Western Media Stooges of Islamist Propaganda: The Case of al-Dura
27 Jun, 2008
- In the real world, however, media often serves as a mouthpiece of the government in power or a distraction of scandal and gossip as we often find in the American and European popular tabloids.
- In some dictatorships there is only one view permitted, the
dictator's and foreign journalists are not permitted. In Burma and
North Korea, we have seen in the necessity to clandestinely cover
Burma's flood-storm disaster or North Korea's recurring
starvation.
But in sophisticated dictatorships (Soviet Union and Saddam Hussein's Iraq), foreign journalists were permitted but were under constraint. Uncooperative journalists were expelled. Journalists couldn't cover the country at all if they were expelled, so they had to wait until the end of their tour of duty to tell the truth.
One area of the world that needs to be covered honestly is the Arab Middle East - an area that plays a major role in American foreign policy. Israel has a rambunctiously free press, but the Arab world, particularly the Palestinian Territories and Gaza, is a different case. Local journalists foolish enough to expose graft or corruption will not live long. Foreign journalists must be pro-Palestinian or they are expelled. And some foreign journalists let themselves be used for political propaganda.
Perhaps you will remember one searing image that came out of Gaza: the image of Mohammed Al-Dura, a 12-year-old Palestinian boy, crouching in terror behind his father as Israeli bullets flew and ultimately killed the child and wounded the father. The Palestinian media turned it into a major propaganda piece to convince the Muslim world - and Europe - that Israeli soldiers deliberately shot a child in a 45-minute hail of machine gun fire. This image has permeated the psyches of Muslims everywhere, resulting in streets named for the "martyr" and postage stamps commemorating this horror for eternity.
The photo image and story came from a Palestinian journalist and was broadcast by a French journalist working for one of the official French TV networks. CNN saw the photos and rejected them as dubious - but later covered the issue after the "respectable" French Network showed them. They assumed that due diligence validated the photos.
Philippe Karsenty, a French journalist and media critic, has taken a different show on the road. On May 13th, at UC Santa Cruz, a consortium of Scholars for Peace in the Middle East, Stand With Us, and Leviathan, sponsored his talk. We saw footage before and after the "incident" and some very damning evidence that the entire al-Dura incident was staged. The footage shown on French (and world) TV was edited; we saw original footage. The testimony of the Palestinian and French journalists were very inconsistent. They claimed that the Israelis fired for 45 minutes against a wall, intending to kill the father and the boy he was protecting. However, the film showed no firing coming from the Israeli barracks at all; it also showed only seven small round bullet holes in the wall - and not a drop of blood - quite impossible after 45 minutes of firing that would have dismantled the wall as well the father and son.
A dead child's body was photographed in the morgue, but this child did not look like what we could see of al-Dura. Furthermore, the death of the child, his identification in the morgue, and the funeral, complete with printed posters, all took place an hour or two after the shooting. That efficiency should be bottled and sold. Karsenty, who was sued by French TV 2, has now won his case in court, validating his accusations of fraudulent journalism.
The supposedly wounded father was shown with very old scars, not new bullet wounds - and apparently when investigated were found to be from a previous brush with Palestinian factions. The entire filming was so blatantly fraudulent that it is embarrassing to see. The horror is the damage this piece of theater has done.
Buyer beware. This is not journalism.
| If you like this essay: |
Stumble it
 |
digg it |
Dr. Laina Farhat-Holzman is an historian, lecturer, and author. Born in Rochester, New York, she was married to an Iranian 15 years, lived on and off in Iran, and had two children in that marriage. She maintains her blog: www.globalthink.net. She also writes for the Pajaronian, the Santa Cruz Sentinel and Family Security Matters. She can be contacted at Lfarhat102@aol.com.
Name: Laina, you may lick them as much as you can , they will still call you black b---------.
