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The Media Has One Standard for Israel, and a Different Standard for Every Other Country
The law of armed conflict has many detractors, from war criminals like Yahya Sinwar and Vladmir Putin to CNN journalists intent on eroding the law’s meaning and purpose. Case in point for the latter is CNN’s recent article, “At least 30 killed in Israeli strike on two Gaza school shelters: Palestinian Civil Defense,” by Kareem Khadder, Ibrahim Dahman, Eyad Kourdi, and AnneClaire Stapleton.
The article focuses on an Israeli strike which, according to the IDF, targeted Hamas terrorists inside the Hassan Salame and Nasser schools in Gaza City.
CNN cites a Palestinian official in the terrorist-run territory for the claim that the strike left “at least 30 people dead.” The figure was not independently verified by CNN, and the network has consistently omitted from its reporting how Hamas, the ruling terrorist organization, uses rules and intimidation to control what Gazans can and cannot say to the media.
According to an unnamed “local journalist” cited by CNN, the buildings “housed hundreds of displaced people, primarily women and children.” CNN’s reliance on an anonymous source is concerning, given numerous “local journalists” in Gaza have been identified as terrorist operatives. Moreover, the network has a history of describing an official Palestinian Authority propagandist as a “local journalist,” and even employing him to feature on CNN’s own bylines.
Meet Hassan Eslaiah, a freelance journalist for @CNN, @Reuters, @AP in this video he’s on a motorbike, with a grenade in his hand, on his way to the Massacre of innocents in Israel.
pic.twitter.com/OyUyDaSYxd
— CG Idit Shamir (@ShamirIdit) November 9, 2023
These omissions already work to benefit Hamas by amplifying the terrorist organization’s propaganda while leaving the audience in the dark about the reasons to doubt the credibility of the claims.
But it’s when the article talks about “warnings” that the authors work hardest, knowingly or not, to run cover for Hamas’ war crimes.
The authors repeatedly raise the issue of “whether civilians were warned of the strike in advance.” They again quote a Gazan official in the Hamas-administered territory to the effect that “If a warning had been given, the number of deaths would have been lower.”
To understand the deceptive game the journalists are playing, a brief explanation is necessary of what “warnings” are in the law of armed conflict. They are just one form of “precautions,” measures taken by armed forces to abide by the requirement that “[a]ll feasible precautions must be taken to avoid, and in any event to minimize, incidental loss of civilian life…” There are numerous forms of precautions that may be taken to abide by this obligation, such as: selecting a particular type of munition; striking during a particular time of day; striking from a certain angle; or surveilling an area to determine civilian presence.
The key word, however, is “feasible,” and, as the US Department of Defense Law of War Manual explains, “what precautions are feasible depends greatly on the context.” It “does not ‘require everything that is capable of being done,’ because such a requirement would prove an impossible standard to meet in practice.”
If, for example, a precaution would create “a risk of failing to accomplish the mission” or would “[surrender] the element of surprise,” it may not be considered feasible and consequently may properly be passed over for alternative forms of precautions. That Israel has used “warnings” as a form of precautions to an extent unseen in any other militaries is, as numerous experts on the law of armed conflict have acknowledged, a practice that far exceeds the actual legal obligations.
Which brings us back to the CNN article.
By harping on the issue of warnings, CNN implies to its audience that the IDF has some sort of obligation to issue a warning in this case. But as explained, the obligation to take precautions is context dependent. As the article itself acknowledges, the IDF said it was targeting not just the building, but the terrorists operating inside. One need not ponder long to understand that issuing a warning ahead of said strike would both ruin the element of surprise and create “a risk of failing to accomplish the mission” of eliminating the terrorists before they can flee and continue waging war from a new hiding spot.
Moreover, the authors know, but hide from readers, that the IDF took other forms of precautions in relation to this strike.
The article partially quotes an August 4 IDF statement about the strike but omits the following line from it: “Prior to the strike, numerous steps were taken to mitigate the risk of harming civilians, including the use of precise munitions, surveillance, and additional intelligence.”
