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<div class="header reader-header" style="display: block;"
dir="ltr"> <font size="-2"><a class="domain reader-domain"
href="https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/ali-abunimah/passive-media-whitewash-israels-massacre-gaza">https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/ali-abunimah/passive-media-whitewash-israels-massacre-gaza</a></font>
<h1 class="reader-title">Passive media whitewash Israel’s
massacre in Gaza</h1>
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<p class="node__submitted">
<span class="field field-author"><a
href="https://electronicintifada.net/people/ali-abunimah">Ali
Abunimah</a></span> <span class="field field-blog">-</span>
<span class="field field-publication-date"><span
class="date-display-single"
content="2018-05-16T15:24:23+00:00">16 May 2018</span></span>
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<p>As Israel <a
href="https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/maureen-clare-murphy/israeli-violence-met-global-condemnation">slaughtered
dozens</a> of unarmed Palestinians in Gaza this
week, prominent media outlets employed innocuous
headlines to obscure the horrific reality.</p>
<p>In the video above, RT correspondent Anya Parampil
points to some examples of what she calls “an almost
across the board obfuscation of Israel’s
responsibility for the violence.”</p>
<p>A BBC headline read for instance, “Gaza’s deadliest
day of violence in years,” while <em>The Guardian</em>
ran with “Fatal clashes in Gaza after opening of US
embassy.”</p>
<p>The word “clashes,” Parampil observes, “would lead
you to believe there are casualties or injuries on the
Israeli side.”</p>
<p>In fact after seven weeks in which Israel has <a
href="https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/maureen-clare-murphy/israeli-violence-met-global-condemnation">killed</a>
some 100 Palestinians and injured 12,600 others,
Israel has reported one minor injury to a soldier.</p>
<p>Parampil also criticizes the overemphasis on the
opening of the US embassy in Jerusalem, obscuring that
the protests have largely been driven by Palestinian
resistance to more than a decade of Israel’s siege of
Gaza and 70 years of dispossession since the <a
href="https://electronicintifada.net/tags/nakba">Nakba</a>,
the 1948 ethnic cleansing of Palestine before and
after Israel was founded.</p>
<p>Parampil notes that after fierce criticism on social
media, <em>The New York Times</em> changed one of its
notorious passive-voice headlines – “At least 28
Palestinians die in protests as US prepares to open
Jerusalem embassy” – to the more straightforward:
“Israeli troops kill dozens of Palestinian protesters
as US embassy opens in Jerusalem.”</p>
<p>That original headline and other media whitewashing
of Israel’s crimes have drawn lots of sharp criticism:</p>
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<p dir="ltr" lang="en">Have died? <br>
Were killed. <a href="https://t.co/8qzPeGHDYZ">https://t.co/8qzPeGHDYZ</a></p>
— James Martin, SJ (@JamesMartinSJ) <a
href="https://twitter.com/JamesMartinSJ/status/996187439881433088?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May
15, 2018</a></blockquote>
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<p dir="ltr" lang="en">The New York Times changed
its headline on the same article from
“Palestinians died in protest” to “Israeli
soldiers killed dozens of Palestinians” because
of public outrage.</p>
<p>media accountability is NECESSARY and can be
achieved. <a href="https://t.co/w6md3fcrxQ">pic.twitter.com/w6md3fcrxQ</a></p>
— Miskeen (☭) (@FalafelDad) <a
href="https://twitter.com/FalafelDad/status/996158506871984129?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May
14, 2018</a></blockquote>
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<p dir="ltr" lang="nl">"vs bullets" <a
href="https://t.co/oJEaDfQTxl">pic.twitter.com/oJEaDfQTxl</a></p>
— Adam H. Johnson (@adamjohnsonNYC) <a
href="https://twitter.com/adamjohnsonNYC/status/996403582672007168?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May
15, 2018</a></blockquote>
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<p dir="ltr" lang="en">both Vox and Daily Beast
casually asserted explosives were used yesterday
by Palestinians. This is totally possible but
neither provided any evidence of this. Since
it’s the core justification for Israel mowing
down protestors shouldn’t this, I don’t know,
have some sourcing?</p>
— Adam H. Johnson (@adamjohnsonNYC) <a
href="https://twitter.com/adamjohnsonNYC/status/996380331900067840?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May
15, 2018</a></blockquote>
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<p dir="ltr" lang="en">to be clear we've been
laundering power asymmetry with the term
"clashes" for years <a
href="https://t.co/g7WuDOUjST">pic.twitter.com/g7WuDOUjST</a></p>
— Adam H. Johnson (@adamjohnsonNYC) <a
href="https://twitter.com/adamjohnsonNYC/status/996281360561131520?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May
15, 2018</a></blockquote>
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<p dir="ltr" lang="en">except it's not the
"protests" that are violent <a
href="https://t.co/AHJkMACBSl">pic.twitter.com/AHJkMACBSl</a></p>
— Adam H. Johnson (@adamjohnsonNYC) <a
href="https://twitter.com/adamjohnsonNYC/status/996277221290586112?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May
15, 2018</a></blockquote>
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<p dir="ltr" lang="en">For headline writers at the
BBC today, it wasn’t the <a
