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Why the Media Always Paints Israel as the Aggressor
Illustrative. Photo: Dan Taylor / Wikimedia Commons
On January 1, the BBC News website published an article by the corporation’s security correspondent Frank Gardner which currently goes under the headline “The wars of 2024 brought together rivals – but created new enemies.”
That article is presented with the BBC’s InDepth logo and at the bottom of the page, readers find the following: “BBC InDepth is the new home on the website and app for the best analysis and expertise from our top journalists. Under a distinctive new brand, we’ll bring you fresh perspectives that challenge assumptions, and deep reporting on the biggest issues to help you make sense of a complex world.”
Much of Gardner’s article relates to issues other than Israel, but several statements in the parts which do relate to Israel’s current multi-front conflicts are noteworthy, especially considering the claims in the above statement.
1) “The situation in Gaza is nothing short of tragic.
The latest conflict there (and there have been many shorter ones before this one) was triggered by the raid led by Hamas (the militants proscribed as a terrorist group by many governments) into southern Israel on 7 October 2023 in which more than 1100 people were killed and around 250 taken into Gaza as hostages. Since then, Israel’s war on Hamas has resulted in more than 44,000 Palestinians being killed there. These are mostly civilian deaths and although that figure comes from the Hamas-run Health Ministry, it is largely endorsed by independent aid agencies.”
Gardner fails to inform his readers that 100 hostages are still being held in the Gaza Strip. He promotes unverified casualty figures supplied to the media by the same terrorist organization which started the war, together with the unproven claim that most of the casualties in the Gaza Strip are “civilian deaths” and even goes on to legitimize that claim by citing unidentified “aid agencies” but without clarifying where they get their information. Gardner fails to tell his readers that Hamas has long employed a policy of describing all casualties as civilians as part of its propaganda efforts.
2) “In many ways Gaza is the well-spring of other conflicts in the region, leading to exchanges of fire between Israel and, variously, Lebanon, Yemen, Iran and Syria.”
Gardner misleads readers by failing to clarify that what he describes as “exchanges of fire” – while sidelining the relevant issue of who fired first.
3) “Thousands of people have been killed in the short Israel-Lebanon war that preceded a ceasefire in late November.”
Gardner fails to clarify that most of those killed in Lebanon were members of terrorist organizations, primarily Hezbollah.
4) “Israel is at war with Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon and has fired missiles at – and been attacked from – Iran, Yemen, Syria and Iraq.”
Gardner’s choice of wording leads readers to understand that Israel “fired missiles” before it was “attacked from” Iran, Yemen and Iraq: an inversion of the actual sequences of events.
5) “The US has continued to supply Israel with a colossal amount of military aid – both defensive such as the THAAD missile defence and offensive weapons such as parts for the F35 aircraft – despite the killing of so many Palestinians in Gaza and almost universal worldwide opprobrium. This makes the US – and by extension the West in general – unpopular in the Arab world and increases the risk of recruitment by proscribed terror groups likes Islamic State (IS) and Al-Qaida leading to what Western security officials say is the risk of a rise of transnational terrorism.”
Gardner’s claim that US military support for a country attacked by Islamist terrorists on multiple fronts “increases the risk of recruitment by proscribed terror groups” whitewashes the fact that those extremist organizations have not needed any such excuse in order to attack “the West” in the past and of course conveniently ignores their founding anti-Western ideologies.
6) “This was the year that the balance of power in the Middle East shifted dramatically, in Israel’s favour and to Iran’s disadvantage. Israel’s government has clearly decided to go all-out to “neutralise” its enemies, be they in Gaza, Lebanon, Yemen or Syria. Red lines previously adhered to, by both Iran and Israel, have now been crossed, with the two sides trading missiles in direct attacks on each other for the first time.”
Once again, we see Gardner muddying the waters by failing to clarify that Hamas, Hezbollah and the Houthis (rather than “Gaza, Lebanon, Yemen”) all chose to initiate the conflicts by carrying out unprovoked attacks against Israel’s civilian population. Similarly, his failure to note that Israel was attacked by Iran before a response came from Israel – “trading missiles” – promotes a false notion of equivalence and fails to acknowledge Israel’s obligation to defend its civilian population against attacks by terrorist groups, their supporters and enablers.
