Since the start of the current Gaza campaign, the Israeli government and army have repeatedly said that they learned many lessons from the Second Lebanon War. Ostensibly, they are referring to the tactical and political breakdown outlined in the devastating postwar report issued by the Winograd Commission. But it seems that the government also learned a powerful lesson from Hezbollah — i.e., whoever controls the media wins the war.
During its current campaign, the Israeli army has kept the Erez crossing closed to the international media, barring foreign journalists from entering Gaza to cover the story. The Foreign Press Association was forced to petition the Supreme Court, which ruled in its favor and ordered the army to allow a limited group of foreign press into Gaza. Not only did the army refuse to carry out the court’s order, but it played a ludicrous game of telling the reporters to appear at the crossing at an appointed hour, and then refusing to process their passage.
This happened three times in one week. On one occasion, the army claimed it was too busy processing 300 dual-nationality Gazans, whose exit from the besieged territory was facilitated by foreign embassies. On another occasion, the army cited undefined security reasons — even as it continued to process the passage of international NGO workers. Asked by The New York Times for an explanation, Daniel Seaman, director of the Government Press Office, responded, “Any journalist who enters Gaza becomes a fig leaf and front for the Hamas terror organization, and I see no reason why we should help that.”
Israeli journalists, for their part, have been banned from entering Gaza by their own government for more than two years, so Israeli media outlets have largely contented themselves with hiring local Palestinian stringers to file the occasional news report or human-interest story from Gaza. Since the beginning of the military campaign, Israeli television stations have been making do with the occasional 30-second clip from Al Jazeera, which is the only international television news crew in Gaza right now. For the most part, Gaza as a place inhabited by human beings has been ignored.
Israeli media outlets instead have focused on the home front. From dawn until midnight, reporters spread out over Sderot, Ashkelon, Ashdod and Beersheba to give an update every few minutes — even when there is very little to report beyond the fact that there was an alert and a rocket fell harmlessly in an open area.
For these reasons, and because domestic news broadcasts traditionally avoid showing dead bodies, Israelis do not get a full sense of the bloodshed and destruction that is taking place in Gaza. While Al Jazeera has been broadcasting horrendous images of destroyed homes and infrastructure, dead children and overflowing hospitals to an outraged Arab audience of tens of millions, Israelis see only the occasional sanitized snippet of that coverage.
Two days after the military campaign began, the Israeli financial newspaper Globes published a highly critical summary of the domestic news coverage. It described in stark terms the dead civilians, destroyed infrastructure and harsh living conditions in Gaza, pointing out that none of these images are shown on Israeli television. Instead, Israelis see “military correspondents standing against a background of smoke pillars on a distant horizon, and reporters standing on deserted streets in the southern cities.” The article’s conclusion was withering: “The Israeli media is acting as a de facto army spokesman.” As the Gaza campaign nears the two-week mark, this pattern has held true.
Israelis pride themselves on being the only democracy in the Middle East. Yet they have willingly suspended democratic principles, such as the rule of law — in the case of the Supreme Court ruling on admitting foreign reporters to Gaza — and freedom of the press. Given the limited, controlled coverage of the army’s operation in Gaza, Israelis simply do not have sufficient first-hand information, in their own language, about what is really happening there. How, then, can they judge the moral stakes of this war?
Lisa Goldman is a freelance journalist living in Tel Aviv. She blogs at lisagoldman.net.
That's Putin's tactics, readying us to a presidential regime headed by Liberman. It's really like watching a train wreck in slow motion, from inside the train.
In the past, it was normal for national press to take the side of their host country when in war. During WWII, the New York Times reported that "enemy soldiers were killed" when the American forces killed Japanese or German forces. With the exception of Israel, we still expect our national press to take our side in the war. Al Jazeera is clearly doing so, and doing so to distract the Arabs from all the problems they have in their host societies. Obviously, ms goldman doesnt regard Hamas as the enemy. Most Israelis, like myself dont have sympathy for her views. I think that Lisa needs to address the comments of Kaine and Benveniste, because otherwise she cannot portray herself as an impartial observer
Good for you Lisa Goldman. A word of truth at last.. Anti-semitism is fueled by the actions of those who seek to muffle the media and distort the facts about Gaza and the suppression of Palestinians. The evils of Hamas demand criticism and condemnation but let the reporting attempt to be as objective as the facts permit.
I think the Forward did a disservice by deleting some of the previous posts. Ms Goldman's credibility is harmed by the fact that she never condemned the rocketing of civilians in Sderot. She also irresponsibly traveled to South Lebanon, where she could have been kidnapped, forcing Israel to exchange terrorists to gain her freedom. These terrorists would then have killed innocent Israelis in the future. Both the lack of concern for Sderot and her fellow Israelis smack of elitism. I hope the Forward and Ms Goldman will have the courage to address these serious issues. What Rev Gray is trying to say that all anti-semitism is brought upon by the Jews themselves. This was common opinion even before Gaza, ie Nazi Germany, Spanish Inquisition, Bogdan Chmielnicki and the cossack massacres. I wouldnt want to join his church. It is far away from G-d, just like the mosques that preach killing of Jews
thank you Lisa, again and again... Thank you for trying to open the eyes of our brain washed population. the way Mr Glack refers to the Nazis... Why do we love to jump to that time and try to make a point by referring whatever with Nazism?
