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TechnoratiKeeping Out The Cameras and Reporters Simply Doesn't Work
Now the Israeli army is trying the same doomed tactic again. Ban the press. Keep the cameras out. By yesterday morning, only hours after the Israeli army went clanking into Gaza to kill more Hamas members - and, of course, more civilians - Hamas was reporting the capture of two Israeli soldiers. Reporters on the ground could have sorted out the truth or the lie about that. But without a single Western journalist in Gaza, the Israelis were left to tell the world that they didn't know if the story was true.
On the other hand, the Israelis are so ruthless that the reasons for the ban on journalism may be quite easily explained: that so many Israeli soldiers are going to kill so many innocents - more than three score by last night, and that's only the ones we know about - that images of the slaughter would be too much to tolerate. Not that the Palestinians have done much to help. The kidnapping by a Palestinian mafia family of the BBC's man in Gaza - finally released by Hamas, although that's not being recalled right now - put paid to any permanent Western television presence in Gaza months ago. Yet the results are the same.
Back in 1980, the Soviet Union threw every Western journalist out of Afghanistan. Those of us who had been reporting the Russian invasion and its brutal aftermath could not re-enter the country - except with the mujahedin guerrillas. I received a letter from Charles Douglas-Hume, who was editor of the The Times - for which I then worked - making an important observation. "Now that we have no regular coverage from Afghanistan," he noted on 26 March that year, "I would be grateful if you could make sure that we do not miss any opportunity for reporting on reliable accounts of what is going on in that country. We must not let events in Afghanistan vanish from the paper simply because we have no correspondent there."
That the Israelis should use an old Soviet tactic to blind the world's vision of war may not be surprising. But the result is that Palestinian voices - as opposed to those of Western reporters - are now dominating the airwaves. The men and women who are under air and artillery attack by the Israelis are now telling their own story on television and radio and in the papers as they have never been able to tell it before, without the artificial "balance", which so much television journalism imposes on live reporting. Perhaps this will become a new form of coverage - letting the participants tell their own story. The flip side, of course, is that there is no Westerner in Gaza to cross-question Hamas's devious account of events: another victory for the Palestinian militia, handed to them on a plate by the Israelis.
But there is also a darker side. Israel's version of events has been given so much credence by the dying Bush administration that the ban on journalists entering Gaza may simply be of little importance to the Israeli army. By the time we investigate, whatever they are trying to hide will have been overtaken by another crisis in which they can claim to be in the "front line" in the "war on terror".
42 Comments so far
Show AllUnfortunately, banning the press and photographers does work. The military has lots of psychologists advising it. After Vietnam, they understand that photos of flag draped coffins and burned children have the effect of connecting people to reality. Secrecy is the tool of liars and abusers.
But you know this, Mr. Fisk. Or else you would not have risked so much to report truthfully. Thanks.
Joe
If you think about it, all these countries that harbor "terrorism" Israel, Palestine, Syria, Pakistan etc, all have one thing in common. They were all very primitive cultures that were thrust into modernity, and though you can gain knowledge of a modern society, the wisdom is totally lacking. Knowledge with wisdom brings peace, knowledge without it brings war. The fact that our country, the torch bearers of freedom, now finds it's self saddled with the horror of what we in our actions of war (fallout from our own learning period that lacked wisdom) find ourselves in a world of our own creation where we are held in the past by these present realities and can do nothing but watch and suffer the terrible wisdom of knowing what is wrong.
Leea
"If you think about it, all these countries that harbor "terrorism" Israel, Palestine, ..............The fact that our country, the torch bearers of freedom, now finds it's self saddled with the horror of what we in our actions of war (fallout from our own learning period that lacked wisdom) ............ can do nothing but watch and suffer the terrible wisdom of knowing what is wrong."
If you think about it, all these countries that are "state terrorists" USA, Israel.... all have one thing in common. Arrogance... They all had no culture until they started cultivating a culture of violence, lies and hypocrisy. They preached that materialistic development meant modernity, and that strength meant moral high ground and although you can gain knowledge of how to make and use a destructive weapon, humanity is totally lacking. Rights backed with power brings justice and might without morals brings destruction. The fact that our third world countries had fallen for your definition of modernity and in the mean time lost most of its strength by abandoning its values and misinterpreting its history meant that we were trapped between our ignorance and weakness at one side and your power, arrogance and lack of any humanistic values on the other side. No one to blame but ourselves, I just couldn't but comment on your words, "the torch bearers of freedom", how arrogant and self defeating, but entirely our fault.
