Sticking to the Story, No Matter What

“You delight in laying down laws. Yet you delight more in breaking them.” Kahlil Gibran

When it comes to Gaza, leave it to CNN to reinforce the story line that Israel is only protecting itself against Hamas rocket attacks. The crawl under Larry King’s face informs viewers of the number of Hamas rocket attacks over the past week, but doesn’t say squat about the number of air sorties flown by the Israeli Air Force against a defenseless population. Perhaps it didn’t occur to CNN to ask for that information, though it’s more likely that CNN knew but chose not to report the number because doing so would run counter to the theme that Israel is simply defending itself against indiscriminate attacks.

According to the BBC, Israel has launched more than 700 air sorties against Gaza.

CNN calls what’s happening in Gaza a “conflict,” implying that Hamas is fighting back, which is how the American media absolves Israel of responsibility. The same deceitful terms were used, and continue to be used, to describe the American invasion and occupation of Iraq. As did all major American media outlets, CNN called the US invasion a “war,” which implied that Iraq had attacked the US, which of course never happened.

"War” has a different connotation than “invasion,” and implies a measure of justification, which in the hands of the unscrupulous can turn into self-righteousness.

It’s true that Israel and the Palestinians are locked in a conflict over history, land, broken treaties, self-determination and security. But a count of the dead and wounded in Gaza over the past week describes a massacre, not a conflict: 421 dead in Gaza, 4 dead in Israel. Adding the 2,250 Palestinians wounded (as reported by the BBC) buttresses the argument that a massacre is unfolding.

It bears repeating that Israel’s attacks – no matter how carefully targeted to only strike Hamas – have exacerbated a humanitarian crisis in Gaza. Imagine if the medical clinics and hospitals in your home town or city were suddenly flooded with injured and wounded people. Even the best equipped and staffed hospitals would soon reach a breaking point. Medical facilities in Gaza were ill-equipped and supplied before Israel’s assault began; the suffering in the aftermath must be unimaginable.

And like CNN, the outgoing American president, never one to peer too deeply into a crisis lest he see something that might contradict his monochrome worldview, lays blame for the wholesale destruction of Gaza at the feet of Hamas.