In other words, the IDF took precautions in relation to this strike, but instead of acknowledging this, the authors hold Israel to a unique standard that is not reflective of the law.
The network also omits that the law of armed conflict, including precautions, imposes obligations on both parties to a conflict. Hamas has an obligation not to embed its military infrastructure and personnel in civilian areas for the purpose of engaging in human shielding. Yet, while CNN reached out to the IDF about “whether civilians were warned of the strike in advance,” there is no indication CNN ever reached out to Hamas — or any other Palestinian terrorist organizations — to ask why their infrastructure and fighters are repeatedly being found inside of schools, hospitals, mosques, and other civilian sites, including the Hassan Salame and Nasser schools.
Footage published by the IDF shows Hamas operatives opening fire at troops from an UNRWA school in northern Gaza’s Beit Hanoun, and a strike in response. pic.twitter.com/eNpNsTsJJ4
— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) December 9, 2023
The effect of the article’s misleading focus on warnings, without tangling with the context, is to place the onus on Israel when Hamas is clearly the one violating the law. Through its selective and misinformed coverage, these CNN journalists impart on Hamas a cynical and dangerous lesson: when Palestinian terrorists violate the laws of armed conflict, Israel’s reputation will suffer.
In effect, CNN’s coverage portrays three separate standards in the law of armed conflict: a unique, higher standard applied to the Jewish state; the standard applied to the rest of the world; and no standard to Palestinian terrorists who seek to wipe the Jewish State from the face of the earth.
David M. Litman is a Research Analyst at the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting and Analysis (CAMERA), where a version of this article first appeared.
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Iran Rejects US Nuclear Proposal, Says ‘Counteroffer’ Coming as Talks Stall Over Uranium Enrichment, Sanctions
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei speaks during a meeting in Tehran, Iran, May 20, 2025. Photo: Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader/WANA (West Asia News Agency)/Handout via REUTERS
Iran has denounced the latest nuclear proposal from the United States as “unprofessional and untechnical,” reaffirming the country’s right to enrich uranium and announcing plans to present a counteroffer in the coming days.
“After receiving the American proposal regarding the Iranian nuclear program, we are now preparing a counteroffer,” Ali Shamkhnai, political adviser to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said in an interview on Wednesday.
Shamkhani criticized the White House draft proposal as “not well thought out,” emphasizing its alleged failure to address sanction relief — a key demand for Tehran under any deal with Washington.
“There is no mention whatsoever of lifting sanctions in the latest American proposal, even though the issue of sanctions is a fundamental matter for Iran,” Shamkhnai said.
The Iranian official also warned that Tehran will not allow the US to dismantle its “peaceful nuclear program” or force uranium enrichment down to zero.
“Iran will never relinquish its natural rights,” Shamkhani said.
Washington’s draft proposal for a new nuclear deal was delivered by Omani officials — who have been mediating negotiations between Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and US Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff — during last month’s talks in Rome.
On Wednesday, Khamenei dismissed such an offer, saying it “contradicts our nation’s belief in self-reliance” and runs counter to Iran’s key objectives.
“The proposal that the Americans have presented is 100 percent against our interests,” the Iranian leader said during a televised speech.
“The rude and arrogant leaders of America repeatedly demand that we should not have a nuclear program. Who are you to decide whether Iran should have enrichment?” Khamenei continued.
After five rounds of talks, diplomatic efforts have yet to yield results as both adversaries clash over Iran’s demand to maintain its domestic uranium enrichment program — a condition the White House has firmly rejected.
In April, Tehran and Washington held their first official nuclear negotiation since the US withdrew from a now-defunct 2015 nuclear deal that had imposed temporary limits on Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for sanction relief.
Since taking office, US President Donald Trump has sought to curtail Tehran’s potential to develop a nuclear weapon that could spark a regional arms race and pose a threat to Israel.
Meanwhile, Iran seeks to have Western sanctions on its oil-dependent economy lifted, while maintaining its nuclear enrichment program — which the country insists is solely for civilian purposes.
