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Media Painted Israel as Aggressor in Coverage of Hezbollah Commander Targeting
Thousands of Druze mourners in the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights attended a funeral procession on July 28, 2024 in Majdal Shams for 11 of the 12 children and teenagers killed in a rocket attack the prior day. Photo: Reuters/Ammar Awad
On Tuesday, July 30, an Israeli airstrike in Beirut eliminated Hezbollah’s most senior military commander, who was responsible for the rocket attack that had killed 12 Israeli children and teenagers in the Golan Heights last weekend.
Fuad Shukr was also the adviser to Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, and the United States says he played a central role in the 1983 bombing of the US Marine barracks in Beirut, which killed 241 US military personnel.
Despite this, some international media headlines omitted the fact he was targeted, and painted Israel’s strike as an all-out attack on the pastoral suburbs of the Lebanese capital.
Here’s a collection of some of the worst headlines we could find, followed by accurate ones:
Israel targeted senior Hezbollah operative Fouad Shukr, the man behind the deaths of 12 children in Majdal Shams and many other attacks. Yet, some media focused on Israel bombing a “Beirut suburb” instead of him and his crimes.
Here’s a breakdown: pic.twitter.com/c3FHHRQ7tu
— HonestReporting (@HonestReporting) July 30, 2024
Israeli “Attack” on Suburbia
The intelligence-based targeting of Shukr took place in the Dahiya suburb of Beirut, which is a Hezbollah stronghold.
Yet Reuters‘ headline made it look like Israel had deliberately attacked housewives on their way to a spa:
Please tell @Reuters that Israel’s strike was on the Hezbollah mass murderer who killed 12 children in Saturday’s soccer field slaughter and not on Teaneck, New Jersey. pic.twitter.com/oVgMtkPqdJ
— HonestReporting (@HonestReporting) July 31, 2024
NBC News did the same, while at least mentioning it was a retaliatory strike:
For the Independent, it was a completely unsolicited air strike on Beirut:
And the AP, like the three examples above, omitted the essence of the story — the targeting of a top Hezbollah commander with blood on his hands:
Context and Target
So what would be a better headline?
One that mentions the following elements:
The target of the strike: a top Hezbollah commander.
The reason for the strike: in retaliation for a lethal terror attack.
The location of the strike: Beirut or its suburb– as a geographical locator, not as the essence of the story.
CNN did exactly that:
ABC News did not mention the soccer field massacre in their headline, but at least led with the IDF announcement on Shukr:
And Axios properly reported on the target of the strike:
The conclusion, however, isn’t positive.
As the bad examples above show, respectable media outlets twisted what should have been a straightforward story.
And the question is: why is it so hard to accurately report what happened, where it happened, and why it happened?
If the media won’t tell that story because accurate reporting paints Israel as fighting against evil, then the media is serving terrorists and murderers, and not telling the truth about evil.
The author is a contributor to HonestReporting, a Jerusalem-based media watchdog with a focus on antisemitism and anti-Israel bias — where a version of this article first appeared.
The post Media Painted Israel as Aggressor in Coverage of Hezbollah Commander Targeting first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Treasure Trove explores what security guards and athletes have in common
“Guard and Sport” was the theme of the trading cards included in packages of Dubek cigarettes sold in Palestine in 1939. This is the cover of the album in which the complete set of 216 cards could be stored. The image is of one of the Notrim (guards) who were Jewish auxiliaries, mainly police, armed and […]
The post Treasure Trove explores what security guards and athletes have in common appeared first on The Canadian Jewish News.
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Iran Says Hamas Leader Haniyeh Was Killed by Short-Range Projectile
Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh speaks during a press conference in Tehran, Iran, March 26, 2024. Photo: Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said on Saturday that Palestinian terror group Hamas’ leader Ismail Haniyeh was slain in Tehran by a short-range projectile with a warhead of about 7 kg, and vowed severe revenge.
Wednesday’s assassination has aroused fears of direct conflict between Tehran and its arch-enemy Israel in a region shaken by Israel’s war in Gaza and a worsening conflict in Lebanon.
Revenge for the killing of the Hamas leader will be “severe and at an appropriate time, place, and manner,” the Guards’ statement added, blaming the “terrorist Zionist regime” of Israel for his death.
Iran and Hamas have accused Israel of carrying out the strike that killed Haniyeh hours after he attended the inauguration of Iran’s new president.
The New York Times, citing unnamed sources, reported that the explosion which killed Haniyeh was a bomb that was covertly smuggled into the guesthouse where he was staying in Tehran two months ago.
Israeli officials have not claimed responsibility.
The statement by the elite Guards force also accused the “criminal US government” of supporting the attack which Iranian media said was in a northern suburb of Tehran.
Haniyeh was buried on Friday in Qatar, where he was based.
The post Iran Says Hamas Leader Haniyeh Was Killed by Short-Range Projectile first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Brandeis Center Calls Title VI Settlement with North Carolina State a ‘Step Forward’
Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law chairman and founder Kenneth Marcus testifying before the Knesset about campus antisemitism in the US. Photo: Brandeis Center.
JNS.org – The Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law announced a settlement with the school on Thursday, following an early mediation process through the US Department of Education to address a complaint about campus antisemitism.
The student who filed the complaint reported incidents of harassment the university failed to address, including a tunnel filled with swastikas and someone screaming at her “Death to Jews! Death to Zionists!”
Brandeis reported that the academic institution will implement a non-discrimination policy aligning with the 2019 Executive Order 13899 and North Carolina’s House Bill 942 (also known as the Shalom Act) which utilizes the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s (IHRA) working definition of antisemitism.
North Carolina State will also revise training for students and staff, and conduct a campus survey to assess the depth of anti-Jewish sentiment.
Kenneth L. Marcus, founder and chairman of the Brandeis Center, called the settlement “a significant step forward in our efforts to combat antisemitism on college campuses.” He said the agreement “paves the way for meaningful change on both NCSU’s campus and on college campuses throughout the country.”
Robin Pick, senior counsel at the Brandeis Center, stated that “by committing to combat antisemitism in accordance with Executive Order 13899 and North Carolina House Bill 942, which apply to training, education, recognizing, identifying and combating antisemitic hate and discrimination, NC State has the opportunity to be a leader and a model for other universities in the fight against antisemitism.”
The post Brandeis Center Calls Title VI Settlement with North Carolina State a ‘Step Forward’ first appeared on Algemeiner.com.