New Events

International

no events posted in last week

Blog Feeds

Anti-Empire

Anti-Empire

offsite link US Marines Commandant Wants to Dump All ... Wed Mar 03, 2021 20:57 | Paul McLeary

offsite link Cuomo Wins Al-Qaeda’s ‘Jihadi of the... Wed Mar 03, 2021 15:15 | Rafi Metz

offsite link Facing MBS Questions Washington Suddenly... Wed Mar 03, 2021 14:38 | Dave DeCamp

offsite link Previously Unreleased Footage of Iranian... Wed Mar 03, 2021 13:27 | Colonel Cassad

offsite link Orban Gets a Sinopharm Jab, Slovakia Imp... Wed Mar 03, 2021 12:34 | bne IntelliNews

Anti-Empire >>

Public Inquiry
Interested in maladministration. Estd. 2005

offsite link Mainstream media: Failing to speak truth to power

offsite link David Quinn’s selective tolerance Anthony

offsite link A Woulfe in judges clothing Anthony

offsite link Sarah McInerney and political impartiality Anthony

offsite link Did RTE journalists collude against Sinn Fein? Anthony

Public Inquiry >>

Human Rights in Ireland
A Blog About Human Rights

offsite link Poor Living Conditions for Migrants in Southern Italy Mon Jan 18, 2021 10:14 | Human Rights

offsite link Right to Water Mon Aug 03, 2020 19:13 | Human Rights

offsite link Human Rights Fri Mar 20, 2020 16:33 | Human Rights

offsite link Turkish President Calls On Greece To Comply With Human Rights on Syrian Refugee Issues Wed Mar 04, 2020 17:58 | Human Rights

offsite link US Holds China To Account For Human Rights Violations Sun Oct 13, 2019 19:12 | Human Rights

Human Rights in Ireland >>

Spirit of Contradiction

offsite link The Party and the Ballot Box Sun Jul 14, 2019 22:24 | Gavin Mendel-Gleason

offsite link On The Decline and Fall of The American Empire and Socialism Sat Jan 26, 2019 01:52 | S. Duncan

offsite link What is Dogmatism and Why Does It Matter? Wed Mar 21, 2018 08:10 | Sylvia Smith

offsite link The Case of Comrade Dallas Mon Mar 19, 2018 19:44 | Sylvia Smith

offsite link Review: Do Religions Evolve? Mon Aug 14, 2017 19:54 | Dara McHugh

Spirit of Contradiction >>

The New York Times and Rouzan al-Najjar

category international | anti-war / imperialism | opinion/analysis author Sunday December 30, 2018 17:21author by Blooming BarricadeReport this post to the editors

This is Why Framing and Independent Media Matters

The Times did a valuable service by investigating the murder of a Palestinian medic by Israeli snipers, but undermined their own work with pro-apartheid framing and both-sides tropes.
The Times's front page report
The Times's front page report

The New York Times did the unexpected and published a front-page feature investigation on the famous death of Palestinian medic Rouzan al-Najjar, killed intentionally and deliberately by an Israel sniper during the Great March of Return, an ongoing series of protests in occupied Gaza near a barrier fence with Israel.

The investigation, reported by Yousur Al-Hlou, Malachy Browne, Iyad Abuheweila, Neil Collier, Ibrahim El-Mughrabi and John Woo, is thorough and leaves no doubt as to the fact that this was a war crime by the Israel Defence Forces (IDF). But the article, written by David M. Halbfinger, a man known for his deference to Israeli military sources, reads very differently.

In addition to being framed as a question - Did the IDF commit a war crime or not? - the lede is puffed up with outright Israeli hasbara, including claims that the protests were "little more than a public relations stunt for Hamas."

On the 70th anniversary of the Nakba, when Donald Trump's internationally condemned Jerusalem Embassy was opened, the idea that the protests were a Hamas front were the preserve of right-wing partisans, such as Laura Loomer, and the official narrative of the IDF. Here, little over half a year later, this is repeated not just as a talking point, but as allegedly objective reporting.

This both-sides article wheels out all the hoary tropes long regarded as a disingenuous false equivalency by those knowledgable about the Israeli-Palestine issue. According to Halbfinger, this is an "unending and insolvable cycle of violence" where Israel...continues to focus on containment."

It is not until well into the story- over two-thirds following the lede, that the author quotes Professor Ryan Goodman, a special counsel to the Pentagon, as saying that Israel's act "crosses the line.”

This unequivocal statement is given by an expert, but not stated outright by a reporter who appears to find outright IDF talking points as fact. It is followed by the heading: "Mistakes Add Up."

This article will, by virtue of it being on the front page of America's most well-known newspaper, undoubtably attract international attention and be seen as the definitive account of the murder of al-Najjar. This story will be cited in essays, papers and studies, and will become repeated in the history books as the official narrative long after al-Najjar would have died a natural death.

We are facing a future of climate catastrophe, high-tech repression of refugees and vulnerable people, and possible nuclear conflict between great powers. There will be more protests and direct actions against this looming dystopian future and potential human extinction. There will be more martyrs like Rouzan al-Najja.

And we can't allow the transnational corporate media to write the history of our movements. The New York Times's article should stand not only as a lesson of the power of reporting, but more importantly, of the power of framing - and independent media.

Related Link: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/30/world/middleeast/gaza-medic-israel-shooting.html?action=click&module=Top%20Stories&pgtype=Homepage
© 2001-2021 Independent Media Centre Ireland. Unless otherwise stated by the author, all content is free for non-commercial reuse, reprint, and rebroadcast, on the net and elsewhere. Opinions are those of the contributors and are not necessarily endorsed by Independent Media Centre Ireland. Disclaimer | Privacy