Sloppy Journalism - The Sum of All Hatred ...

On Friday, June 9th, the "Breaking News" banner interrupted my work with the horrible news from the BBC reporter in Gaza saying, "An Israeli bomb dropped on Gaza Beach and killed ten people, most of them from the same family. I was very close and I could see where it came from." There was no doubt in his quivering voice: this unspeakable travesty was Israel's fault.

The media reports apparently were so convincing that Israel's top leaders were expressing regret and apologies for the 'obvious mistake'. Voices in many sectors in Israel condemned the tragedy. There were two government officials that were cautious in their immediate response. Both Defense Minister Amir Peretz and IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Dan Halutz were quick to express sorrow over the incident, but stopped short of accepting responsibility.

It is a shame that such restraint was not exhibited by the head of the United Nations. The first paragraph of the first press release from the UN is as follows: 13 June 2006 - United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan today said he was 'shocked and saddened' by the latest Israeli missile attack into Gaza, which killed nine people and wounded about 40, but at the same time reiterated his condemnation of Palestinian rocket attacks against Israel and called for them to end.

If there had never been any photo ops of tragedies that were later shown to be absolutely false, there might be some excuse for the quick pointing of the finger at Israel. Pictures of supposedly dead children have been carried by the majority of major media around the world. "How could Israel be so cruel?" Careful research has been released sometimes months later that the same child is alive and well. No way can the negative feelings in the heart of millions ever be changed because the evidence receives little or no space. It would be very self-servicing to the news source that first broke the story.

Annan 'shocked and saddened' at deaths of Israeli missile attack in Gaza.
Annan urges full investigation of killings in Gaza.

And then a few days later .... the Israeli Defense Force issued their report concluding for several reasons that the tragedy could not have been caused by Israel.

Annan admits being media manipulated.
UN Chief forced to retract skeptical comments in face of solid Israeli proof.

Charles Krauthammer, in an article for the Washington Post, pointed out three reasons why it could not have been caused by Israel. 1) The shrapnel taken from the victims was not the ordinance used in Israeli artillery. 2) Aerial photos have shown that the crater could not have been caused by Israeli artillery. 3) Israel could account for five of the six shells that were fired during this period and the one unaccounted for was launched prior to the explosion.

Normally, this publication does not report this kind of happenings, but when such deception takes place we need to do our part in exposing the fraud. The way the whole world jumped on what they thought was a big mistake, so fast without checking reveals a horrendous weakness in mainstream journalism. This event is a revelation of an unexplainable hatred for Israel and the Jewish people. This is loud and clear Anti-Semitism. IT IS THE SUM OF ALL HATRED.

- Inside Israel Newsletter, July 2006