I agree with you completely, thank you for adding your thoughts, probably much more to point than I was able to get.
Leea
Where to begin questioning the words you used? Primitive cultures? The wisdom of modern society? Bearers of freedom?
But I do agree with this: "Knowledge with wisdom brings peace, knowledge without it brings war."
Joe
"Where to begin questioning the words you used?" Is this another way of saying that you can't comprehend what I am saying? You would not be the first to run into understanding that is beyond your own limits. Therefore it is good you found what you did understand to focus on, I think that is an excellent example for us all.
Thank you.
Oh thank you, oh wise one.
Joe
You are so welcome......how did you know my real name? :)
Actually I don't see any reason to blame Bush for how these other countries are acting. It was not until Obama, the worlds, and Israels "darling", became president in waiting that this attack on innocent citizens in Palestine, in the guise of "terrorism" occurred. Since Obama has given his full allegiance to Israel, what else can we expect? If there is fault to be placed, lets put the majority where it belongs; at the feet of Obama, and those who supported him.
We had no idea what can of worms would be opened with a leader like Obama on the world scene, we are getting a taste of what might happen, it could more easily lead to world war three than anything Bush ever did.
Preaching to the choir here but, Mr. Fisk is a pretty good journalist and probably could not fit all the views in a short article, probably should look for a more comprehensive one later this month.
I watch CNN to see the desparity in representation of the Isreal/Palestinian perspective and it is apolling. Turn to Democracynow.org and WOW! equal representation, of course the top leadership of Isreal would never come on to a show like Democracynow would they?
For all humanity and all that is in the Universe
Keeping Out The Cameras and Reporters Simply Doesn't Work
My dear Mr Fisk , yes it does work. You don't remember the black out of news coverage on the Iraq surge do you. You don't know what hell our military unleashed in Iraq do you.
No one does, because for 6 months , there was no reporting by the Main Stream Media.
Because in America ignorance is not just bliss, its a way of life.
I have read online that Israel helped support Hamas in its development stages.
That the idea of Hamas was that it was to counter the PLO and bring a new kind of leadership to the Palestinians.
This group would be controlled by Israel, and help bring compromise and peace to the area.
Well, somewhere along the way, Hamas decided it did not want to be Israels pet.
Hamas made new friends, ones that Israel did not like.
A little embargo here, a siege there, a few desperate rockets in a form of "hey world we are being suffocated and targeted for invasion, and baam , the next thing you know war and occupation.
Sometimes I have to wonder who is teaching who about world domination,America, or Israel.
One thing is for sure,,,, cha ching,,, USA Military Industrial Complex.
America, who are we??????
USA United Stazi of America - New world order of spy's, 7 year of republican spy building, we are in some serious crap.These people will not give up their money or power easily.
FBI FBI of America
Lawyers and Judges have no real power to protect our civil liberties, Patriot Act is the new Constitution,if you want to stay out of trouble you are going to have to start paying off Law Enforcement agents.
A good lawyer and judge combination with the Constitution will not save you from jail time.
MIC Military Industrial Complex of America
Our great democracy of intellectuals has been marginalized by the Main Stream Media and the War Machine.
You are either a patriot or not, support the troops or you are anti-American, protest the war and you are Anti-American.
There will be no free speech by intellectuals, they don't exist in America.
Again this is due to very poor reporting by the Main Stream Media, whom I believe should be charged with war crimes for the one sided military slant by the pentagon generals in the propaganda stages leading to the Iraq war.
So Mr Fisk, keeping the cameras out does work, because no reporting is just as good as one sided reporting or a pack of lies.
BornFreeMen
Never had a chance to fully recover from my heart surgery, because the Right Wing Stazi torture freaks in Bradenton Florida want me dead.Make no mistake about this America, Stazi police in the form of Gang Stalking is real, google it. Read about it, then write your Senators and Congressman and tell them to act to destroy these torture organizations.
bornfreemen, who has been feeding you this stuff? It's like you get the powers inherit in a people that are aware of their rights to be free, but it's all mashed up like baby food.