href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Israel?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Israel</a>
army yesterday using live ammunition to shoot
over 1000 <a
href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Gaza?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Gaza</a>
unarmed protesters (including children and
killing 52) that was violent, but seemingly the
protests (and hence by implication the
protesters) themselves <a
href="https://t.co/Q5EVBGHLT1">pic.twitter.com/Q5EVBGHLT1</a></p>
— Charles Shoebridge (@ShoebridgeC) <a
href="https://twitter.com/ShoebridgeC/status/996345771887857665?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May
15, 2018</a></blockquote>
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<p dir="ltr" lang="en">this propaganda exercise is
so well documented i thought it would eventually
go away. not in the nytimes. still 2/3 main
headlines on front page fully passive on
responsibility for killing. “death in gaza” and
the absurd “gazans vs. bullets” <a
href="https://t.co/fNSIQEIxzk">pic.twitter.com/fNSIQEIxzk</a></p>
— Timothy Vollmer (@tvol) <a
href="https://twitter.com/tvol/status/996243840536211456?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May
15, 2018</a></blockquote>
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<p dir="ltr" lang="en">"A CNN headline today
reported that “<a
href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Palestinians?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Palestinians</a>
died” in Gaza. They simply died and who knows
how? Maybe they were sick, or they died of old
age? The passive voice is practically the
American corporate media industry standard
whenever <a
href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Israel?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Israel</a>
kills.<a href="https://t.co/NNmJt6NS9G">https://t.co/NNmJt6NS9G</a></p>
— Maryam Jamali (@jamali_maryam) <a
href="https://twitter.com/jamali_maryam/status/996570927205928962?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May
16, 2018</a></blockquote>
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<p dir="ltr" lang="en">Most western media outlets
have become quite skilled - through years of
practice - at writing headlines and describing
Israeli massacres using the passive tense so as
to hide the culprit. But the all-time champion
has long been, and remains, the New York Times.
<a
href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/HaveDied?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#HaveDied</a>
<a href="https://t.co/rNkdz4yA5c">https://t.co/rNkdz4yA5c</a></p>
— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) <a
href="https://twitter.com/ggreenwald/status/996034406774181888?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May
14, 2018</a></blockquote>
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<p dir="ltr" lang="en">This short report by <a
href="https://twitter.com/BowenBBC?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@BowenBBC</a>,
is a masterpiece in BBC propaganda; seemingly
balanced, sober & sympathetic it whitewashes
Israeli violence & completely obscures the
causes, history & reality of the situation,
it's "2 peoples on 1 piece of land" nonsense. <a
href="https://t.co/M3MBvjqo6U">https://t.co/M3MBvjqo6U</a></p>
— Louis Allday (@Louis_Allday) <a
href="https://twitter.com/Louis_Allday/status/996662144178511872?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May
16, 2018</a></blockquote>
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<p><a
href="http://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-oe-makdisi-media-palestinian-gaza-massacre-20180406-story.html">Writing</a>
in <em>The Los Angeles Times</em> soon after Israel
massacred protesters during the first <a
href="https://electronicintifada.net/tags/great-march-return">Great
March of Return</a> rallies in Gaza on 30 March,
UCLA professor <a
href="https://electronicintifada.net/tags/saree-makdisi">Saree
Makdisi</a> commented on “how syntax and word choice
shape, and even distort, representations of the
Israeli-Palestinian conflict.”</p>
<p>“Even if the facts are accurately stated, the ways in
which sentences are constructed, and the extent to
which details are contextualized, can subtly lead
readers astray,” Makdisi wrote.</p>
<p>Some observers noted that the satirical publication <em>The
Onion</em> is doing a better job of getting to the
heart of the matter than supposedly serious media:</p>
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<p dir="ltr" lang="en">Even using satire its a job
done way better than biased lying <a
href="https://twitter.com/nytimes?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@nytimes</a>
so well done <a
href="https://twitter.com/TheOnion?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@TheOnion</a>
<a href="https://t.co/kpD2O6ZTWz">https://t.co/kpD2O6ZTWz</a></p>
— Omar Ghraieb🇵🇸 (@Omar_Gaza) <a
href="https://twitter.com/Omar_Gaza/status/996599920240070656?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May
16, 2018</a></blockquote>
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<p dir="ltr" lang="en">I see Hamas controls The
Onion too <a href="https://t.co/1VBNkmWwyg">pic.twitter.com/1VBNkmWwyg</a></p>
— Ken Klippenstein (@kenklippenstein) <a
href="https://twitter.com/kenklippenstein/status/996554629700898817?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May
16, 2018</a></blockquote>
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<blockquote data-width="550">
<p dir="ltr" lang="en">.<a
