Israel has to defend itself against rocket attacks and super-serious journalists being used as human shields. Mainstream media’s reporting woefully lacked important context while they ignored literal terrorist as officemates.
Summary
As the Israel-Palestine conflict escalates, the Israel Defense Force conducted an air strike on a high-rise building in Gaza being used by Hamas, but also home to the Associated Press’ Gaza bureau.
- The response from AP and Al Jazeera, which was also hosted in the building, was one of condemnation, with the President of AP saying “the world will know less about what is happening in Gaza because of what happened today.”
- The Associated Press acknowledged in their own statement that no one from the organization was injured or killed because the IDF gave advanced warnings.
- Al Jazeera called the destruction of the building, which housed Hamas’ intelligence group, a “heinous crime” in an attempt to “silence the media.”
- The IDF provided multiple warnings to the occupants of the building warning them to evacuate, and the IDF tweeted “important context” on how they work to minimize civilian casualties and claiming “Hamas has turned residential areas in the Gaza Strip into military strongholds.”
- The Biden administration reiterated their position to Israel that “ensuring the safety and security of journalists and independent media is a paramount responsibility.”
- The New York Times framed the incident within its broader coverage of the conflict and the efforts of the Biden administration to get both sides to back down.
- The Huffington Post shared an AP report from a first-person perspective of one of their Gaza journalists, who emotionally detailed the warning the IDF gave them, a warning Hamas does not give before their rocket attacks.
- Media bias apologist Brian Stelter’s report on CNN rose to the defense of journalists, largely ignoring the fact that, again, Hamas’ intelligence group was operating inside the building, saying the IDF’s statements “may be no match for the emotional and visceral reactions” to the aftermath of the building’s targeting.
- The Daily Caller’s coverage started off with some of the important context the mainstream media ignored or buried: that there were no casualties among civilians and that the IDF gave an hour of warning for people to evacuate.
- While the Free Beacon engaged in a satirical look inside the building that made fun of journalists, their reporting noted how many reports on the building’s destruction omitted or played down the presence of Hamas in the building.
- Townhall.com notes that while the AP and media outlets across the world are condemning Israel, they have yet to condemn Hamas for using the media as a human shield.
Author’s Take
This story offers several examples of the way mainstream media can warp a story. Firstly, the recognition of Israel’s attempts to clear buildings of civilians before they are attacked is not sufficient in most coverage. Secondly, as Townhall pointed out, there is literally no recognition that Hamas is hiding behind journalists to fire rockets at Israeli civilians.
Combine those two points into one: Hamas doesn’t give Israeli civilians the same warning the IDF does, despite the fact that it degrades the IDF attacks’ effectiveness on military and terrorist targets.
When it comes down to it, a certain class of journalists love making the story about themselves. They rave when movies are made about righteous investigative journalists and get mad when they don’t win Best Picture. Acknowledging the warnings IDF gave and that they were used as human shields by Hamas would have hurt their narrative of brave arbiters of truth under attack by Israel.
The Associated Press’ claims that in the 15 years they’ve been in that building there was “no indication” Hamas operated there doesn’t hold water when one reads a 2014 missive from The Atlantic alleging coercion and skullduggery by Hamas over the Associated Press.
Hamas threatening journalists and launching rockets from the same building and AP won’t report on it? How are we expected to not believe there is bias in the media?
Return to Freespoke 
© Dallas Gerber, 2021
