The photos are from Israel. (You won’t see photos like this from Gaza). LINK

In addition to Israel absorbing scores of missiles fired from the Gaza Strip — proof if ever the UN needed it that the PA is ready for an elevation of its status in the august body — Syrian mortar shells have repeatedly hit (whether or not intentionally is not yet known) the Golan Heights during the past few days. The MSM’s coverage of Israel’s inevitable, albeit restrained, response, provide yet another window into the insidious way in which anti-Israel bias in the media plays out.

Compare, if you will, the following Associated Press headline currently appearing courtesy of Yahoo!:

Israel strikes Syria armor, hiking spillover fears

news.yahoo.com

At first blush, the headline is not particularly outlandish. After all, given the time-honored tradition among despots in the Arab world of seeking to deflect their population’s anger by directing it at the Jewish State, the possibility of the civil war in Syria drawing in Israel is a real concern.

However, followers of how the media covers Israel will note the familiar ring by which “concerns” about “spillover” or “escalation” are only highlighted by the media when Israel responds, even if only in a limited fashion, to violent or military attacks on its territory or population.

For example, by contrast to the Associated Press’ “concern” over spillover following Israel’s response to Syrian shelling, here is how the very same wire service, only a few weeks ago, reported following several days of artillery fire by Turkey responding to similarly “errant” mortar shells from Syria:

Turkey strikes back against Syria shelling

Beirut — The Turkish military retaliated with artillery fire fora sixth straight day Monday after a Syrian shell hit its territory, and Turkey’s president warned that “the worst-case scenario we have all been dreading” is unfolding in Syria and along its borders.

detroitnews.com

Got that? Turkey, the government of which has been open and aggressive in opposing the al-Assad regime and assisting the groups seeking its overthrow, responds to a single shell with six days of shelling, and the headlines dispassionately report the fact that Turkey struck back against Syrian shelling. They do not scream with “concern” over the risk of spillover or escalation.

Likewise, here is Reuters’ reporting today (as carried in Turkey’s Hurriyet Daily News) on what is potentially a more ominous harbinger of escalation and widening of the Syrian conflict:

NATO chief says alliance will defend Turkey over Syria

NATO will defend alliance member Turkey, which struck back after mortar rounds fired from Syria landed inside its border, the alliance’s Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said at a meeting in Prague today.

“NATO as an organisation will do what it takes to protect and defend Turkey, our ally. We have more plans in place to make sure that we can protect and defend Turkey and hopefully that way also deter so that attacks on Turkey will not take place,” he said.

hurriyetdailynews.com

As with the reporting of Turkey’s response to shelling from Syria a few weeks ago, the media’s coverage of this important statement by NATO’s Secretary General shows no concern about possible “spillover” or “escalation”.

That treatment is reserved for Israel, when, despite publicly and otherwise having given every indication of a desire to stay out of the strife in Syria, it responds to multiple shells over several days with a limited response directed at the battery from which the shells were fired. Suddenly now, the AP and its ilk are “concerned”.

Is it any wonder, then, that many of those who rely on the MSM for news coverage of the region, have a distorted view of Middle Eastern affairs?

news.daylife.com

An honor guard of Israeli soldiers stands at attention during a memorial ceremony for fallen soldiers at the military cemetery on Mount of Olives, overlooking the Dome of the Rock mosque in Jerusalem on April 25, 2012. The Memorial Day commemorates fallen soldiers since 1948, ahead of celebrations of the 64th anniversary of the creation of the state of Israel according to the Jewish calendar.

prweb.com

Roosevelt University academic study documents systematic use of propaganda by world’s largest news agency.
A study published in the November/December issue of the Journal of Applied Business Research finds that Reuters coverage of the Middle East conflict is systematically tainted by propaganda and influences readers to side with the Palestinians and Arab states against the Israelis.

al-Reuters biased? Quel’ horreur!

The study can be found here.

Excerpt, form the examination of propaganda in Reuters reporting:

An asymmetrical definition is a type of suggestion where the audience is misled via the propagandist‘s use of a word or phrase bearing a meaning different than that the audience would normally attribute to it (Smith, 1989). Reuters repetitive use of this technique can be seen in 16 of the sample articles published in June which focus on the story of a Turkish-led flotilla apprehended at sea while attempting to break the Israeli weapons blockade of the Gaza Strip. The flotilla consisted of six vessels, three of which were carrying construction materials and humanitarian aid for Palestinian Arabs (Palestinians) in Gaza. Five of the ships were boarded and subsequently impounded by the Israeli navy without loss of life or serious injury but the sixth ship, the Mavi Marmara, was the scene of violent clashes between passengers armed with cold weapons, e.g., knives and iron bars, and Israeli forces, armed with paintball guns and pistols.12 Although it went unreported by Reuters, inspection of the Mavi Marmara cargo hold immediately following the incident revealed no humanitarian aid on board the ship.13 Yet, in over a dozen stories in the data sample, Reuters conflates the Mavi Marmara with the other vessels, repeatedly using the word ―aid‖ to describe the ship, its cargo, and its purported mission, i.e., to bring humanitarian aid to Palestinians in Gaza.

news.investors.com

Media Bias: In the early days of the Gulf War, pundits marveled at the specter of Iraqi troops surrendering to journalists. Well, now it’s even worse: Journalists are giving the Democratic Party its talking points.