What the IDF never learned in Lebanon is the cost of chutzpah. Some in the Pentagon were enamored of the way the IDF created its own parallel government. But now Livni and Barak are trying to rehabilitate themselves politically in Palestinian blood. Really, Olmert realized that the American $$$ placenta canny no longer engorge every time Israel strikes out with firepower in abandon. But Livni and Barak could not have picked a worse moment to take on "those who are ready to die." Israel needs gelt, security is only a way of calling it forward. However, the US is broke and looking for scapegoats. What can the illusory "Jewish vote" do against the "Sovereign Funds" and the Chines bankers on which the US will depend to survive? Gaza gave them an excuse and gave non-Palestinian HAMAS a raison d'etre. Sharon made the disguised Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood thugs into a reality, hoping they would destroy the PLO. They finally did and Israel panicked, repeating the Warsaw Ghetto in Gaza. This is nothing but fuel for anti-Zionism, alas at the very time when Arabs are ready to run to Israel for cover. AS Israel tries to back-up and redo its reckless driving, it will find that it has no more friends and that Diaspora Jews-- like all the young Jews who, after a first-class education, escaped to the West-- are not going to sacrifice survival for Israeli expansion. But, thanks to Livni/Barak, it may be too late; for Americans are looking for scapegoats to blame a great power becoming a turd. Thanks to the neocon search for mensch-hood they can draw a straight line from Iraq to Gaza. I know it is stupid and I know that Israel wish it were not so; most of all, I know that 89% of Jews are not neocons or their peanut gallery. But America needs un faultive and I fear and tremble that the very pillar of Western culture will once again be called on to take blame. Never have I felt so helpless. I recall South Vietnames leaders insisting that "Americans are too stupid to ever leave." I insisted that Americans are only as stupid as they want to be. But they are not so stupid to see the domination of pro-Israel hazbara on all news channels. This, I know, means nothing, it is not REAL power. But that's why I am afraid: because it can be an excuse for scapegoating for their suffering poverty, near defeat in the "War on Terror" and the dependence on Sovereign Funds. How will Israel get the billions it wants to rebuld its fireceness? How will it ever again scare Arabs ready to die for revenge? Has Livni learned nothing from 9/11? THE REAL ENEMY IS NOT HAMAS BUT ANTI-SEMITIC SCAPEGOATING. Begin to fight it before it is too late by emphasizing your REAL moral superiority instead of IDF's BS hasbara and necons' paroxysmal slander.
a brave and correct article.
Yes Lisa, there are people on both sides of the border suffering. This is a tragedy. The overriding issue in the conflict is not of proportionality or collective punishment. It doesn't matter what the relative numbers of casualties are. What matters is that there are thousands of rockets emanating from Gaza being launched by the elected government of that enclave. The inhabitants of Gaza must be held responsible for the decision to be governed by a group of terrorist thugs. Furthermore, as you know I am sure, Hamas has positioned its weapons directly in civilian areas so as to increase civilian casualties for propaganda purposes. This conflict is not about poverty, occupation or humiliation. This is a canard. The conflict is strictly about ideology. An ideology that at its heart desires the destruction of Israel and the Jewish people. It has created a society that revels in death and martyrdom. I doubt that there will ever be an end to war between Israel and the Arabs in my life or the life of my children. It's sad that Israel's concern for the well-being of civilians is only viewed as weakness in the eyes of its enemies. Israel is in a death struggle in its fight with jihadist proxies of Iran on two fronts. This seems not to matter to you as much as the fact that more Arabs are dying than Jews are - for now. Your priorities are misplaced! Unfortunately, the world has a double standard where Jews are concerned. Too bad! I fear there will never be a solution to the worldwide jihad unless the world stands up with one voice to this attack on our civilization.
"Israelis do not get a full sense of the bloodshed and destruction that is taking place in Gaza". That's a good point. Plus, I don't like the idea of having to rely on Aljazeera to get first hand news from Gaza.
Thank you for this article. It is just stunning to me that such an overwhelming majority of Israelis can support the horrors being inflicted by the IDF in Gaza, and the press blackout goes some way in explaining it. It's hard to believe we in the U.S. are getting better news coverage, but it seems that we are, which accounts for the growing number of American Jews who are just horrified by the slaughter and ashamed that it is being done in the name of the survival of the Jewish people. Of course everyone condemns the rockets in Sderot. But we are talking about a death toll that is nearing 100 Palestinians to 1 Israeli, and the deaths of hundreds of women and children and who knows how many male civilians. Most Jews would not defend this if it were happening to any other people. We shouldn't defend it here.
It's about time Israel recognized that it is in a war and that news should not be created by its enemies, either the foreign or its own fifth column press. It's also about time Israel recognized that its own Supreme Court has done more to endanger its existence than all the Islamic countries that are trying to destroy it.