Date: Tuesday May 27, 2008
Time: 05:14:33 -0700
Comment
The Incorrect Image of Islam in the Western Media Chief among the negative consequences of the events of 11 September was the deformation of the image of Islam in the Western media. A fixed model was formulated linking terrorism to Islam. The violent attacks in which Muslims were convicted brought about a state of direct animosity against Islam in Europe and the United States. Most Arab and Islamic countries were listed among the zones that endanger European and US security. A strong current in the West now pictures Islam as the common enemy that has replaced communism. Observers of Western media are noticing an increasing tide of animosity against Islam and Muslims living in Western countries. They attribute this to incorrect understanding on the part of some Western intellectuals of Islam and its teachings, and the tendency to highlight the incorrect practices of some Muslims, generalise and deform the image of Islam as a whole. The rectification of the image of Islam in the West requires strong and persistent efforts from the Muslims themselves, both in the Islamic world and in Muslim communities in the West. This effort should be a comprehensive process, starting from within by consolidating mechanisms of Islamic work on the popular and official levels. Muslims will never be able to improve their image before the world if they fail to appear as a nation of culture and civilisation. Effective initiatives must also be undertaken to educate the non-Muslim world concerning correct Islamic concepts, of peace and tolerance, and to clarify the incorrect views of Islam held by some that lead to conflict between the West and Islam. However, breaking through the Western media is not an easy task for Arab and Muslim media as Western societies enjoy abundant media coverage that makes it unnecessary for them to look outside. Specialised institutions and organisations should thus be charged with the responsibility of managing a media programme to promote a true image of Islam, backed up by the necessary funding and human resources.
Name: Tanstaafl
Date: Tuesday May 27, 2008
Time: 06:21:48 -0700
Comment
The prior post has the phrase "a true image of Islam" in it. Some questions - 1) How is "a true image of Islam" possible with the practice of taquiya and kittman? 2) How would "a true image of Islam" deal with 1400 years of oppression of kafirs? 3) Should Islam states pay compensation to India for the millions of Hindus killed during the "Hindu Holocaust" from the ninth century to the 17th century? 4) What should be done about the Muslim involvement in the African slave trade (still ongoing in Darfur)? 5. Should muslims be asked to leave Western nations due to their loyalty to Islam and their desire to have Sharia Law imposed on the kafir? Inquiring minds want to know............
Name: To: "Responder to Laina",
Date: Tuesday May 27, 2008
Time: 07:24:44 -0700
Comment
"Incorrect image of Islam"? Surely you are kidding. What other logical conclusion can intelligence come to. The Quaran is a cook book for oppression, terrorism, pedophilia, murder, rape, etc. When followers of Islam are insulted "their truths are revealed", they call for murder. Give me a break. Islam is a vile scurge on humanity, and that is the "correct image".
Name: Incorrect Image of whom?
Date: Tuesday May 27, 2008
Time: 08:48:57 -0700
Comment
Who calls whom infidels? And who believes that they are superior to others? Who believes in poll taxes from disbelievers??? By the way, afer 9/11 many westerners were buying books about islam. In the islamic world, nobody buys books at all! They are all only listening to their islamistic demagogues. Westerners indeed begin to hate muslims because they begin to understand them. And sorry, sometimes it seems that muslims really deserve nothing else.
Name: Mutual Understanding
Date: Tuesday May 27, 2008
Time: 08:52:16 -0700
Comment
"There is no accumulated tradition of Arab scholarship on the "Other"." http://www.arab-hdr.org/contents/2003/ch3-e.pdf
Name: Yet another quranic error!
Date: Tuesday May 27, 2008
Time: 09:21:34 -0700
Comment
007.124 YUSUFALI: "Be sure I [Pharao] will cut off your hands and your feet on apposite sides, and I will cause you all to die on the cross." Crucification was never practised in ancient egypt. And there are so many more errors in the quran concerning the pharao but I am too tired to list them all.
Name: Tree
Date: Tuesday May 27, 2008
Time: 10:45:49 -0700
Comment
Laina, Would you not have done everybody here a favor by showing those critics of Islam that they are wrong? Surely, this would have been more effective than acting like a parrot and repeating what the Muslims always say that the world has an incorrect image of Islam? Surely you are a parrot for you would not have believed that "managing a media programme" would have fooled people so easily. Wake up!
Name:
Date: Tuesday May 27, 2008
Time: 11:28:24 -0700
Comment
yes you so tired, best thing for you to do is to go to sleep!finding errors and knowing errors is not for you .stupid kaffir.
Name: re: Kaffir
Date: Tuesday May 27, 2008
Time: 11:41:46 -0700
Comment
Insulting others is all what muslims can do. What does Kaffir mean? Somebody who does not believe that he was made from clot! Islam lies from the very beginning! The first message from Mohammad was that we were made from clot (s. 96)! But we are not made from clot! Was this the reason why all the surahs were rearranged? Perhaps Uthman wanted to cover that Mohammad was wrong from the very first day.
Name: Mohammad
Date: Tuesday May 27, 2008
Time: 18:06:34 -0700
Comment
Ok let's say Al-Dura's story was false. How about other Palestinian kids who are being killed on a daily basis by the IDF? Who are you kidding?
