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Media Twists Facts to Make Israel Look Good in Conflict With Palestinians

By Ray Hanania

If your only source of news on the conflict between Israel and Palestine is the biased, anti-Arab mainstream American news media, I can understand why you so easily believe that Israel is merely defending itself against rocket attacks from the Arab terrorists in the Gaza Strip.

I understand how you believe the current crisis is the direct result of Palestinians allegedly associated with Hamas who kidnapped three Israeli teenagers and then brutally killed them.

And I can understand how you would then blame the Palestinians for the failure of peace, the continued violence and the mounting death toll. Civilians die at an unprecedented rate there, with Palestinians accounting for 15 times the fatalities as Israelis.

But I still feel sorry for you Americans, living in a country that is renown for its high levels of education, its freedom of speech and its civil rights. In truth, your mind is imprisoned by pro-Israel propaganda and if you dare to challenge Israel’s propaganda — and it is propaganda — then you are vilified with the “A-word” and denounced as “anti-Semitic.”

You, as an American, are not allowed to think for yourself. You are not allowed to view all the facts. You are carefully spoon fed one-sided bits of facts and exaggerations intended to make Israel look like the victim and the Arabs as the beasts.

The truth is far different from what you are being handed by the pathetically unprofessional and unethical news media. It’s a news media that ignores or downplays the constant violence committed by Israelis against Palestinians who, by the way, are both Muslim and Christian.

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That should be important to you, because America is a “Christian” nation, and in addition to allegedly embracing Christian religious principles of non-violence, justice and fairness, you might also occasionally sympathize with victims who are Christian, too.

But you don’t because your ability to think freely has been compromised by a biased news media and by a powerfully sophisticated public relations strategy orchestrated by Israel and partially paid for by U.S. tax dollars. (Almost $5 billion American tax dollars are donated to Israel every year.)

Part of the problem, of course, is the Arabs, too. They are dysfunctional. Their leadership is molded by generations of living under brutal dictatorships to the point where they become Americanized Arab dictators themselves. They come from 22 Arab countries where free speech could put you either in a grave or in a prison where torture and violence is an everyday practice.

When the United States wanted to really torture its prisoners from Iraq and Afghanistan, we didn’t send them to Guantanamo where waterboarding and being squeezed into boxes were among the worst forms of brutality.

We sent them to “friendly” Arab dictatorships in Jordan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and even in Syria where electricity was connected to their testicles and fingernails were popped. Many died from the torture, unreported and without a minimal amount of civil rights.

So I blame the Arabs here in the United States for their utter failure in getting this story out correctly and allowing Israel to so easily manipulate the minds of the poor, unknowing Americans, as if they were pets.

I want to direct you a website where you can go to get a day-to-day perspective on the violence taking place in Palestine and Israel. It accurately records and sources each story involving violent incidents by Palestinians and by Israelis.

The site is www.IMEMC.org. It is hosted by the International Middle East Media Center, which was launched in 2003 with the help of international journalists to document accurate portrayals of events.

I went there and was overwhelmed by the evidence of day-to-day brutality by Israel against the Muslim and Christian civilians of Palestine. It was so overwhelming; I couldn’t try to list the individual incidents in this column.

Instead, I randomly picked 11 days beginning on Jan. 1, 2014 to review the incident logs, and I posted them on my news website at www.TheArabDailyNews.com. I wanted to do 14 days, but the incidents were so sickening and appalling, I couldn’t take reading more about the brutality and repression.

Every single day, Israeli soldiers and Israeli settlers attacked, beat and killed Palestinians. The names and faces of the Palestinians were never showcased in news media stories in the United States. Many of the victims were children.

During one incident, a Palestinian stabbed an Israeli, on Jan. 11, 2014. That was reported in the American press, and then the following day when Israel attacked Palestinians, those attacks were described as “retaliation for Arab terrorist attacks.”

Just as the news media falsely claims Palestinians launch rockets into Israel and Israel is forced to retaliate against the “Hamas terrorists.”

In fact, after each Israel missile strike against Palestinians, or a settler assault against Palestinians, Palestinian splinter groups in the Gaza did vow to fire rockets against Israel in response.

In other words, the Palestinians were retaliating against Israel, not the other way around.

But that truth might cause most Americans consternation. How could Israel, the “David” in this fictionalized fantasy, become the brutal “Goliath,” when it is the other way around? Right?

Well, the truth is, if Israel is David, David has become a serial killer and a mass murderer who specializes in killing women and children.

That’s not a story Americans want to hear. But that is the truth.

Ray Hanania is an award-winning Palestinian American columnist managing editor of The Arab Daily News at www.TheArabDailyNews.com. Follow him on Twitter @RayHanania. To find out more about Ray Hanania and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit www.creators.com.

