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How America\u2019s bloodthirsty journalism cheers on Israel\u2019s war on Gaza | Israel-Palestine conflict<\/p>\n
In a recent segment on how Hamas \u201cframes the civilian casualties\u201d of Israel\u2019s war on the Gaza Strip, CNN\u2019s Jake Tapper starts out by acknowledging that we \u201cdo know that innocent civilians in Gaza continue to be killed by Israeli strikes\u201d. It is impossible to \u201cnot be affected by these horrific images that we\u2019re seeing\u201d, he states, as the humanitarian crisis in the enclave grows \u201cincreasingly dire\u201d.<\/p>\n
What is the solution, then? In Tapper\u2019s view, apparently, it is for Israel to continue killing innocent civilians and presiding over a humanitarian catastrophe, because it is all Hamas\u2019s fault anyway.<\/p>\n
Near the beginning of the segment, we are shown a clip of Queen Rania of Jordan responding to those who argue that a ceasefire will help Hamas \u2013 an argument she says amounts to \u201cendorsing and justifying the death of thousands of civilians\u201d.<\/p>\n
Then it is back to Tapper, who calls Queen Rania\u2019s remarks an \u201cinteresting turn of phrase\u201d and goes on to wonder condescendingly whether it did not occur to Hamas, when the organisation undertook its operation on October 7, that Israel would \u201cretaliate in a way that would cause innocent Palestinians in Gaza to die\u201d.<\/p>\n
To start with, the \u201cinteresting turn of phrase\u201d is not so much \u201cinteresting\u201d as a straightforward statement of fact. If you insist there should be no ceasefire in an Israeli onslaught that has now killed over 11,000 people in Gaza in just over a month \u2013 well, yeah, you are straight up \u201cendorsing and justifying\u201d civilian deaths.<\/p>\n
And you are especially endorsing and justifying them if \u2013 instead of blaming Israel for slaughtering men, women and children in Gaza with abandon \u2013 you blame Hamas for failing to foresee the unprecedentedly psychotic nature of Israel\u2019s \u201cretaliation\u201d. Were the American media and political establishment not so firmly committed to transmitting a thoroughly decontextualised version of this war \u2013 and of Israel\/Palestine in general \u2013 perhaps a news anchor would ask whether it never occurred to Israel that the Palestinians would ever \u201cretaliate\u201d for 75 years of ethnic cleansing, suffocating blockades and massacres.<\/p>\n
Tapper forges ahead with his assault on logic and humanity with the help of an arsenal of video clips, several of them courtesy of the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI), itself an unofficial Zionist propaganda arm \u2013 although CNN and other US media outlets are doing a fine job in that respect, as well.<\/p>\n
From these clips, featuring former Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal among others, Tapper draws three convenient conclusions, which he conveys with Orientalist smugness and disdain: that Hamas is totally content to have Palestinian civilians die; that Hamas does not care about protecting civilians and only cares about their own military tunnels; and that Hamas is determined to keep attacking Israel for eternity.<\/p>\n
In case anyone remains unconvinced, he has also thrown in a clip of former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who is evidently unsatisfied with the quantity of blood she already has on her hands and requires more: \u201cPeople who are calling for a ceasefire now do not understand Hamas. That is not possible. It would be such a gift to Hamas.\u201d<\/p>\n
Near the end of the segment, we are presented with the \u201cpoint of view of Israel\u201d, as if that is not what we have been receiving this whole time: \u201cThey [the Israelis] hear all the calls for a ceasefire. What they do not hear is anyone in the international community proposing any way for them to get back their 240 hostages that Hamas kidnapped.\u201d<\/p>\n
This is funny, since, as NPR reported this month, a recent opinion poll in Israel found that almost two-thirds of the Israelis surveyed were in favour of a prisoner exchange \u2013 something Hamas has repeatedly offered \u2013 in which Israel would release its Palestinian detainees in exchange for the hostages held by Hamas. Why look to the \u201cinternational community\u201d when there is a solution right there?<\/p>\n
It bears emphasising that prisoner exchanges are nothing new. In 2011, for example, Israel freed no fewer than 1,027 Palestinian prisoners in exchange for a single soldier held by Hamas since 2006 \u2013 chalk the ratio up to the superior value placed on Israeli lives.<\/p>\n
And, in 2008, Israel acquired the remains of two Israeli soldiers in exchange for five Lebanese nationals and the remains of 199 Lebanese and Palestinian captives.<\/p>\n
As of the Hamas operation of October 7, there were over 5,000 Palestinians languishing in Israeli jails; two weeks later, the number had doubled, as Israel went about maniacally arresting people.<\/p>\n
But, hey, we are only supposed to see the \u201cpoint of view of Israel\u201d.<\/p>\n
Proceeding in his defence of that viewpoint, Tapper laments that the Israelis \u201cdon\u2019t hear anyone proposing any way for Hamas to be removed from the leadership of Gaza.\u201d This is an \u201cinteresting turn of phrase\u201d, to borrow Tapper\u2019s own words, seeing as removing Hamas from leadership isn\u2019t really anyone else\u2019s business at all.<\/p>\n
Recall that, after Hamas won democratic elections in 2006, the US decided it was indeed their business, and helpfully sparked a civil war in Gaza \u2013 to Hamas\u2019s eventual advantage. Oops.<\/p>\n
Anyway, who needs a Palestinian civil war when you can just annihilate Gaza altogether?<\/p>\n
Tapper\u2019s segment received praise from various US media figures, with Brit Hume of Fox News lauding his \u201cexcellent analysis\u201d. It is an \u201canalysis\u201d, of course, that is shared by President Joe Biden and across the US politico-media spectrum: That a ceasefire is off the table and Palestinians must continue to die.<\/p>\n
And as Tapper continues to audition for the role of Israeli military spokesperson, an immediate ceasefire needs to be called on bloodthirsty journalism.<\/p>\n
The views expressed in this article are the author\u2019s own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeera\u2019s editorial stance.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u0627\u0644\u0645\u0635\u062f\u0631<\/a>
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