Actually, Isreals support of Hamas had more to do with them being a religion-based movement and therefore a counterbalance to the the much more feared socialist and Soviet-supported politics of the PLO and PFLP. In those days, secular pan-Arab Nasserist and Baathist movements were much more feared because they were "godless socialists" and got a bit of support from the "evil empire" - the Soviet Union.
Meanwhile in Afghanistan the US fully supported Bin Laden and his extremist reactionary Islamic movements for the same reason. Carter, then Reagan considered them "God-fearing" and therefore "on our side" againse "godless communism".
I wish I was making this up, but that really was the infantile thinking in those cold-war days.
It really worked out well, didn't it? The current theocracy dominated, undemocratic condition of most ME and near Asia is exactly the result the US/Isreal asked for when they brutally crushed and eliminated of all the progressive movements for Arab unity and independence in the 1970's.
---USAn---
Interesting that Fisk makes reference to the Soviet's expulsion of journalists during their invasion/occupation of Afghanistan for comparative purposes, but makes no mention that the U.S. military has done essentially the same thing in Iraq. It would also have been worth a mention that there have been a number of journalists killed, fired on, and detained by U.S. forces in Iraq. The embedded make pretend access which is permitted ONLY with the understanding that graphic pictures must be approved, as well as a pro U.S. slant to the so called reporting, is NOT journalism -- it's PR.
Read credible accounts of the horror we visited on Falluja and you'll understand why no journalists can be given any real access.
"the ban on journalists entering Gaza may simply be of little importance to the Israeli army. By the time we investigate, whatever they are trying to hide will have been overtaken by another crisis"-Fisk
That crisis might be Vanunu's 2009 Supreme Court Appeal fighting 3 months more in jail just for speaking to foreigners-who happened to be media in 2004-for it will illuminate the fallacy that Israel is a democracy that upholds freedom of speech and religion.
2005, 2006, 2008 Video with Vanunu freely streaming VANUNU ARCHIVES:
http://www.wearewideawake.org
"Israel is a not a democracy but is an Ethnocracy, meaning a country run and controlled by a national group with some democratic elements but set up with Jews in control and structured to keep them in control."-Jeff Halper, Founder and Coordinator of ICAHD/Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions and a Noble Peace Prize Nominee for 2006.
The Times They Are a'Changin'- FREE Vanunu Mordechai! Now!
http://www.facebook.com/inbox/readmessage.php?t=1005963324332#/group.php?gid=52776865024&ref=nf
Eileen Fleming, Author, Founder WAWA:
http://www.wearewideawake.org/
Producer "30 Minutes With Vanunu" and "13 Minutes with Vanunu"
Anybody notice that the IDF is not even bothering with 'embedded' journalism?
Some of the best articles on the background of of current mideast events are found on Al-Jazeera, Zaman (Turkey), as well as Ha'aretz and the aforementioned Russian reporting.
But I could be wrong !
"Anybody notice that the IDF is not even bothering with 'embedded' journalism?"
No need. The US corporate media are already In-BEDed with IDF. Such amount of censorship hasn't been seen since the demise of USSR.
For a surprizingly good and actually balanced television treatment of Israel's attack upon Gaza from multiple political perspectives (really quite "fair and balanced" as the slogan goes), I suggest taking a look at the nightly English language version of Russia Today (broadcast here in the Midwest on my cable menu at 10:00 pm EST).
How odd that post-Cold War Russian television - at least on the issue of Palestine - seems less polluted by overt propaganda slant than the coverage found in the mainstream United States media spectrum, and quite likely also TV news coverage in Europe, and the Middle East itself.
How ironic too that in geopolitical terms, right behind Iran comes Valdimir Putin's Russia as the biggest long term political, economic, and strategic beneficiary of the Bush/Cheney neocons' grandiose military overreach into Iraq.
And none dare call blowback by its own name, while few even hint at possible influence flowing from the law of unintended consequences.
Bill from Saginaw
Bill,
good commentary.
Iraqi PM al-Maliki just concluded another successful two-day tour of Tehran, his fourth since his election, visiting Iran's political and religious leadership, to continue to develop bilateral relations.
