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Blaming Israel for Istanbul
A disturbing media trend blames Israeli policy for the Islamist war on Western civilization.
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British Consulate,
Istanbul
(Reuters photo) |
Today's coordinated bombings against British
targets in Istanbul, occurring just days after the dual bombings
of Istanbul synagogues, make the Islamic terrorist message brutally
clear ― their targets are the Jewish people and Western democratic
civilization. What most Americans recognized after 9/11, Europeans
are now also beginning to see: radical Islamists threaten every
Western citizen, and Israel is merely a convenient front line for
their battle.
Given this, HonestReporting is concerned about the re-emergence of a
trend we witnessed
after 9/11
― the media's shift of focus away from this stark reality, and onto
Israeli policy as a scapegoat
for Islamic terrorism. Recent examples:
(1) The
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, on the Istanbul synagogue bombings: "[T]he
reaction of Arabs, Muslims and others to Israeli actions in the West
Bank and Gaza is spilling over into anti-Semitism and violence
directed against Jewish populations normally living in peace in
countries like Turkey...The United States could help by returning to
a credible policy of seeking a two-state solution for the Israelis
and Palestinians."
Comments to Post-Gazette: click here
(2) In Germany, Wolfgang Guenter Lerch wrote in Frankfurter
Allgemeine: "The criminal attacks on two synagogues in Istanbul were
mainly directed against Israel...Even secular Turks are dismayed
when the see what is happening in the Israeli occupied Palestinian
territories."*
(3) Lerch is just one step short of the Egyptian newspaper, Al Wafd:
"Why do we not say that the attack was plotted in order to improve
Israel's image in the EU after the recent poll that showed it as the
primary threat to global peace? Why do we exclude Turkish Jews as
perpetrators?"*
(4) K Gajendra Singh, India's former ambassador to Turkey, writes in
the
Asian Times: "Many Turkish experts suspect that the twin bombings were a warning
to Turkey, one of the few Muslim countries to have ties with
Israel...The blasts could be an act of revenge for the daily
killings of Palestinians and the Israelis building a much-opposed
wall that encroaches on Palestinian land."This media trend recasts the radical Islamic war against the Jewish
people and the West as something else entirely ― an Israeli-specific
disaster that now everyone's suffering from.
Coverage of
President Bush's powerful speech on Tuesday in London further
illustrates the problem. Bush, after pointed reference to the
pre-WWII failure to confront Nazi tyranny, called for democratic
reform in the Mideast:
 As we work on the details of peace, we must look to the heart of the
matter, which is the need for a viable Palestinian democracy. Peace
will not be achieved by Palestinian rulers who intimidate
opposition, who tolerate and profit from corruption, and maintain
their ties to terrorist groups...The long-suffering Palestinian
people deserve better. They deserve true leaders, capable of
creating and governing a Palestinian states...Leaders in Europe should
withdraw all favor and support from any Palestinian ruler who fails
his people and betrays their cause. And Europe's leaders ― and all
leaders ―
should strongly oppose anti-Semitism, which poisons
public debates over the future of the Middle East.
Though Bush himself called Palestinian reform "the heart of the
matter" and warned of the dangerous new wave of anti-Semitism, these
Reuters' headlines focused instead on Israeli policy:
―
"Israel Defiant
Over Barrier After Bush Criticism"
―
"Bush Urges
Israel Not to Prejudice Peace Talks"
―
"Israel Spurns
Bush Call Over West Bank Fence"
Comments to Reuters: editor@reuters.com
As the radical Islamic war against the innocent tragically expands,
HonestReporting encourages subscribers to monitor your local media
to ensure that Israel does not again emerge as a scapegoat for mass
terror, and that the Western resolve to fight the terrorists
themselves receives accurate coverage.
--- INDIANA ARSON ---
On November 18, the CANDLES
Holocaust Museum in Terre Haute, Indiana was burned to the ground,
the target of apparent arson.
CANDLES, which stands for Children of Auschwitz Nazi Deadly
Experiments Survivors, was founded in 1995 by Holocaust survivor Eva Kor, and housed artifacts from Auschwitz and documents relating to
Dr. Josef Mengele.
One would expect that such a hate crime
―
in the heartland of
America ―
would attract widespread media attention. Yet few
newspapers covered it.
HonestReporting encourages subscribers to contact your local media,
asking for an explanation for this disturbing omission.
HonestReporting.com
* Thanks to journalist and commentator Tom Gross for these sources. |