Lisa obviously does live in Tel Aviv and is TOTALLY out of touch with what is happening down here in the Negev. She can take a shower or do whatever she does without having to constantly run for cover with a 15 second notice, if lucky. We Israelis can see petrified Arabs in Gaza on any other media and day and night our media interviews our enemies, as does the foreign press. Why doesn't she worry about covering the incredible human rights abuses of Hamas- their dragging of kids with them so that if they are hit, they will have good footage of children's bodies, their murder of rivals, their using women and children as human shields and counting on us not bombing necessary targets because of it. FORWARD readers should check out: http://sderotmovie.com/blog/ if they want an accurate picture of what is happening OUTSIDE of Tel Aviv. "Accurate picture of what is happening" We just want to go to sleep without getting up for sirens and watching a generation not grow up with PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome). WE want to live as anyone else does. Gazans elected the Hamas tyrants to rule them. They have lost any freedoms with their own votes. They promise OUR destruction and steal billions of dollars of aid money. As they would say, "It is in God's hands". They made their bed. They will lie in it. As for Southern Israel, I don't believe Lisa's concerns are our concerns! - a concerned Negev resident!
“For the most part, Gaza as a place inhabited by human beings has been ignored,” Gaza is a place inhabited by people who overwhelmingly share the same attitudes toward Israel and Jews as their Hamas rulers; Hate and an unyielding committment to violence. Now they will finally reap what they have sown,Israeli retribution and retaliation. I realize in your Leftist world of moral equivalency there is no room for such fine distinctions, no room for assigning blame, only room for those perceived as Victims. Yes, they are victims, of their own stupidity and blindness coupled with their islamic-based hate and intolerance for the 'other.' Now let them suffer,
GS is in pain that the ratio of casualties in this war is 100 to 1. What was the ratio of casualties, let's say, between Germans and Americans? Well, I'm certain that this was never a public issue. Would GS have written, as an American Jew, a painful letter to the editor of the NY Times in 1944 saying: "How stunning that Americans support such a war when so many Germans are losing their lives out of proportion to the casualties inflicted on our own people..." Such a letter would have been regarded as "weird" at best, and I can promise you the NY Times editor would not have even considered publishing it. The Hamas has a policy of armed struggle. Fighting Israel is a matter of ideology, and so we find ourselves at war instead of renewing the ceasefire. GS should focus criticism at those whose ideology is continued warfare even at the price of harm to its own unprepared people. How strange it is to see that war is waged on Israel, but it is Israel that has to explain its outcome. It's not a new phenomenon, obviously. After the 1967 war, when Israel destroyed the armies that had gathered on her borders to "drive her into the sea", Ephraim Kishon wrote a lovely story: "Excuse us for Winning".
No one is blocking Israelis from viewing al Jazeera, BBC or other enemy media. WHat Lisa is demanding is that the Israeli media fall into line with anti-Israel orthodoxy. Most of us, unlike Lisa are still patriotic. Lisa, if you dont like it here, please leave. No one will miss you. Perhaps al Jazerra is to your liking
Given the absurdly unfettered political authority apparently garnered by Israel's Supreme Court, and its bizarre rulings, I was so pleased to learn the Army refused to follow its dangerous dictates. It seems that Israel's political system is in serious need of reform, in order that its high court does not engage in political policy decisions which are properly the role of the executive and legislature. As for Lisa, she sounds like another far-left ideologue who wants to disseminate enemy propaganda. There is already plenty of anti-Semitic propaganda being spewed by the media.
Many of us watch AlJazeera in US via the net and read foreign papers as well. In the age of the internet, it is foolish to think news can be 'controlled'.
Many of us watch AlJazeera in US via the net and read foreign papers as well. In the age of the internet, it is foolish to think news can be 'controlled'... I guess that means the Jews dont control the media
Herbert Kaine "I guess that means the Jews dont control the media" No, it means they don't control the Internet. But I'm sure they will try.
I am a South African who had no clue what was really going on in my country during the dark apartheid years. Freedom of the press simply did not exist. We whites were expected to be satisfied with ignorant bliss, ... and our psyches are still paying for it today!
Hi Lisa, I do agree with you on the bad feeling of not letting journalists in on the israeli side and I also don't feel comfortable with the over-patriotic atmosphere in Israel currently trying to shut up everyone that doesn't agree with it. And I'm saying it as someone who does supports the current operation (Hell, I'm even from Ashkelon, apparently everybody hugs me nowadays!) However, in contrast to what you said, I approve of forbidding journalists getting in on our side for one reason only - Soldiers' safety. In Lebanon 2 there was a complete orgy of the media, broadcasting live every move. Hizbulla didn't need any intelligence arm, it had TV. This time there is an almost complete darkness as to where our soldiers go and where they are now, and that's exactly what needs to be. With all due respect, there ARE reporters in Gaza and Video/Reports DOES get out of there. As long as it doesn't reveal Israeli troops location, I see no problem with it, that's why I feel less against the decision.
This clunk is a throwback to the damn foolish Jews who remained in Germany in the 1930's. She ought to support those who are trying to keep her alive. Fair is one thing, suicide another. ...
We should note the "Eyeless" reference in the article which seems a gratuitous allusion to a Torah injunction (mitigated by Halacha) often quoted by our slanderers.
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