The Washington Post’s 27-year-old star blogger Ezra Klein has been called “whiz kid,” and “brat packer” and a “wunderkind.” Now he’s actually advising Democratic chiefs of staff, briefing them last week about the supercommittee in Congress, according to a report by Fishbowl-DC on MediaBistro.com.

That means the relatively novel idea that bloggers can be placed on an equal footing with reporters in congressional briefings has been one-upped: Bloggers like Klein are now giving the briefings.

That’s because Klein himself sports the imprimatur of one of the most vaunted news organizations in the world, the Washington Post. He’s supposed to have the Post’s high standards. But instead of reporting the news, even at a slant, as bloggers do, Klein takes bias beyond that. Instead of commenting on news, he makes it.

viciousbabushka.com

Palestinians walk past murals in Gaza City September 21, 2011. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas plans on Friday to submit an application for full U.N. membership for the state of Palestine based in the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the coastal Gaza Strip — lands occupied by Israel in 1967.

Is that what this picture shows? Has there ever been any illustration, at any time, that shows the Palestinian state located in the “West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza Strip” and not the entire freaking state of Israel?

viciousbabushka.com

In this Oct. 29, 2000 file photo, a Palestinian stone thrower faces an Israeli tank during clashes at the Karni crossing point between Israel and the Gaza Strip, on the outskirts of Gaza City. The Palestinians will be able to make a strong case when they ask the United Nations next week to recognize an independent Palestine in the West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem, the lands Israel occupied in 1967. AP Photo.

The Daylife photo feed is blitzing the bolded caption on to every photo coming out of the Mideast news feed, including this classic staged, perspective-skewed photo from 10 years ago.

Oh wait, the news feed has changed the captioning. Look at this heart rending photo:

A Palestinian boys drinks water from a public tap at the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) headquarters in the southern Gaza Strip Rafah refugee camp on September 18, 2011. The Islamist Hamas movement said the United Nations should recognise a Palestinian state on all of historical Palestine, including land that is now Israel, just a few days before Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas submits a request to the world body for membership of a Palestinian state on the lines that existed before the 1967 Six Day War. Getty Images.

A Palestinian state existed on lines that existed before the 1967 war? Then it was occupied by Egypt and Jordan!—VB

viciousbabushka.com

Once again, it can be easier to find a rifle than a job in the refugee camp of Jenin. Residents say occasional bursts of gunfire in its narrow streets are an economic indicator as telling as any. Many see the renewed disorder as a consequence of despair.

Once again, it can be easier to find a rifle than a job in the refugee camp of Jenin. Residents say occasional bursts of gunfire in its narrow streets are an economic indicator as telling as any. Many see the renewed disorder as a consequence of despair.

Once again, it can be easier to find a rifle than a job in the refugee camp of Jenin. Residents say occasional bursts of gunfire in its narrow streets are an economic indicator as telling as any. Many see the renewed disorder as a consequence of despair.

Yes, every photo at Reuters carries the same freaking caption!

Oh, and the obligatory “Jumping Over Fire” photo op.
Jumping over fire!

news.yahoo.com

The United States pressed Egypt Thursday to follow through on promises to ensure security in the Sinai following a string of attacks in southern Israel said to have been staged from the desert region.

The White House denounced the attacks, which left seven Israelis dead, and expressed hope those responsible “will be brought to justice swiftly.”

“We condemn the brutal terrorist attacks in southern Israel today in the strongest terms,” White House spokesman Jay Carney said in a statement.

“Our deepest condolences go to the victims, their families and loved ones, and we wish those injured a speedy recovery. The US and Israel stand united against terror and we hope that those behind this attack will be brought to justice swiftly,” he said.

An Israeli army commander said six Israeli civilians and a soldier were killed in the spate of coordinated attacks on two desert roads near the Red Sea resort town of Eilat.

Security sources said the Israeli army shot dead seven of the attackers, described as militants from Gaza who entered Israel through the Sinai. The ruling Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas denied any involvement.

Israel warned it would hit back hard, and then hit the Gaza Strip with air strikes that Palestinian medics said killed six people.

“This violence only underscores our strong concerns about the security situation in the Sinai Peninsula,” US Secretary of State Hilary Clinton said in a statement.

“Recent commitments by the Egyptian government to address the security situation in the Sinai are important and we urge the Egyptian government to find a lasting resolution,” the chief US diplomat said.

Israeli officials have said the perpetrators all came from the Gaza Strip, and a senior source said they had entered Israel via the Sinai peninsula where Egyptian troops recently began a massive operation to root out militants based there.

Earlier, the Israeli army said two attacks had taken place on route 12, a desert road next to the Egyptian border, near Eilat.

In the first incident, gunmen strafed a bus. In the second, an improvised explosive device detonated when a military vehicle carrying Israeli troops drove over it.

Security sources told AFP of a third incident on another desert road near the Jordanian border, in which an RPG was fired at a car near Beer Ora, some 15 kilometers (nine miles) north of Eilat.

President Obama thinks these are terrorist attacks, but the “news agency” AFP puts “terrorist” in scare quotes.