href="https://twitter.com/TheOnion?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@TheOnion</a>'s
take on Gaza. The tide is changing. <a
href="https://t.co/YWEMCgHIkY">pic.twitter.com/YWEMCgHIkY</a></p>
— Ragnar Weilandt (@RagnarWeilandt) <a
href="https://twitter.com/RagnarWeilandt/status/996519114951753729?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May
15, 2018</a></blockquote>
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<p><em>The Onion</em> ran such headlines as “<a
href="https://.theonion.com/idf-soldier-recounts-harrowing-heroic-war-story-of-kil-1826048745">IDF
soldier recounts harrowing, heroic war story of
killing 8-month-old child</a>,” “<a
href="https://www.theonion.com/netanyahu-announces-day-of-mourning-for-fence-damaged-i-1826046925">Netanyahu
announces day of mourning for fence damaged in
yesterday’s conflict</a>” and “<a
href="https://politics.theonion.com/trump-fascinated-by-israeli-cultural-tradition-of-mass-1826014445">Trump
fascinated by Israeli cultural tradition of mass
slaughter of protesters</a>.”</p>
<div id="file-62446">
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<blockquote data-width="550">
<p dir="ltr" lang="en">Israeli Soldiers Open Fire
On Palestinians Carrying Potentially Dangerous
Injured Friends <a
href="https://t.co/ctdWKRtJcH">https://t.co/ctdWKRtJcH</a>
<a href="https://t.co/VEQpfJe68A">pic.twitter.com/VEQpfJe68A</a></p>
— The Onion (@TheOnion) <a
href="https://twitter.com/TheOnion/status/996122765265653761?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May
14, 2018</a></blockquote>
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<div id="file-62451">
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<blockquote data-width="550">
<p dir="ltr" lang="en">Netanyahu Begins Calling
For Israeli Return To Ancient Homeland Of Iran <a
href="https://t.co/HX5xkZqaoS">https://t.co/HX5xkZqaoS</a>
<a href="https://t.co/yME6IUm5B8">pic.twitter.com/yME6IUm5B8</a></p>
— The Onion (@TheOnion) <a
href="https://twitter.com/TheOnion/status/994633425012314113?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May
10, 2018</a></blockquote>
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<h2>Cracks</h2>
<p>There have been some cracks: in recent days, <em>The
Washington Post</em> published a <a
href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/video/editorial/opinion-palestinians-want-freedom-just-like-anyone-would/2018/05/15/949052ba-5881-11e8-9889-07bcc1327f4b_video.html">video
interview</a> with Palestinian American human rights
attorney Noura Erakat, and <em>The New York Times</em>
<a
href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/14/opinion/gaza-protests-organizer-great-return-march.html">published
an op-ed</a> by Ahmed Abu Ratima, an activist in
Gaza who helped start the Great March of Return
protests.</p>
<p><em>The Irish Times</em> also <a
href="https://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/boycott-is-best-response-to-illegal-israeli-killings-1.3494853">ran
an op-ed</a> this week by <a
href="https://electronicintifada.net/tags/omar-barghouti">Omar
Barghouti</a>, a founder of the boycott, divestment
and sanctions movement for Palestinian rights.</p>
<p>Though these pieces are important, they are framed as
“opinion,” while on the news pages of the same
publications, Israeli propaganda often gets spun as
fact.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, alternative media continue to provide
venues for uncensored discussion.</p>
<p>On Tuesday, I <a
href="https://therealnews.com/stories/israel-slaughters-unarmed-palestinian-protesters-while-trump-admin-shouts-hamas">spoke
to The Real News</a> about the massacre in Gaza:</p>
<p>I also gave these radio interviews:</p>
<div id="file-62416">
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<blockquote data-width="550">
<p dir="ltr" lang="en">Today is Nakba Day, which
commemorates the 700,000 Palestinians expelled
and hundreds of Palestinian towns destroyed for
Israel's creation in 1948. Yesterday, 60
Palestinians were killed by Israeli soldiers. <a
href="https://twitter.com/daoudkuttab?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@daoudkuttab</a>
and <a
href="https://twitter.com/AliAbunimah?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@AliAbunimah</a>
discuss the issue <a
href="https://t.co/7LT5BU28ZO">https://t.co/7LT5BU28ZO</a>
<a href="https://t.co/7TbIZNgQTk">pic.twitter.com/7TbIZNgQTk</a></p>
— Loud & Clear (@LoudClearRadio) <a
href="https://twitter.com/LoudClearRadio/status/996553657343774720?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May
16, 2018</a></blockquote>
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<p dir="ltr" lang="en">LISTEN: I talked about Gaza
massacre on <a
href="https://twitter.com/WBEZWorldview?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@WBEZWorldview</a>.
(I start at about 14 minutes 30 seconds . If
you’re a masochist you can listen to the Israeli
consul who speaks before me) <a
href="https://t.co/kGUExRxdjR">https://t.co/kGUExRxdjR</a></p>
— Ali Abunimah (@AliAbunimah) <a
href="https://twitter.com/AliAbunimah/status/996472771050909699?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May
15, 2018</a></blockquote>
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<p>And Democracy Now! returned to form with <a
href="https://www.democracynow.org/2018/5/15/palestinians_mark_70th_anniversary_of_nakba">on-the-ground
reporting from Gaza</a> by its correspondent Sharif
Abdel Kouddous after years of bare-bones coverage of
Palestine.</p>
<br>
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