Report on Palestinian Incitement? Ha'aretz Has More Pressing Concerns

Yishai Goldflam
CAMERA Media Analysis
17 May '10

Rather than reporting on the contents of a new paper documenting Palestinian incitement, Ha'aretz's Barak Ravid engages in journalistic acrobatics. He attacks the report's authors for their ostensible political views, and is critical of Israel's Foreign Ministry for daring to adopt the report.

Last week's menacing headline read: "Foreign Ministry working with rightists against Palestinian incitement" (May 7, 2010). Barak Ravid dedicated several paragraphs to the fact that a Israeli Foreign Ministry briefing was "turned over to a politically right-wing nongovernmental organization" to conduct "an aggressive campaign against the Palestinian Authority over alleged incitement against Israel."

And what exactly is this "politically right-wing nongovernmental organization"? Palestinian Media Watch, headed by Itamar Marcus. According to PMW's Web site, the organization monitors and analyzes the Palestinian media focusing on the messages delivered by the Palestinian leadership -- the Palestinian Authority and Hamas -- to the Palestinian population "through the broad range of institutions and infrastructures they control." In other words, PMW reads Palestinian newspapers and watches Palestinian television, identifies incitement, and translates the material into English and Hebrew. How, exactly, can it be identified as "right-wing"?

Marcus' findings are indeed eye-opening and raise serious questions about the willingness or lack of willingness on the part of the Palestinian Authority to minimize hatred and create an atmosphere of peace and reconciliation with Israel. Even Ravid acknowledges:

(Read full analysis)

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