can express great confidence about matters that they are completely wrong about, and that U.S. intelligence assessments can be based on distortion of evidence and deliberate suppression of contradictory facts.

Ben voyons,

The ’Snowden Effect’: U.S. spies say militants change tactics | Reuters
▻http://in.reuters.com/article/2013/06/26/usa-security-tactics-snowden-idINDEE95P01C20130626

Even as U.S. intelligence agencies and their global partners assess potential damage from Edward Snowden’s disclosures about surveillance programmes, militants have begun responding by altering methods of communication, a change that could make it harder to foil attacks, U.S. officials say.

Brian Williams Makes the Case for Putting NBC on Trial
▻http://www.fair.org/blog/2013/06/05/brian-williams-makes-the-case-for-putting-nbc-on-trial

But giving classified information to the public is something that news outlets – including NBC News – routinely do, and each time they do it they too could be accused of “aiding the enemy.” For example, NBC’s Michael Isikoff reported on February 4 that a “confidential memo” produced by the Justice Department held that “the U.S. government can order the killing of American citizens if they are believed to be ‘senior operational leaders’ of Al-Qaeda or ‘an associated force’ – even if there is no intelligence indicating they are engaged in an active plot to attack the U.S.” […] There’s no reason that the same legal theory that accuses Manning of “aiding the enemy” couldn’t be applied to NBC News for “supporting terrorism” by putting classified information on TV where Al-Qaeda could see it.

L’héritage pourri de Chavez contre Thatcher la combattante de la liberté : l’image fait le tour de la planète plusieurs fois par seconde en ce moment :

http://www.fair.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/economist.jpg

via :
▻http://www.fair.org/blog/2013/04/17/thatcher-lifted-millions-says-who

La couverture sur Chavez n’a été – semble-t-il – utilisée que pour l’édition Amérique latine.

Titrer « The freedom fighter » est particulièrement cocasse puisque, dans la novlangue thatchérienne et reaganienne, les freedom fighters qu’ils ont systématiquement soutenu étaient des escadrons de la mort pratiquant le terrorisme, les enlèvements, la torture et le meurtre de masse. De fait, vu sous cet angle, le titre du Economist pourra paraître moins délirant.

’What Palestinians Said Was Israeli Aggression’: The Death of Omar al-Masharawi
▻http://www.fair.org/blog/2013/03/12/what-palestinians-said-was-israeli-aggression-the-death-of-omar-al-masharawi

A new report from the United Nations’ High Commissioner for Human Rights (3/6/13) tallies the extent of the death and destruction from Israel’s attacks on the Gaza Strip last November. The fighting, which lasted about a week, killed over 174 Palestinians in Gaza, including 22 children and 13 women. Six Israelis were killed.

But the headlines generated by the report focused on one child in Gaza, 11-month-old Omar al-Masharawi, and the claim that he was not killed by Israelis, as was originally reported.
 
The UN report recounts plenty of incidents. Among them:
–On 19 November, a father, his 12-year-old daughter, and his 19-year-old son were allegedly killed by a drone missile while collecting spearmint in a farm adjacent to their house in Ahmad Yassin Street, north of Gaza City.
–On 20 November, two 16-year-old boys were killed, allegedly by a drone missile, while hunting birds in an open area located approximately 700 meters away from the fence, east of Rafah, southern Gaza Strip. Relatives of the victims reported that the IDF did not grant access to the ambulances to retrieve the bodies for at least five hours.
–On 18 November, an Israeli air strike without prior warning hit a three-story house belonging to the Al-Dalou family in Al-Nasser neighborhood, central Gaza City. The airstrike killed 12 people, five of whom were children and four were women.
–The IDF targeted residential buildings and properties during the last few days of the crisis, with some reports estimating that a total of 382 residences were destroyed or sustained severe damages due to Israeli attacks.
–During the crisis the IDF attacked several media offices and journalists in Gaza City. Such attacks killed two cameramen traveling in a car marked as a press vehicle, and injured at least eight journalists.

But the stories we are seeing now are about a death that might not be attributed to Israeli violence. “UN Ties Gaza Baby’s Death to Palestinians” was the headline of a New York Times piece (3/12/13). An Associated Press report (3/11/13) is headlined “UN: Palestinian Militants Likely Killed Gaza Baby.” That piece referred to the photo of Omar’s body being held his father, BBC cameraman Jihad al-Masharawi, as “an image that became a symbol of what Palestinians said was Israeli aggression.”