7) “The Middle East is still in flux. Iran and Israel have unfinished business but Tehran is well aware of its own weaknesses and of Israel’s increasingly aggressive posture in the region. It would not take much provocation to trigger a new round of Israeli airstrikes on Iran.”
Again, Gardner fails to clarify that Israel’s supposedly “increasingly aggressive posture” is the product of fifteen months of attacks on its civilians on multiple fronts by parties he – notably – chooses not to portray as “aggressive.”
As of December 26, 2024, the INSS had recorded over 13,300 rockets fired at Israel from the Gaza Strip, 19,500 rockets fired at Israel from Syria or Lebanon, around 300 rockets fired at Israel from Iraq, around 370 drones and rockets fired at Israel by the Houthis in Yemen and 170 drones, 30 cruise missiles and 321 ballistic missiles launched by Iran in its attacks on Israel.
By the time Gardner’s article was published on January 1, additional attacks by terrorists in the Gaza Strip and the Houthis (which received little if any BBC coverage) had brought the total number of rocket, missile and drone attacks on Israel since October 7, 2023 to over 34,000. Nevertheless, it is Israel which Gardner chooses to describe as adopting an “increasingly aggressive posture.”
8) “There is talk of a grand bargain that sees Saudi Arabia finally recognise the state of Israel in exchange for a binding security deal with Washington. But the Saudis have made clear this can only happen if there is a “clear, irrevocable path to an independent Palestinian state”. That is something that Israel’s PM Benjamin Netanyahu is vehemently opposed to and Israeli settlers seizing of Palestinian land continues apace and with President Trump in the White House its likely to continue further.”
Gardner fails to inform his readers that the Palestinians have for decades repeatedly refused offers of “an independent Palestinian state” or that such an entity is not the goal of the most popular faction within long-divided Palestinian society — Hamas — which, along with other Palestinian terrorist organizations, aspires to “obliterate” Israel.
While no BBC analysis is complete without a reference to “settlers,” Gardner fails to provide any evidence for his claim of “Israeli settlers” – i.e. civilians who happen to live in a specific location of which the BBC does not approve – “seizing Palestinian land” (rather than decisions taken by the government) and he is apparently content to promote the impression that all disputed land is “Palestinian,” despite the fact that under the terms of the Oslo Accords signed by the recognized representatives of the Palestinians, the status of land in Area C is still subject to final stage negotiations.
If BBC InDepth really does aspire to provide audiences with “the best analysis” and “deep reporting,” it is going to have to pay a lot more attention to the accuracy and impartiality of the “expertise” provided by its “top journalists.”
Hadar Sela is the co-editor of CAMERA UK — an affiliate of the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting and Analysis (CAMERA), where a version of this article first appeared.
The post Why the Media Always Paints Israel as the Aggressor first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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‘Free Palestine’ Activist in Arizona Wearing ‘Israel Kills Children’ T-Shirt Gets Arrested After Refusing to Leave Gym
A pro-Palestinian activist who was kicked out of a gym in Gilbert, Arizona, and arrested after he wore a shirt that read “Israel Kills Children.” Photo: Screenshot
A pro-Palestinian activist wearing an offensive T-shirt critical of Israel was kicked out of a gym in Gilbert, Arizona, and arrested this week after he ignored requests by gym management to leave the premises.
The man, who goes by the social media handle Resistance is Beautiful, posted videos of the incident on Wednesday on Instagram. It began when he was exercising at a Life Time gym in Gilbert while wearing a black short-sleeve T-shirt that said “Israel Kills Children.” He said that when he arrived at the gym and was checked in, a gym employee told him that he needed to take off the shirt, whose message was an apparent commentary on the ongoing Israel-Hamas war falsely accusing the Jewish state of committing genocide in the Gaza Strip. He refused to take off the shirt.
Shortly afterward, the gym’s manager approached the activist and told him that he must leave the premises for not having “an active membership, or the gym would call the police. When the activist refused to leave the facility, police were called to escort him out of the building.
“You don’t have an active membership so I’m going to have to ask you to leave,” the gym’s manager, Mike Esposito, said to the anti-Israel activist in a video shared on Instagram.
