Epstein - One Hundred Plus Rockets and They Report the Response

Varda Epstein..
The Times of Israel..
11 March '12..

The title here says it all. As soon as Shabbos was out, those of us in Israel booted up our computers and discovered that over 100 rockets had been launched into Israel from Gaza. Of course, the one million Israelis who live in range of rocket fire knew this without Google. According to the IDF spokesperson, the 130 plus rockets fired within the past 35 hours represents 3 rockets every 60 minutes. But you wouldn’t know this from the mainstream media: 100 plus rockets and they report the response!

That’s right: they reported the response alone without context. Take a look at the headlines.

CNN: “Officials: Latest Israeli airstrike in Gaza bring death toll to 17″

ABC: “3 Palestinians Killed in Israeli Airstrikes”

Yahoo: “Israeli Airstrikes kill 15 Palestinian militants in Gaza.”

Fox News: “Toll from Israel Gaza strikes now 15 militants”

CBS: “Israeli airstrikes kill 15 Gaza militants”

Less Than Honest
=======================================

By failing to offer the context for these airstrikes, these news organs manage to report facts while concealing the truth. When Americans give testimony in a court of law, they swear to “tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.” The middle section of this oath is integral, because it’s one thing to say something true and to never tell lies, but without the bigger picture, a truth can still be less than honest.


The Big Picture?
=========================================

Only when we turn to Israel for more information does the big picture—and I mean big—become available. According to the Israel Defense force blog, “More than 130 rockets were fired from the Gaza Strip, and struck major population centers in southern Israel in the last 35 hours. More than 500,000 Israelis are forced to stay in bomb shelters.”


Israeli Children in Bomb Shelters Last Night
===============================================

Now 130 rockets is a HUGE number of rockets to fall within a 35 hour period on a populated urban area. HUGE. But CNN prefers to discuss 24 retaliatory airstrikes, without even mentioning that they were, in fact, retaliatory. The imbalance here is, if you’ll excuse the pun, striking.

Last night, one million Israelis slept under the threat of Hamas rocket fire and the media was silent.

The deafening silence speaks louder than words.

Link: http://blogs.timesofisrael.com/one-hundred-plus-rockets-and-they-report-the-response/

Varda Epstein is a freelance writer and pro-Israel activist. Her blog, Judean Rose, can be visited by clicking here.


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