Jewish Settlers Celebrate Purim in Hebron,

Israeli army declares ancient city of Hebron a “closed military zone.”

Every once in a while, a media pundit says something that everyone knows but almost no-one talks about - at least not on the airwaves. Such was the case today with Chris Matthews of Hardball on MSNBC. It was unscripted and with passion.

Thank you Chris

And then there was Jon Stewart on Comedy Central. Priceless

To much fanfare, the Israeli army removed a few families of settlers who were illegally occupying a building in the Palestinian town of Hebron. They had successfully occupied the building for years with the protection of the Israeli army. The reports were complete with soldiers who refused to remove the settlers due to their “faith”. My, how they sacrifice, how they suffer for justice.

CNN International

While at the same time, the destruction elsewhere in the West Bank and Gaza continued. Al Alam TV from Mosaic on Link TV reports on the continued Judaization of Jerusalem through home demolition and confiscation of identity cards etc.

And as Palestine Broadcasting reports, converting a Mosque to a Synagogue for illegal Jewish settlers.

PCHR: Gaza Drowns in Blood Because of the Conflict between Fatah and Hamas Movements

…According to information available to PCHR so far, 21 Palestinians have been killed and at least 150 others have been wounded in the past 72 hours….

CNN International:

Only towards the end of the clip does CNN try to address why the fighting is happening, and a mention is made of the US and Israeli-led economic boycott that’s been imposed on the Palestinian government since Hamas won elections a year ago. The Unity government is mentioned, but not the fact that the US was unhappy with the agreement, and insisted Abbas impose Fatah strongman Mahmoud Dahlan as his National Security Advisor, which was never in the unity government agreement. As Time Magazine’s Tony Karon explains, Condi Rice and Elliot Abrams are relying on Dahlan to take out the democratically elected Hamas.

CBS News:

A graphic at the beginning of the video identifies Hamas as being connected to Iran. What the clip doesn’t mention is Hamas turned to Iran reluctantly, because the West greeted their democratic victory by cutting off Palestinian aid.

A statement from Hamas in the West Bank urged an end to the fighting, calling it a “free gift to the occupation.” (Ma’an News Agency, June 12)

See also Kabobfest’s take on these events.

What follows are two reports from CNN International on the 40th anniversary of the Six Day War between Israel and its Arab neighbors in 1967. The differences between the two reports is illuminating.

The first is by Ben Wedeman, who cannot bring himself to utter the word “occupation.” Like most of his reports, it amounts to Israeli propaganda.

Choosing Sari Nusseibeh, President of Al Quds University,as a Palestinian voice was both predictable and disappointing. For those who do not know Mr. Nusseibeh can best be described as anxious to accomodate.

On the other hand, Atika Shubert actually produced a decent report.

Atika Shubet on CNN International

Ben Wedeman on CNN International

Sy Hersh predicted the current situation months ago in the New Yorker.

To undermine Iran, which is predominantly Shiite, the Bush Administration has decided, in effect, to reconfigure its priorities in the Middle East. In Lebanon, the Administration has coöperated with Saudi Arabia’s government, which is Sunni, in clandestine operations that are intended to weaken Hezbollah, the Shiite organization that is backed by Iran. The U.S. has also taken part in clandestine operations aimed at Iran and its ally Syria. A by-product of these activities has been the bolstering of Sunni extremist groups that espouse a militant vision of Islam and are hostile to America and sympathetic to Al Qaeda

CNN International

The Daily Show does the “breakup” (gush)

From Fayyad at Kabobfest

Years of systemic Israeli destruction and weakening of the infrastructure, economy, and more importantly, the official Palestinian Authority security forces, have left Gaza infested with dozens of new small armies. Some are clan-based militias in a strip where smuggling contraband was the only viable trade left, and others are political group-affiliated militias, some of which, like the Hamas one, are far superior to the security services in arms, discipline, and pay. In some cases, an individuals could belong to more than one type of armed groups.

Read entier post here

CNN International covers the bloodshed and mentions the US infusion of guns and training but completely ignores the years of systematic Israeli destruction.

From CNN International

At the end of the segment Hala Gorani makes the point that Palestinians are being punished for the election which they already had because some are calling for new elections.

Jonathan Mann closed with this statement

There is no solution unless they (hamas and Fatah) can find one together.

How about
1. Israel and the US put an end to the blockade of Gaza and
2. US, Isreal, and surrounding Arab countries pour food instead of guns into Gaza?

on ZNET
by Pat Connors

Once again Pat examines the New York Times coverage of news from Israel and the occupied West Bank and Gaza.

…My review of all 1085 New York Times news articles written from Israel and Palestine since December 1, 2004 confirms that the Times largely hews to the Israeli and US government drumbeat of the war on terrorism and downplays the Palestinian experience.[5] Though the Times is not much worse than other major US newspapers in reporting on Palestine and Israel, as with Iraq, the Times’ influential role means its failures have greater impact.

Of the 1085 Times news articles since December 1, 2004, 37% mentioned Palestinian “attack(s)”, 36% mentioned “terrorism”, 28% mentioned “terrorist(s)”, 21% mentioned Palestinian “violence”,[6] 18% mentioned “suicide bombing(s)”, 16% mentioned Palestinian “weapon(s)”, and 14% mentioned Palestinian “radicals”. In contrast to this strong Israeli narrative, only two words reflecting a Palestinian narrative appeared in a comparable percentage of Times’ news articles. Israeli “settlement(s)” were noted in 32% of articles,[7] and Israeli “occupation” was mentioned in 16% of articles. This imbalance is even more striking because the emphasis on Palestinian terrorism and violence corresponded with a two year and five month period during which Israelis killed 965 Palestinians, more than half civilians, while Palestinians killed 85 Israelis.[8] Nonetheless, Israeli “attacks(s)” are mentioned in 13% of Times articles, and Israeli “violence” in only 4%.

…

Read the entire article on ZNET

What have we done??

CNN
Suicide attack kills 8 in Iraqi parliament cafeteria

• Fourteen lawmakers among 20 wounded in Iraqi parliament blast
• Eight people are killed, including two Iraqi lawmakers, officials say
• Al Qaeda in Iraq suspected in the attack, a U.S. general says
• Bridge over Tigris River collapses after a suicide truck bomb detonates

Every day we listen to and read opinions stated as fact that the surge is working. Every day we see bombing after bombing. And lately, since the surge, the bombing has become more sophisticated.

The question is explored today in fact by Sam Dagher in the Christian Science Monitor

Although sections of the city remain war zones – and attacks are up outside Baghdad – there are new pockets of relative calm emerging. For some Baghdadis, the security plan is starting to provide an opportunity for a few simple pleasures: a meal in a restaurant, a stroll inside heavily guarded parks and gardens, or a quick shopping trip despite the uncertain outlook.