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

by Asa Winstanley

As a new contributer this site, I thought that a good way to start would be to go through interesting videos in the backlog of old clips. This one is from CNN back in December 2, 2006 of Jimmy Carter defending his book, Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid. It’s still worth watching — a good one for sharing with friends who don’t know the basics of the situation maybe.

I’m not a fan of Jimmy Carter (or politicians in general for that matter), but these days he has, in some respects, began to tell it like it is regarding Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian territories. The furious reaction of the political elite the US to his book — in which it seems he simply tells some basic truths — was instructive.

In the clip he says that “there is zero debate in this country about this issue and that’s what I hope to change.” An admirable and much-needed goal, to be sure. And the good thing about Carter speaking about this issue is that he gets mainstream attention in the US.

I have not read his book, but aparently it is not without its flaws — and not the fake “errors” its Zionists critics allege. Likewise, Carter makes at least one questionable statement in the clip:

“Inside Israel it is a wonderful democracy with everyone treated the same, Arabs and Jews…”

I don’t think Palestinian citizens of Israel would tend to agree with that…

Lebanese Army seizes Fatah al-Islam positions
Government gives military ‘green light’ to deal with security crisis in north

By Rym Ghazal
Daily Star, Lebanon

NAHR AL-BARED, NORTH LEBANON: Covered by an intense artillery barrage, the Lebanese Army drove Fatah al-Islam militants back from the periphery of the Nahr al-Bared Palestinian refugee camp Friday, with the army taking over militants’ positions along the camp’s perimeter. Residents of areas surrounding Nahr al-Bared awoke Friday to one of the heaviest battles between the army and the militants since clashes broke out two weeks ago, as the army pounded away with tank fire and artillery beginning at about 7 a.m., breaking the usual routine of heavy nighttime exchanges of fire.

CNN International

Daily Star, Lebanon

Palestinian factions work to end fighting
But abu al-aynayn says fatah-al-islam ’should be readily crushed’

Beirut — BEIRUT : Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) Beirut representative Abbas Zaki said Friday various that Palestinian factions were working on ending the fighting at Nahr al-Bared “in a way that would yield minimal side effects.” “We are ready to cooperate fully with the Lebanese Army and government to solve the crisis, yet it is important to act fast, because if fighting persists the suffering of Palestinians will increase and additional burdens will seep through and the crisis will worsen,” Zaki said after a meeting with Prime Minister Fouad Siniora at the Grand Serail.

Fatah commander in Lebanon Brigadier Sultan Abu al-Aynayn said in comments to LBCI television “…While it is true that we might disagree on the means, a positive sign lies in the fact that various Palestinian and Lebanese groups agree that Fatah al-Islam should be readily crushed,” Aynayn said.

Most Palestinians killed in Israeli raids were civilians, Amnesty says
By Donald Macintyre in Jerusalem, The Guardian

More than 320 civilians were among a threefold increase in the number of Palestinians killed by Israeli security forces last year, according to Amnesty International. The human rights group’s 2007 report says that over half of the more than 650 Palestinians killed in 2006 were civilians, 120 of them children and young people under 18. Amnesty defines civilians, “as people that are reasonably supposed never to have been involved in armed operations”.

Read entire article

Inside Narh al-Bared and Bedawi Refugee Camps
By FRANKLIN LAMB, Counterpunch

…The Welch Club now considers the Lebanese Army a serious problem. The Bush administration is trying to undermine and marginalize it to eliminate one of the last two obstacles to implementing Israel’s agenda in Lebanon.
If the army is weakened, it can not protect _over 70% of the Christians in Lebanon who support General Aoun’s Free Patriotic Movement. The F.P.M. is mainly constituted of well educated, middle class and unarmed Lebanese civilians. The only protection they have is the Lebanese Army which aids in maintaining their presence in the political scene. The other type of Christians in Lebanon is the minority, about 15% of Christians associated with Geagea’s Lebanese Forces who are purely militia. If the Club can weaken the Army even more than it is, then this Phalange minority will be the only relatively strong force on the Christian scene and become the “army” of the Club.