As part of the Trump administration’s “maximum pressure” campaign against Iran — which aims to cut the country’s crude exports to zero and prevent it from obtaining a nuclear weapon — Washington has been targeting Tehran’s oil industry with mounting sanctions.
Amid the ongoing diplomatic deadlock, Israel has declared it will never allow the Islamist regime to acquire nuclear weapons, as the country views Iran’s nuclear program as an existential threat.
However, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pledged to uphold any agreement that prevents Tehran from enriching uranium.
“But in any case, Israel maintains the right to defend itself from a regime that is threatening to annihilate it,” Netanyahu said in a press conference last month, following reports that Jerusalem could strike Iranian nuclear sites if ongoing negotiations between Washington and Tehran fail.
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Day After Colorado Attack, Founder of Anti-Israel Group Chides Activists Who Are Insufficiently ‘Pro-Resistance’
Nerdeen Kiswani, founder of WithinOurLifetime (WOL), leading a pro-Hamas demonstration in New York City on Aug. 14, 2024. Photo: Michael Nigro via Reuters Connect
Nerdeen Kiswani, the founder of the radical anti-Israel organization Within Our Lifetime, chastised those within the pro-Palestinian movement who only support “resistance” in the abstract but not in practice following Sunday’s antisemitic attack in Boulder, Colorado.
“A lot of people who call themselves anti-Zionist or pro-resistance don’t actually understand what resistance is,” Kiswani posted on X/Twitter on Monday. “They support it in theory, but when it shows up in practice, they hesitate, distance themselves, or shift the conversation entirely.”
She continued, “And it makes it even harder for those of us who are principled to take public stances. We’re already marginalized, already painted as extreme or dangerous and that isolation only deepens when others in the movement won’t stand firm when it counts.”
Kiswani’s comments came the day after a man threw Molotov cocktails at a Boulder gathering where participants were rallying in support of the Israeli hostages who remain in captivity in Gaza — which resulted in 15 injuries, including some critically, in what US authorities called a targeted terrorist attack. Her tweets also came less than two weeks after a gunman murdered two Israeli embassy staffers in Washington, DC, while they were leaving an at the Capital Jewish Museum hosted by the American Jewish Committee. In both attacks, the perpetrator yelled “Free Palestine” as they targeted innocent civilians, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).
After Kiswani’s social media posts sparked some backlash among pro-Israel users on X, she provided limited pushback on the idea that it was an expression of support for the prior day’s attack in Colorado.
“Zionists are freaking out in the QTs about this, insisting it’s about Colorado,” she wrote. “Newsflash: the world doesn’t revolve around you. Resistance hasn’t stopped in Gaza, look at what just happened in Jabalia [where three IDF soldiers were killed] for instance. The perpetual victimhood is getting old.”
However, Kiswani did not say her comment had no connection to the attack in Colorado, and she did not say that she opposed the firebombing.
Kiswani and her group, Within Our Lifetime (WOL), have been at the forefront of anti-Israel and pro-Hamas activism since Hamas-led Palestinian terrorists killed 1,200 people and abducted 251 hostages during their invasion of southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, a massacre that started the war in Gaza.
On Oct. 8, 2023, one day after the biggest single-day slaughter of Jews since the Holocaust, WOL organized a protest to celebrate the prior day’s attack, which it described as an effort to “defend the heroic Palestinian resistance.” Kiswani notably refused to condemn Hamas and the Oct. 7 massacre following the atrocities.
Then, in Apil 2024, Kiswani refused to condemn the chant “Death to America” and organized a mass demonstration to block the “arteries of capitalism” by staging a blockade of commercial shipping ports across the world in protest of Western support for the Jewish state. That same month, she was banned from Columbia University’s campus in New York City after leading chants calling for an “intifada,” or violent uprising.
The following month, Kiswani led a demonstration in Brooklyn, New York in which she lambasted the local police department, claimed then-US President Joe Biden will soon die, and called for the destruction of Israel.