“I just paid for my membership, what do you mean?” the activist replied. “I pay for my membership … I’ve been a member here for three years. Payment goes through every month.”
“Someone from corporate … the cops are on their way,” Esposito said. “Your membership is not active so we called the police because you’re trespassing here in the club.”
The activist then asked Esposito, “Is the problem the shirt? Or is it the skin color?” He also told the manager: “You know where there are no more gyms left? In Palestine. Because you guys bombed it all. Are you offended by the shirt or the fact that you guys kill all the Palestinians in the gyms over there [in Gaza]. Is the problem the shirt?”
Esposito, who is reportedly not Jewish or Israeli but of Italian descent, ignored the man’s questions about the T-shirt and his remarks about Palestinians. Instead, the manager repeatedly said that the activist does not have an active membership at the facility. “You just don’t have an active membership, so right now you’re trespassing because you’re in the club without an active membership,” he said. “We have to ask you to leave.”
Two Gilbert police officers arrived not long afterward and arrested the anti-Israel activist for trespassing. Before they escorted him out of the gym, he told police, “There’s a Holocaust going on in Palestine … there are no more gyms left in Palestine, you guys bombed all of them. Free Palestine.” He also shared that he wore the “Israel Kills Children” T-shirt previously at the gym, and staff members told him in the past that it was offensive. “They’ve always said, ‘Oh that shirt is offensive.’ You know, typical Gilbert white supremacy stuff,” he said.
The founder, CEO, chairman, and president of Life Time is Bahram Akradi, who was born in Tehran, Iran, and emigrated to the US months before the 1979 Iranian revolution. He founded the chain of gyms in 1992.
The activist was released from the Gilbert police station shortly after the incident at the gym. “There is no greater honor in the world than to sit in a jail cell for Palestine,” he said in an Instagram video posted on Wednesday after his release. “And we’ll do it over and over and over again until we break this enemy and we get Palestine back. That’s my word.”
The man has shared other photos and videos on social media of him clashing with police officers in Gilbert, trespassing while carrying a Palestinian flag and getting arrested for his anti-Israel activism. He also shared clips of himself wearing other anti-Israel shirts, including one that read “Israel is a terrorist project, Free Palestine,” and another that said, “Israel KILLS and America covers it up.”
The post ‘Free Palestine’ Activist in Arizona Wearing ‘Israel Kills Children’ T-Shirt Gets Arrested After Refusing to Leave Gym first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Gal Gadot Addresses Controversy Over Not Wearing Hostage Pin to the Golden Globes
Gal Gadot at the 82nd Annual Golden Globe Awards at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, California on Sunday, Jan. 5, 2025. Photo: Dan MacMedan-USA TODAY via Reuters Connect
Israeli actress Gal Gadot took to social media on Wednesday to explain why she did not wear to the 82nd Golden Globes this past weekend a pin in solidarity with the 100 hostages still held by Hamas terrorists in the Gaza Strip for more than 450 days.
In a message shared on her Instagram Story, the “Wonder Woman” star, 39, started by clarifying that contrary to Israeli media reports, she was “never forbidden” by Golden Globes organizers from wearing to the award ceremony on Sunday night in Beverly Hills a pin that featured a yellow ribbon, which is a symbol that calls for the return of hostages abducted by Hamas terrorists from Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.
“Some people chose to tell a story that never happened, and I prefer to focus on what’s real and truly important — our hostages,” she wrote. She then detailed her conscious decision not to wear a pin with a yellow ribbon to the Golden Globes — a move for which she was widely criticized by many pro-Israel supporters on social media. The “Red Notice” star explained that she instead chose to show solidarity with the hostages by wearing a yellow sapphire ring to the award show, where she was a presenter.
“Everyone expresses their support in a way that suits them. I chose to share a post with global reach and wear a yellow ring as a symbol of solidarity,” she wrote in the Instagram Story. “What truly matters is that the hostages come home now. My heart is with the families waiting for them. May we experience quieter and safer days.”
The message on her Instagram Story was written in both English and Hebrew, and was accompanied by an image of a yellow ribbon.