Here is the chronology I randomly picked beginning with Jan. 1, 2014:

Chronology of incidents from IMEMC (International Middle East Media Center) www.IMEMC.org

Jan. 1, 2014

The Palestinian News & Info Agency (WAFA) reports that, according to security sources, live bullets were fired toward Palestinian minors in the camp, shooting a 14-year-old in the foot.

He was transferred to a hospital, for treatment, where his condition was described as moderate.

In related news, WAFA reports that the Israeli army has demolished the tent village of Kanaan, on Wednesday, immediately after its construction; eight activists were arrested, according to a local activist.

Hassan Brijiyeh, coordinator of the National Committee against the Wall and Settlements in Bethlehem, said that activists set up a camp in the Jordan Valley, in response to the recent committee recommendation, by Israel, to annex the valley.

Official Palestinian sources said that Jamal Al-Jamal, 56, the Palestinian Ambassador to the Czech Republic, was killed in an explosion which took place when he opened an old safe, at his residence in Prague.

Jan. 2, 2014

Local sources have reported that undercover soldiers, driving a local Palestinian car, infiltrated the Jerusalem-Hebron road in Bethlehem, and broke into a shopping center before kidnapping Sajed Abu Khashaba, 20.

The kidnapped Palestinian works at a local store in the shopping center; the soldiers also confiscated his mobile phone.

Furthermore, the army invaded Saff Street, in Bethlehem, kidnapped Ahmad Ezzat, 33, and confiscated his phone.

Eyewitnesses said that the soldiers also fired rounds of live ammunition and gas bombs, in the area.

On Wednesday night, several Israeli military jeeps kidnapped a student of Polytechnic University, in the southern West Bank district of Hebron.

The kidnapped Palestinian, Moneer Dofesh, was taken prisoner in the Nomra area of Hebron, and was moved to an unknown destination.

Also on Wednesday night, soldiers kidnapped at least 15 Palestinian children and a young man in the Tabaqa village, south of Doura, in the southern West Bank district of Hebron.

Jan. 3, 2014

January 3, 2014] Palestinian Medical sources have reported that a Palestinian teen has died of wounds suffered Thursday, after Israeli soldiers opened fire at an area in northern Gaza.

Palestinian medical sources said that two Palestinians were shot and wounded by Israeli military fire east of the Jabalia town, in the northern part of the Gaza Strip.

Palestinians attacked and injured in Hebron

Jan. 4, 2014

Israeli soldiers kidnap a Palestinian woman in East Jerusalem after she is accused of getting in a fight with settlers. None of the settlers are arrested.

Sun. Jan. 5, 2014

Settlers attack and assault a Palestinian school girl who is on her way to school. “While she was heading to school, accompanied by her aunt’s daughter, an Israeli settler passed them. Then, she suddenly felt a kick on her back and fell on the ground. The settler started kicking her by his feet and beating her on head and belly.”

Jan. 6, 2014

Israeli soldiers violently broke into the house of Mohammad Omar Ad-Deek, 24, searched the property, causing excessive damage, and kidnapped him.

Israeli Settlers stormed the village of Urif, in the northern West Bank, south of Nablus, under heavy guard of Israeli soldiers. Al Ray news agency has reported that “a numbers of Israeli settlers stormed the secondary school and the water tank, around the area east of the town, damaging the power panel and throwing stones at the school”, according to locals.

Israeli soldiers were deployed at the site, firing tear gas grenades as settlers disrupted the town; many cases of suffocation have been reported.

Jan. 7, 2014

Israel announces it will build 272 more housing units in illegal settlements around Jerusalem in the West Bank

Jan. 8, 2014

Israel shells Gaza, kills one Palestinian and injures two children, one seriously, when Israeli soldiers fired shells into the Al-Kassarat area, east of Gaza city. Dr. Ashraf Al-Qodra, spokesperson of the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza, said that that the body of slain resident Mohammad Salama al-Ajla, 32, was severely mutilated due to the blast, and his remains were moved to the Shifa Medical Center in Gaza.

Palestinian medical sources have reported that at least fifteen young Palestinian men have been injured after Israeli soldiers invaded Al-Arroub refugee camp, north of Hebron, in the southern part of the occupied West Bank.

Jan. 9, 2014

Ramallah: A number of extremist Israeli settlers infiltrated the Palestinian village of Sinjil, near the central West Bank city of Ramallah, and wrote racist graffiti on walls of a local home in the village.

Head of the Sinjil town council, Ayyoub Abu Sweid, said that the settlers infiltrated into the village during dawn hours, and wrote their racist graffiti on the walls of an old home. Sweid added that the settlers came from the Shilo nearby illegal settlement, build on lands illegally confiscated from the residents. He further stated that the settlers repeatedly attack the village and its orchards.

Such attacks include racist graffiti, burning and uprooting trees, breaking car windows and puncturing tires, in addition to attacks against the villagers themselves.

Gaza: Three Palestinians have been injured after an Israeli airstrike targeted the southern Gaza Strip, on Thursday, according to medical officials.