Perhaps this is what we should have been doing during these past eight years, i.e., developing bilateral or multilateral relations.
One thing that is sure, is that Israel will not end rocket attacks by bombing, invasion, occupation or economic disruption.
The second thing that is sure is that additional rocket attacks on Israel will not stop bombing, invasion, occupation or economic disruption.
The final thing that is sure is that demonstrating the definition of insanity over and over will not make much of an impression on leaders of Palestine, Israel, USA, etc.
The Zionists have obviously outdone the Nazis. However, all this brutality and savagery against unarmed civilians is not a harbinger of peace but increased hatred and resistance in the region. The puppet Arab regimes in Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Jordan will also be weakened. There is ZERO chance of a "military" solution unless the Zionist and their US supplied military machine is willing to exterminate 1.5 million civilians in Gaza. That may be too much even for the US to fathom, not to mention the collapse of shaky dictatorships and Sheikhdoms in the region. Every Zionist brutality, including the use of cluster, uranium depleted and phosphorous munitions strengthens the resistance.
In the 21st century with global mass communication, you simply can't murder your way to peace and national security. The eighteen months of Zionist planning just to attack and murder largely unarmed Palestinian civilians in the small surrounded Gaza pocket of barely 360 sq kms on open flat terrain also underlines the basic weakness of the Zionist military and their sheer inability to absorb casualties. This message is not being lost of Iran, Syria, Hezbollah and other adversaries in the region and beyond.
In two weeks of relenteless massacres against a totally unarmed civilian population in exposed urban areas, the Zionists have not achieved a SINGLE STRATEGIC GOAL, on the contrary. This will embolden all resistance and also create a new strategy of protracted asymetrical warfare where countries with large populations like Iran can simply tie down the Zionist entity which can not sustain or afford a proloned military campaign that requires long term social, economic and military mobilization.
In the case of a potential war against Iran for instance, the Zionist population and economic centers will suffer heavily too. They have so far not shown a propensity for warfare against equal opponent and the savagery of occupation against the Palestinians has brutalized the Zionist military. Killing unarmed Palestinians with the collusion of Arab puppet regimes is one thing, taking on a a well armed opponent is another.
The Gaza genocide has only proved the ultimate Zionist weakness, just as the failed 2006 campaign to "defeat" Hezbollah proved, the military "might" of the US supplied Zionist war machine is approaching less than paper tiger dimensions. Instead of scaring the Arabs, it will bring on a more determined and better trained, armed and motivated opponents. Arrogance and racism are a high octane self-imploding mixture. The South African "Afrikaners" had a similar disparaging contempt for the Africans, however, over time the ANC with its Cuban, African and Russian backers proved them wrong at the batttefield, and in strategic tenacity. Most of the South African Apartheid types are now living in the US, Canada and Australia and ANC rules the roost. The Zionists over-time wil fare no better unless they treat the Palestinians as long suffering fellow humans entitled to basic human dignity and the right to a homeland.
The only workable solution is a peaceful settlement. However, the future looks dim and Zionism's long-term survival in the region is very questionable. The DEMOGRAPHICS simply don't add up.
Sioux Rose
CONDOR: Although I find your opening statement sheer hyperbole, the rest of your posting is a sound and intelligent analysis.
The zionists carry the nazis inside where some folks used to believe that our species have souls.
And the gringos act out all their hatred of Islam through them.
It has been thoroughly exposed to the world that the present action was planned while Israel was bargaining for peace with Hamas over six months ago
this is established at http://www.alternativenews.org an Israel site which appears to have been removed from the internet in the past couple of hours.
It is known that Israeli military incursions which killed several Hamas figures triggered the barrage of pipe bombs, which the IDF is now using as a pretext for the savage assault on the Palestinians.
And now they go in to assess/test the effectiveness of their new weaponry.
Sophie Scholl-The Final Days
I wish some independent reporters were inside the Gazastrip and that they would be able to confirm that my suspicions are not justified:
Already in 2006 the use of DIME (Dense Inert Metal Explosives) by the IDF was alleged by several reliable sources (Haaretz, the Guardian, etc.) and I am afraid the people in Gaza are again being used as GUINEA PIGS to say the least .... this is worse than genocide, this is omnicide, an invisible holocaust ....