Before the Golden Globes took place on Sunday night, Gadot uploaded a post on Instagram that featured a statement and photos about the remaining 100 hostages with a focus on 20-year-old Israeli hostage Liri Albag, who was featured in a video that Hamas released on Saturday. Albag was taken hostage along with six other female soldiers in the Israel Defense Forces at the Nahal Oz army base on the Israel-Gaza border during the deadly Hamas-led terrorist attack in southern Israel in October 2023. The five women are still held hostage by Hamas.
Gadot wrote in her Instagram post on Sunday afternoon that while she prepared to attend the Golden Globes, “my heart is heavy, and my soul aches knowing the hostages are still there [in Gaza].” She added: “Every day that passes without an agreement puts their lives in greater danger. I can’t stop thinking about the families, waiting for them, counting the hours, the minutes, clinging to hope. They must come home. We all deserve to see them return, alive. Bring them home now.”
Gadot presented at the 82nd Golden Globes wearing a custom black silk Giorgio Armani Privé long sleeve gown that she styled with Tiffany & Co. jewelry and a yellow sapphire ring.
A screenshot of Gal Gadot’s Instagram Story.
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Polish President Wants Netanyahu to Be Able to Go to Auschwitz Anniversary Despite ICC Arrest Warrant: Aide
People with Israeli flags attend the International March of the Living at the former Auschwitz Nazi German death camp, in Brzezinka near Oswiecim, Poland, May 6, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Kuba Stezycki
Poland’s president asked the government to ensure Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu can choose to attend the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz Nazi death camp without fear of arrest under an ICC warrant, a senior aide said on Thursday.
The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants in November for Netanyahu and his ex-defense minister, as well as a Hamas leader, Ibrahim Al-Masri, for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in the Gaza conflict between Israel and the Palestinian terrorist group.
Israel has condemned the warrants for Netanyahu and former defense chief Yoav Gallant, saying that it has acted in self-defense in its air and ground war in Gaza triggered by Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023 cross-border invasion of and massacre across southern Israel.
On Wednesday, Bloomberg reported that President Andrzej Duda had written Prime Minister Donald Tusk saying Poland should ensure Netanyahu can be “unhindered” in attending the Jan. 27 Auschwitz commemoration given the event’s exceptional nature.
Malgorzata Paprocka, the head of Duda’s office, confirmed to state news agency PAP on Thursday that such a letter had been sent.
“In the opinion of the president, there is one issue — precisely because it is the Auschwitz camp, every person from Israel, every representative of the authorities of this country should have the opportunity to take part in this exceptional event.”
She said Duda was waiting for a response. Tusk’s office did not reply to an emailed request for comment.
Duda is a right-wing nationalist who has had tense relations with Tusk’s centrist, pro-European government since it took office in December 2023.
Asked by state-run news channel TVP Info whether Netanyahu could count on a guarantee from Poland that he would not be arrested, Deputy Prime Minister Krzysztof Gawkowski said: “There is no such topic, because Mr. Netanyahu is not coming to Europe.”
Meanwhile, the Polish Foreign Ministry denied reports on Thursday that the country had threatened to arrest Netanyahu should he choose to attend the Jan. 27 ceremony marking 80 years since the liberation of Auschwitz.
“We are aware that this fake news is being spread in the US media, as if Polish Secretary of State Władysław T. Bartoszewski had stated that Prime Minister Netanyahu would be arrested upon his arrival in Poland, based on a ruling by the International Criminal Court,” the Foreign Ministry told JNS in a statement.
“Such a statement has never been made,” the ministry added. “Poland is a safe country and any leader visiting Poland is entitled to protection granted by the Ministry of the Interior.”
A spokesperson for Netanyahu declined to comment. Netanyahu has not said whether he would attend the Auschwitz commemoration. He has attended previous anniversary events at Auschwitz.
Over 1.1 million people, mostly Jews, perished in gas chambers or from starvation, cold, and disease at Auschwitz, which Nazi Germany set up in occupied Poland during World War Two.
More than three million of Poland’s 3.2 million Jews were murdered by the Nazis, accounting for about half of the Jews killed in the Holocaust.
The post Polish President Wants Netanyahu to Be Able to Go to Auschwitz Anniversary Despite ICC Arrest Warrant: Aide first appeared on Algemeiner.com.