Another reason the Club wants to weaken the Lebanese Army is that the Army is nationalistic and is a safety valve for Lebanon to ensure the Palestinian right of return to Palestine, Lebanese nationhood and the resistance culture led by Hezbollah, with which is has excellent relations.

For their part, the Welch Club wants to keep some Palestinians in Lebanon for cheap labor, ship others to countries willing to take them (and be paid handsomely to do so by American taxpayers) and allow at most a few thousand to return to Palestine to settle the ‘right of return’ issue while at the same time signing a May 17th 1983 type treaty with Israel with enriches the Club members and gives Israel Lebanon’s water and much of Lebanon’s sovereignty….

30 Hamas Officials, including the education minister, arrested overnight by Israeli army.

According to CBS News

Israel Chooses Arrests Over Bloodshed

(CBS/AP) Israel extended its offensive against the ruling Palestinian militant group Hamas to the West Bank Thursday, reports CBS News correspondent Robert Berger, arresting more than 30 senior officials, including a Cabinet minister, parliamentarians and mayors.

Unfortunately, the CBS headline is wrong.

CNN International

Even by CNN’s Ben Wederman’s account, there have been at least 18 Palestinians killed in the latest assault by Israel. The way he puts it is:

“Israeli air raids have left more than two dozen militants dead but they’ve also killed nearly half that many civilians.”

Notice the passive language. “have left”

When reporting Israeli casualties from qassam rockets, Wederman says:
“the crude locally made rockets from Gaza have killed one Israeli and wounded more than 15.”

Yesterday CNN Headline News reported that the refugee camp, Nahr al-Bared “is home to some 40,000 militants.” Most US media outlets simply conflated the two. So when the US sponsored Lebanese army was indiscriminately bombing the camp, there would be no way to identify one from the other. They’re all the same, militants, Palestinians, refugees, terrorists.

Not one US media outlet reported on where the refugees came from or how they came to be refugees. Not one outlet reported on the US role in maintaining the horrific conditions in the camps that all did report on.

The worst of all I think was John Roberts this morning quoting George W Bush on the need to “drain the swamps,” referring of course to the refugee camps. I’ll provide the video if you want it.

This clip from CNN’s Situation Room was aired today after they had time to research, produce (or over produce) and check sources. This is what they came up with. And this is one of the better reports.

CNN State Department Correspondent Zain Verge :

The US sees Iran and Syria as the spoilers - using militias under their control to light fires throughout the region.

NOTE: the leader of Fatah al Islam are wanted in Syria.

Spoilers of what exactly?? The fantastic job mission/crusade/whatever you want to call it, that we are doing in Iraq, Palestine and Afghanistan.

“Lighting fires…”

What are 150,000 US troops doing in Iraq? What is the US and Israel doing in the West Bank and Gaza? What is the US and NATO doing in Afghanistan? What is the US doing everywhere?

And how exactly are Syria and Iran “spoilers?”

Zain Verge again:

“…by distracting the US and its allies.”

I kid you not.

Then it gets worse; Barbara Starr, CNN’s Pentagon mouthpiece — I cannot bring myself to say correspondent. Drama, urgency, worry from the Pentagon. THEY’VE CREATED THIS SITUATION!

And Wolf!

Evidently Palestinian refugee camps just sprouted up in Lebanon, because, I don’t know; maybe Palestinians thought it would be fun to live in a refugee camp in total poverty still holding the keys to their homes in what is now Israel.

But the worst was really John Roberts interviewing Brett Sadler and quoting George W. Bush on the need to drain the “swamps” that are the Palestinian refugee camps.

How about returning them to their rightful homes!!!!

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)

Zaki Chehab

Zaki Chehab is one of the Arab world’s leading journalists. He has covered the Middle East for local and Western media (including the Guardian, CNN, Channel 4 News, the BBC and The New Statesman) for twenty-five years. He is political editor of the London-based Al Hayat and of the Arabic TV channel LBC.