Ashraf al-Qidra, Gaza’s health ministry spokesman, told Ma’an News Agency that an Israeli plane fired a missile at a three-wheeled vehicle, east of Khan Younis, injuring two men; a child standing by the window, in a nearby house, was injured by broken glass.

All three were taken to Kamal Nasser hospital in Khan Younis for treatment. Earlier, Israeli military vehicles crossed into a border area east of Khan Younis, forcing farmers to flee the area. Palestinian fighters then fired several mortar shells at the vehicles, according to eyewitness reports.

Bethlehem: 17 Palestinian youth were injured, this morning, after occupation soldiers fired rubber-coated steel bullets and live ammunition at them in Adhaisha camp, in the Bethlehem area. Al Ray reports that “the occupation forces broke into the camp and raided a number of houses after blowing up their doors. Clashes between the invading troops and Palestinian youths erupted in the area”, according to witnesses.

They added that the occupation forces injured 3 young men, Nedal E’baid, 24, who was shot with a dumdum bullet in his thigh leaving him in critical ccondition, Mohammed Zawahreh, 21, and Khalil el-Banna, 18, who were also shot in the thigh. In the meantime, 14 other young men were injured with rubber coated steel bullets, while dozens more suffered the effects of tear gas inhalation.

Occupation forces also arrested Mohammed Abed Rabboh, 20, who suffered an injury in his foot, and Bilal al-M’aiwi, aged 19; Murad and Ashraf al-Zghari were detained for hours before releasing.

Jan. 10, 2014

Dozens of Israeli soldiers invaded, on Thursday evening [January 9 2013], the ‘Ezbet al-Tabib village, east of the northern West Bank city of Qalqilia, firing gas bombs and causing dozens of residents to suffer the effects of tear gas inhalation.

Local sources said that resident Ali Tabib, his wheelchair bound wife, Rasheeqa, his daughter Rawda, and his granddaughter Tasneem, were all moved to the Darwish Nazzal Hospital in Qalqilia for treatment. Furthermore, soldiers attacked a protest tent installed in front of the village Service Center after the army informed the village council that it intended to destroy the building. The soldiers fired two gas bombs at the nonviolent protesters, causing dozens of residents to suffer the effects of tear gas inhalation.

Jan. 11, 2014

Israeli stabbed in Jerusalem by Palestinian

War criminal Ariel Sharon finally dies after years in coma. Sharon’s provocations and history of violence set the standard for Israeli Military conduct of brutality against civilians, women and children.

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About
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rayhanania

Managing Writer at The Arab Daily News

RAY HANANIA — Columnist

Ray Hanania is an award winning political and humor columnist who analyzes American and Middle East politics, and life in general. He is an author of several books.

"I write about three topics, the Middle East, politics and life in general. I often take my life experiences and offer them in an entertaining way to readers, and I take on the toughest topics like the Israel-Palestine conflict and don't pull any punches about what I feel is fair. But, my priority is always about writing the good story."

Hanania covered Chicago Politics and Chicago City Hall from 1976 through 1992. Hanania began writing in 1975 when he published The Middle Eastern Voice newspaper in Chicago (1975-1977). He later published “The National Arab American Times” newspaper which was distributed through 12,500 Middle East food stores in 48 American States (2004-2007).

Hanania writes weekly columns on Middle East and American Arab issues for the Arab News in Saudi Arabia at www.ArabNews.com, the TheArabDailyNews.com, www.TheDailyHookah.com and at SuburbanChicagoland.com. He has also published weekly columns in the Jerusalem Post newspaper, YNetNews.com, Newsday Newspaper in New York, the Orlando Sentinel Newspapers, and the Arlington Heights Daily Herald.

Palestinian, American Arab and Christian, Hanania’s parents originate from Jerusalem and Bethlehem.

Hanania is the recipient of four (4) Chicago Headline Club “Peter Lisagor Awards” for Column writing. In November 2006, he was named “Best Ethnic American Columnist” by the New American Media. In 2009, Hanania received the prestigious Sigma Delta Chi Award for Writing from the Society of Professional Journalists. He is the recipient of the MT Mehdi Courage in Journalism Award. He was honored for his writing skills with two (2) Chicago Stick-o-Type awards from the Chicago Newspaper Guild. In 1990, Hanania was nominated by the Chicago Sun-Times editors for a Pulitzer Prize for his four-part series on the Palestinian Intifada.

His writings have also been honored by two national Awards from ADC for his writing, and from the National Arab American Journalists Association.

The managing editor of Suburban Chicagoland Online News website www.SuburbanChicagoland.com, Hanania's columns also appeare in the Southwest News Newspaper Group of 8 newspapers.

Click here to send Ray Hanania and email.

His Facebook Page is Facebook.com/rghanania

Visit this link to read Ray's column archive at the ArabNews,com ArabNews.com/taxonomy/term/10906