Name: carnation
Date: Tuesday May 27, 2008
Time: 22:57:23 -0700
Comment
The point, Mohammad, is that Palestinian reporting is not to be trusted. Palestinians are willing to stage events to generate propaganda "news" footage. Western media must quit accepting this footage as accurate reporting.
Name: ha ha ha ....
Date: Wednesday May 28, 2008
Time: 00:51:56 -0700
Comment
What others can they do, those Moslem governments ? To let the journalists tell the truth about Islam is like putting faeces in their faces. If they are free from errors, why do they have to put journalists in contsraints? Let them tell the truth!!!
Name: Challenge to infidels from Akhter
Date: Wednesday May 28, 2008
Time: 08:33:27 -0700
Comment
Produce a quranic aya if you can. You cannot because you are the lowest creatures.
Name: challenge to akhter from me
Date: Wednesday May 28, 2008
Time: 09:48:20 -0700
Comment
Do you believe everything you are told? If not, how do you decide what to believe and what not to believe? You know yourself that islam is a false doctrine, that is why you are so angry. I challenge you to explain why you defend islam when you know it to be false.
Name: this is an eye opener
Date: Thursday May 29, 2008
Time: 03:27:47 -0700
Comment
this is an eye opener revaeling how petro dollors are manaaging international media
Name: Tree
Date: Thursday May 29, 2008
Time: 15:57:51 -0700
Comment
To without a name; you admit that you are not worthy of even a name? What a shame!
Name:
Date: Thursday May 29, 2008
Time: 19:26:37 -0700
Comment
Religion of peace? Wake the fuck up Muslims, your religion is being shown for what it really is. The true Islam is unfortunately what we are seeing in these terrorist organizations across the globe. Though many atrocities have been committed in the name of Christianity I've never actually heard of a pope, cardinal, or bishop citing a bible verse as authority to kill someone on earth ( Also note that catholicism, like Islam is a dogmatic religion and defers from true biblical teachings) The Quran incites violence, I've read a good chunk of it now and have peaked at the Hadith. I'm told that since I have no formal teaching in Islam I cannot correctly interpret it. This alone proves the lack of divine inspiration in the Quran.
Name: Pixi
Date: Friday May 30, 2008
Time: 20:19:54 -0700
Comment
To the brain dead slave of allah and a--- kisser of the paedaphile prophet who tries to use the old muslim divide and conquer tactic against Dr Laina Farhat-Holzman . The article you cut and pasted could not have come anywhere else but the Western media .The Islamic world has failed in 1500 years to appear as cultured and civilised .Furthermore we gain all the education about islam from the writings of the koran itself and the actions of the Muslims .
Name: Tree
Date: Saturday May 31, 2008
Time: 02:05:32 -0700
Comment
Laina, Oops. I got it wrong. My first comment was addressed to you but it should not have been. It was for the first commentator but I got mixed up with the names. These true beleivers do not have the guts to even have fake names.
Name: IS THIS TRUE?
Date: Tuesday June 10, 2008
Time: 12:34:47 -0700
Comment
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ojIzkNa5tMM Cow Dung worship I assure you read that title right, this is exactly what the ladies of the house in DH???s community do the morning after Diwali to ensure wealth and prosperity in the household for the year to come. Since I had no idea how things worked I let my sister in law do the preparation, which actually meant using fresh cow dung to draw a symbolic representation of a village complete with 3D little cow dung people (all this made with bare hands and on the ground in the court yard). I myself took the less smelly job of putting various types of lentils and grains in designated area on the pattern to mimic granaries and mangers. We then went back to the kitchen to make little birds out of rice floor dough for the female only ritual. Once MIL was ready we headed back outside, lit oil lamps in the dung village, and had our feet painted with some magenta tainted water and proceed to bless the village with the usual water sprinkling, grain throwing and red powder applying all the various elements and then conclude by eating one of the rice flour birds each before call it quit and head to the kitchen for breakfast. While the whole ritual may sound gross (after all this is cow dung we are talking about). What fascinates me is how Hinduism has remained an earthy religion close to its people and the farming roots of India, with all the rural symbols and wish of prosperity linked to grain, food and by default wealth. And somehow it is not so odd that the Goddess of wealth is a woman, and that the rituals closely associated to fertile matters are conducted by the women of the household using earth symbols, which are by default symbols of life and fertility as well (the men have another ritual the next day involving fire). The rest of the day is generally spent lazing around as everything is anyway closed. That part was actually tougher on me than being around smelly dung and a swarm of flies.