That proceeded the activist saying she does not want Zionists “anywhere” in the world while speaking in defense of a person who called for “Zionists” to leave a crowded subway car in New York City.
WOL, which planned a protest last year to celebrate the one-year anniversary of the Oct. 7 massacre, was also behind demonstrations at the Nova Music Festival exhibit, which commemorated the more than 300 civilians slaughtered by Hamas while at a music festival.
The latter protest prompted widespread condemnation, including from Biden and even progressive members of the US Congress who are outspoken against Israel.
US Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), for example, posted on social media that the “callousness, dehumanization, and targeting of Jews on display at last night’s protest outside the Nova Festival exhibit was atrocious antisemitism – plain and simple.”
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Israel’s Defense Exports Hit Record $15 Billion in 2024 Despite European Pressure, Calls for Arms Embargo
Israeli troops on the ground in Gaza. Photo: IDF via Reuters
Israel reached a new all-time high in defense exports in 2024, nearing $15 billion — the fourth consecutive year of record-breaking sales — despite mounting international criticism over the war in Gaza and growing pressure from European countries to suspend arms deals.
In a press release on Wednesday, Israel’s Defense Ministry announced that defense exports reached over $14.7 billion last year — a 13 percent increase from 2023 — with more than half of the deals valued at over $100 million.
According to the ministry, Israel’s military exports have more than doubled over the past five years, highlighting the industry’s rapid expansion and growing global demand.
“This tremendous achievement is a direct result of the successes of the IDF [Israel Defense Forces] and defense industries against Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon, the Houthis in Yemen, the Ayatollah regime in Iran, and in additional arenas where we operate against Israel’s enemies,” Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said in a statement.
“The world sees Israeli strength and seeks to be a partner in it. We will continue strengthening the IDF and the Israeli economy through security innovation to ensure clear superiority against any threat – anywhere and anytime,” Katz continued.
In 2024, over half of the Jewish state’s defense contracts were with European countries — up from 35 percent the previous year — as many in the region have increased their defense spending following Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
Despite increasing pressure and widespread anti-Israel sentiment among European governments amid the current conflict in Gaza, this latest data seems to contradict recent calls by European leaders to impose an arms embargo on the Jewish state over its defensive campaign in Gaza against the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas.
On Wednesday, Germany reversed its earlier threat to halt arms deliveries to Israel, reaffirming its commitment to continue cooperation and maintain defense contracts with Jerusalem.
“Germany will continue to support the State of Israel, including with arms deliveries,” German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul told lawmakers in parliament.
Last week, Berlin warned it would take unspecified measures against Israel if it continued its military campaign in Gaza, citing concerns that exported weapons were being used in violation of humanitarian law.
“Our full support for the right to exist and the security of the State of Israel must not be instrumentalized for the conflict and the warfare currently being waged in the Gaza Strip,” Wadephul said in a statement.
Germany would be “examining whether what is happening in the Gaza Strip is compatible with international humanitarian law,” he continued. “Further arms deliveries will be authorized based on the outcome of that review.”
Spain and Ireland are among the countries in Europe that have threatened or taken steps to limit arms deals with Israel, while others such as France have threatened unspecified harsh measures against the Jewish state.
According to the Israeli defense ministry’s report, since the outbreak of war on Oct. 7, 2023, after the Hamas-led invasion of and massacre across southern Israel, the operational successes and proven battlefield performance of Israeli systems have fueled strong international demand for Israel’s defense technology.
Last year, the export of missiles, rockets, and air defense systems reached a new high, making up 48 percent of the total deal volume — up from 36 percent in 2023.
Similarly, satellite and space systems exports surged, accounting for 8 percent of total deals in 2024 — quadrupling their share from 2 percent in 2023.
While Europe dominated Israel’s defense export market in 2024, significant portions also went to other regions. Asia and the Pacific made up 23 percent of total sales — slightly lower than in previous years, when the region approached 30 percent.
Exports to Abraham Accords countries fell to 12 percent, down from 23 percent in 2022, while North America remained stable at around 9 percent.
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