A Guide for the Perplexing Coverage of the Middle East*
*with apologies to Rambam
There is a reason so much media attention is focused on the Middle East. Each day it is conceivable that this region could be a flashpoint for another world war, and given the sophistication of military technology, we can conceive of a war that could destroy the world economy if not the world itself.
In this particular case, the destruction of the world economy means more than just a crash in investments, it means that most people in the world who are accustomed to having their basic material needs met will be living in a state of seemingly hopeless scarcity.
For Jews, we think that ‘today could be the beginning of the next Holocaust’.
For these reasons, the Middle East is a primal issue. And because of this, reporting on the Middle East moves beyond the conventional political spectrum of Left/Right and into the area of Flight/Fight. Logic breaks down in the face of the Sympathetic Nervous System lit up like Las Vegas.
Consequently, for an area that is perceived as so vital, it is virtually impossible to get accurate reporting on the region. If the reporters cover diplomatic events, give up trying to get a clear grasp of regional dynamics, because diplomats spend as much time trying to hide the truth as they do stating the truth. And the truth doesn’t lie between the two poles, if you can even discern which statements are covering up and which statements are revealing.
For many years the real fight in the region has been over what is termed as ‘controlling the narrative’. That is, don’t distort the facts, rather, make sure the facts fit into a particular context. The context can be a complete fabrication, like a innocent man being framed for a crime. The Israelis, unfortunately, have not engaged the world on the plane of narrative. So, just like the Israeli Air Force controls the skies above the region, Fatah has controlled the airwaves.
Fatah has done this by intimidating, even kidnapping reporters, putting tight control over the press, and making reports on the ground safe only for ‘stringers’, little more than propagandists. The stringers then work for world news organizations, such as the AP, Reuters, the AFP, and influential papers such as the New York Times, and various European papers. This is what accounts for the complete change in tone of the reports from pre-1967, sympathetic reporting of Israel to a seemingly overnight change, to the present—‘Israel is the greatest threat to world peace’ coverage.
The seminal moment, so to speak, came, so to speak, when their were rumors of Peter Jennings having an affair with Hanan Ashwari, an eventual Palestinian legislator.
This isn’t to say that truth doesn’t seep through the reported words. But you have to look carefully, analyze, put things together from different places—it’s not easy.
So, if you use the bookmarklet, the assumption should always be—‘despite the primal bias of the story, there may be a horse somewhere in this pile.’
Israeli news sources don’t use stringers, but there is still some sifting that needs to be done. Let’s get to the sources.
Israel 21—Reports on technology and science, as straightforward as anything. Just like any other news report.
The Jerusalem Post—They try to keep their stories as objective as possible, and leave opinion to their opinion writers. The lines are not blurred. However, their opinion writers tend to feel the sky is falling right now. If you follow those editorialists over many years, there should be no sky, and there should have been fifteen full scale wars.
Ynet News—I’d say this is a trustworthy source, analysis has to be done by the reader, asking themselves—is this newsworthy, is this a rumor. There is great focus on diplomatic headlines, so tread carefully.
Ha’artez —strong bias, strongly buying into a false narrative that has been repeated so often that it has become an axiomatic truth. If I post anything from Ha’aretz, it is usually in the context of—”even Ha’aretz can see this clearly”.
Israel National News—same caveat as the Post, and Ynet. But down the page a bit, they have the things to watch for that give you a peak behind the curtains—technological and scientific developments and most important, developments in international trade.
I could begin to talk about canards, but they breed like rabbits, so there’s no point. All you need to know are the classic themes of anti-Semitism.