PLEASE read this shocking report and pass it on.... (this is scary stuff: Is the military completely out of control? Have the last remnants of humanity disappeared from Washington and Jerusalem?
Here is an excerpt:
"DIME is an LCD (!) weapon developed at the US Air Force Research Laboratory. Publicly, it is slated for initial deployment in 2008. DIME bombs produce an unusually powerful blast within a relatively small area, spraying a superheated “micro-shrapnel” of powdered Heavy Metal Tungsten Alloy (HMTA). Scientific studies have found that HMTA is chemically toxic, damages the immune system, rapidly causes cancer, and attacks DNA - capable of inflicting genetic damage" - which means cancer, severe malformations or stillborn babies - (this is already happening in Iraq after the use of Uranium weapons (forget the "depleted"..)
"Genocide" gets a new, even more horrifying meaning...
(In animal studies 100% of the rats developed cancer at record speed..)
Testimony from a Palestinian doctor: “When the (micro-)shrapnel hits the body, it causes very strong burns that destroy the tissues around the bones…it burns and destroys internal organs, like the liver, kidneys, and the spleen and other organs and makes saving the wounded almost impossible. As a surgeon, I have seen thousands of wounds during the Intifada, but nothing was like this weapon.”
"The ideal of FLM is to reliably kill every human within the blast zone—one way or another. It is ‘total war’ on a 50-foot circle, within which deaths are not admitted as collateral, but purchased as insurance.
Israel’s new weapon “slices” off its victims’ legs, leaving “signs of heat and burns near the point of the amputation”. It’s “as if a saw was used to cut through the bone”, according to Dr. Habas al-Wahid, head of the ER at Gaza’s Shuhada al-Aqsa hospital.
Full story: http://usa.mediamonitors.net/content/view/full/38389
http://www.vtjp.org/report/neweaponimages.htm
I have no more words left to describe my horror... If there is a God, he must have given up on us a long time ago...
American citizens, you are paying for these monstrous weapons with your taxes... and we, here in Europe, sit and watch and do nothing to stop this madness, (forever gagged by the memory of the Holocaust which Israel uses as a deterrent against criticism...)
Could someone "beam me up", please? This planet is run by madmen...
Sioux Rose
TOQUEVILLE: If your description of DIME is correct, and if indeed it's being used, my mind recoils from the concept that human beings can use these diabolical weapons on one another; but moreso, I try to envision the type of scientific mind that comes up with these grotesque instruments of murder, and why our tax dollars go into funding such atrocities. The drug dealer is held to account along with the user, and that analogy works for the US supplying Israel with the tools of destruction. It's worse than a devil's bargain. Inhuman or inhumane doesn't begin to touch it. Have we words suitable to the travesties of this latest century?
Mr Fisk's article today reflects his arrogant liberal MSM whiney side.
1)"Palestinian voices ... are dominating the airwaves."
Huh?????? Maybe this is true in England (though I doubt it) but it absolutely is not true in North America where we see reports from Western reporters who are BEHIND the Israeli front lines. I only wish it WAS true.
2)"there is no Westerner in Gaza to cross-question Hamas's devious account of events" Why 'devious' Mr Fisk? If they are using exaggerations, hyperbole or misinformation this would only be the same as done by all governments under assault. I don't know if every report is true or accurate but overall the information on Palestine Information Center (Hamas affiliated) is worth looking at.
Stop whining and falsely blaming Palestinians Mr Fisk. Israel is not going to be convinced by your weak argument. They know very well what they are doing. Instead please give us some of the great reporting and coverage you are capable of ... even if you cannot get inside Gaza. You could probably write some great stories from Sderot or Tel Aviv.
The suggestion that only the Western press can give an honest accounting and the suggestion that since there wasn't the oversight of the more legitimate Western journalists, the Palestinians would exploit such a vacuum to presumably misrepresent the true nature of their suffering, is an offensive notion.
The only cover I can offer Fisk for this is his target audience is Israel. If that is the case, he really hasn't got any credibility with them anyway.
Mr. Fisk -
I am a diehard admirer of your articles, but as to your contention that the Arab press is dominating the media by default, I must ask if you have momentarily lost your senses.