Of course what Palestinians “said was Israeli aggression” was actually Israeli aggression, as the death toll and the UN report would indicate. But the AP article is instructive; of the report’s 18 paragraphs, 12 are about the dispute over Omar;...

AP: Chavez Wasted His Money on Healthcare When He Could Have Built Gigantic Skyscrapers
▻http://www.fair.org/blog/2013/03/06/ap-chavez-wasted-his-money-on-healthcare-when-he-could-have-built-gigantic-sky

One of the more bizarre takes on Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez’s death comes from Associated Press business reporter Pamela Sampson (3/5/13):

Chavez invested Venezuela’s oil wealth into social programs including state-run food markets, cash benefits for poor families, free health clinics and education programs. But those gains were meager compared with the spectacular construction projects that oil riches spurred in glittering Middle Eastern cities, including the world’s tallest building in Dubai and plans for branches of the Louvre and Guggenheim museums in Abu Dhabi.

Je vous le traduis, parce que c’est assez incroyable…

Chavez a investi les bénéfices du pétrole du Vénézuela dans des programmes sociaux incluant des magasins d’alimentation gérés par l’État, des prestations en cash pour les familles pauvres, des cliniques de santé gratuites et des programmes éducatifs. Mais ces gains sont maigres comparées aux projets de construction spectaculaires que les richesses du pétrole ont investi dans les scintillantes villes du Moyen-Orient, notamment le plus haut building du monde à Dubai et des projets de branches des musées du Louvre et Guggenheim à Abu Dhabi.

Le Time est bien le dernier journal de la planète à tenter de faire croire à ses lecteurs que :
(a) Netanyahu est sympathique,
(b) il y a réellement eu un « gel des colonies »,
(c) Bibi mérite la couverture du canard (ils vont réussir à en vendre, tu crois, en dehors de la grosse commande passée par l’ambassade d’Israël ?).
►http://www.fair.org/blog/2012/05/22/time-on-netanyahu-frozen-puffery

http://www.fair.org/images/time-bibi.jpg

You might find that all a bit much, but Stengel badly misleads readers with this:

When Obama took office, people thought he would bring a new dynamic to the talks that would favor the Palestinians. Obama asked Bibi to freeze settlement construction for one year as an act of good faith. And then Abbas did not come to the table. When Abbas was finally coaxed to do so, he presented Bibi with the same package Olmert had negotiated. Abbas says he won’t talk while settlements are being built, and Bibi says he wants talks “without preconditions.” The only freeze now is in the negotiations themselves.

But Israel’s supposed “settlement freeze” didn’t actually freeze settlements.

Do as Bill O’Reilly Does and He’ll Hit You With His Umbrella
►http://www.fair.org/blog/2011/12/09/do-as-bill-oreilly-does-and-hell-hit-you-with-his-umbrella

But I never thought it was going to happen to me. However, these anarchists are now everywhere.

Ça fout un peu les jetons.

NPR Tries to Track Down Those Millionaire Job Creators
►http://www.fair.org/blog/2011/12/09/npr-tries-to-track-down-those-millionaire-job-creators

In the debate over the payroll tax cut, Democrats want to pay for extending the tax break with a surtax on the wealthy. Republicans claim—usually without being challenged by reporters—that a surtax on millionaires would be an attack on job-creating small-business owners.

So NPR decided to go to GOP officials and ask to speak with these small-business-owning, millionaire job-creators. Turned out there was trouble finding any.

Mitt Romney’s Murderous Dictator Gaffe
►http://www.fair.org/blog/2011/11/30/mitt-romneys-murderous-dictator-gaffe

In the November 22 debate, Romney gave this answer to a question about what to do about Pakistan:

“We don’t want to just pull up stakes and get out of town after the enormous output we’ve just made for the region. Look at Indonesia in the ’60s. We helped them move toward modernity. We need to help bring Pakistan into the 21st century, or the 20th, for that matter.”

That’s an astonishing comment—and one that was hardly noticed in the corporate media.

To people who were paying attention, Romney would seem to have been praising the reign of Indonesian dictator Suharto, who took power in the mid-’60s.

[...]

The Progressive’s Matt Rothschild called Romney’s answer the “most outrageous comment of the whole debate,” noting that the “new leadership” he referred to was a dictator “who killed between 500,000 and 1 million of his own citizens with the help of the CIA.”