A shocking article appeared in today’s online version of Ha’aretz daily newspaper regarding the death of a Palestinian woman named Jawaher Abu Ramah titled The IDF uses propaganda like an authoritarian regime. In it, its author Gideon Levy tries to brainwash his readers into believing that unsubstantiated claims made by the Palestinians regarding various aspects of her death, items which are disputed by both sides and have yet to be determined, are actually “definitive facts.”
However, the only definitive fact that appears in this case is the definitive fact that the Palestinian Authority refused to conduct an autopsy or allow Israel to do it to determine the actual cause of death. And without this ability to determine the actual cause of death, there is no way in knowing what happened.
In this groundbreaking piece of corrupt reporting, Mr. Levy through the respectability of Ha’aretz is attempting to make himself an authority on a subject and convince the world that just because he claims these items are definitive facts, and that they are being published by Ha’aretz, that they are.
In the world of ethical reporting, definitive facts are those items which have been checked and verified beyond a shadow of a doubt, items that have concrete proof such as photographs, blood tests and x-rays (witness accounts are not definitive facts, they dependend upon the reliability of the witness), having obtained concrete confirmation of the information being provided.
As a matter of fact, almost every item that Mr. Levy claims as definitive fact is nothing more than conjecture. Mr. Levy Claims that Jawaher Abu Ramah was participating in this demonstration, yet there is no concrete proof like a photograph. Perhaps she was, but this is certainly not a definitive fact. And as we’ve learned many times over in the past, the Palestinians often lie. For example, during operation defensive shield none other than Palestinian minister Saeb Erekat claimed that Israel massacred more than 500 Palestinians in the Jenin refugee camp and buried them in mass graves. This accusation was later refuted by the UN.
Mr. Levy also claims that Jawaher Abu Ramah “inhaled very large quantities of the gas that Israel Defense Forces soldiers fired that day.” This also is also not a definitive fact, but another unsubstantiated claim made by Ha’aretz and its writer Gideon Levy. It is not known if Jawaher Abu Ramah inhaled any gas at all because the Palestinians refused to conduct an autopsy. And if she did, it is not known if that was the cause of death.
So all the while Ha’aretz and Mr. Levy are accusing the Israel Defense forces of making up lies (accusations he makes in his article), they themselves, a media outlet that is supposed to be the banner of ethical, responsible behavior and reporting, are taking unsubstantiated claims and trying to convince the public that they are definitive fact. So while Gideon Levy and Ha’aretz accuse the IDF of “using propaganda like an authoritarian regime,” it seems like a case of the pot calling the kettle black. For after all, what else can you call a situation in which a media mouthpiece claims to be an authority and subsequently tries to convince its readers that something is fact when no definitive proof has been provided?
The Palestinians time and again have been caught in lies used to create anti-Israel propaganda which is then picked up by the media and spread across the world. Yet today is different. Today stands as a watershed moment, one in which a once respectable Israeli media outlet openly declares that it determines facts, and that facts aren’t some objective events that have been verified beyond a shadow of a doubt, but that they are the words of its author and the publication in which they are published that make them fact.Today is the day that Ha’aretz Newspaper completely destroyed its reputation as being a reliable and honest reporter of news and fact. Today is the day that the mouthpiece of the Israeli left wing, those that believe that all people are equal, that transparency is the key to proper working government and society, rob from its very constituency any shred of decency or believability. Today is indeed a sad day for Israeli society.
No comments:
Post a Comment