The Israeli propaganda machine has successfully manipulated the MSM with the "Israel as victim" motif to the extent that the 540 Gazan dead and 2500 injured vs. FIVE Israeli fatalities contradiction has been virtually ignored.
If it wasn't so tragically heart-breaking, it would be laughable.
Fisk writes for The Guardian, a UK newspaper. It's quite possible that what he says is true in Europe. Only in the American press does one find rampant jingoism on behalf of the Israelis.
Rainborowe
Fisk writes for the Independent of London, not the Guardian === very big difference.
You're quite right, what's been reported is seen thru a very filtered lens. In our home town paper there's letters to the editor on every subject, except Gaza. The story's about what's going on are copied from the Washington Post, or from one of the Jerusalem papers. I'll give them the benefit of the doubt and just wonder if they're not printing the letters because they can only find ones that are written condemning Isreal's actions in words that couldn't be printed for fear of bringing about hate crime charges.
Israel has a history of targeting and killing journalists. This ban is only a smokescreen to target journalists brave enough to report the truth once more - "We told them not to come here" will be the refrain when they do kill media people this time round.
Truth is the first casualty of war. No independent coverage means no coverage which means that the truth doesn't rise to the top. Keeping the media out is a military tactic for those countries who are engaging in illegal wars.
Hoa binh
The US military threw the press out of Fallujah. And we know about the "embedded". Dahr Jamail told the story about white phosphorus anyway. www.dahrjamailiraq.com and there's a march,demonstration in Washington on Jan.10 by the A.N.S.W.E.R. coalition http://answer.pephost.org/
Maybe the rockets are gonna be used as bait to be able to counter attack ground troops goin in and looking for rockets and finding they are just idiots, led by bigger idiots in Israel.
They can now lure the ground forces around by the nose by just shooting off rockets, and moving somewhere else.
Like Gen. Custers last words "They are all around us men... now we have them just where we want them."
if Israel and the USA had recognized Hamas after they won the free elections all this could have probably been avoided.
And if not, they could always go back to war.
But War is big business and needs to keep the flames of hate alive!
I have to agree with your statement regarding the recognition of Hamas as the elected representatives of the Palestinian majority vote. Had they been recognized as a legitimate part of the Palestinian government (since they were elected fairly and without gerrymandering or political underhandedness like in some "democratic" countries of the global North) they would have had to act in a manner appropriate to the Palestinian laws or be viewed as unworthy of the Palestinian electorate. This is how formerly "terrorist" factions become American puppies, just as Fatah did and continues to do.
Can a leopard change its spots? Again we witness why we(the US) are hated in the Arab mind set. This lopsided war against the people of Gaza is just another reminder that we indeed are not controlled by a government who's main concern is for the American people, but by the concerns of the Jews who are embedded with their elected representatives--nobody can win here(USA) unless supported by the Jewish press and Israeli lobby--we witnessed this recently in the 2008 elections. The new president-elect has been seen sucking-up to Israel in order to achieve his office--when they saw he was with them they allowed his victory. If I'm not correct about this--watch and see if he says anything different than Dubba "W"(war monger)--if this unequal match was occurring anywhere else in the world there would be a extremely loud out cry. When will JUSTICE be done? Impeach and imprison all war criminals no matter what their race or nationality may be
Give PEACE a chance--No justice,no peace!
If Israel believed that Obama would follow them as blindly as Bush, they would have been better off waiting for Obama.
They can not be as certain of what you are so certain of and that is why they are attacking now.
Obama is saying "One president at a time" for good reason. Whatever he says can be ignored by everyone until a couple weeks from now.
If he wants peace and an economic recovery Obama will have to change this situation if he can.
But in their haste to keep the status quo, Israel is now on the hot seat and it is gonna get hotter.
Israel could have made a peace deal with Gaza and the whole mideast if they wanted to but they needed to make Hamas the boogie man like they did with Arafat.... remember everything was Arafat's fault before Israel and the USA corrupted the PLO and had Arafat eliminated.
War is the biggest racket goin.
Well, how the hell do you know what Israel is or isn't certain of, or even why they are attacking now?
Well EBlair somebody can ask you the very same question.
Now we're talking! I'd certainly expect someone to ask me that question...if I'd made a similar comment.