IMPORTANT MEDIA INTEGRITY ALERT AND CALL TO ACTION/ DENYING PALESTINIAN STATE SPONSORED INCITEMENT WHICH IS THE ROOT CAUSE OF THE PROBLEM Hewing to a long-established history of downplaying Palestinian incitement, The New York Times article on todays brutal massacre of worshipers in a Jerusalem synagogue casts incitement to violence by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas as nothing more than a complaint lodged by Israeli right-wing political figures. In Four Killed in Jerusalem Synagogue Complex, Isabel Kershner and Jodi Rudoren write: Mr. Abbas condemned the killing of civilians from any sides and the whole cycle of violence, according to Wafa, the official Palestinian news agency. It was his first official condemnation of violence during the recent spate of deadly attacks in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv and the West Bank. As usual when it comes to Israel, The Times omits important facts in order to skew readers understanding of events. Abbas, other Fatah leaders, official Palestinian Authority agencies and media have for years consistently incited and encouraged violence against Israeli Jews and celebrated terrorists who undertake violent attacks against them. This incitement surely qualifies as news fit to print. Why wont The New York Times do so? ACTION ITEMS Please conatct the New York Times and all other media outlets exhibiting similar bias. Please soeak from your heart. Please use the information included here as background for your letter instead of forwarding, or cutting and pasting from, the Alert. Write to The New York Times: • Please write a letter to the editor at letters@nytimes. • E-mail Executive Editor Dean Baquet at executive-editor@nytimes. • E-mail the News Department at nytnews@nytimes. • E-mail Margaret Sullivan, New York Times Public Editor at public@nytimes. • E-mail Isabel Kershner at isabelk@nytimes. • E-mail Jodi Rudoren at rudoren@nytimes. • E-mail Arthur Sulzberger Jr., Publisher at publisher@nytimes. Using the information outlined above and below, please make the following points: • The persistent and long-standing practice of Mahmoud Abbas, other Fatah officials, Palestinian Authority agencies and official media has been to incite and encourage violence against Israeli Jews and to celebrate the terrorists who perpetrate it. • Ignoring these facts does a grave disservice to readers who are left with a distorted understanding, indeed a complete misunderstanding, of events. • The fact that crucial details about this incitement are regularly omitted from the newspapers coverage indicates a pattern of choices, not random occurrences, and so can only be understood to be intentional New York Times policy. PLEASE SEND COPIES OF YOUR LETTERS TO OUR FACEBOOK PAGE OR FEEL FREE TO POST THEM HERE. Abbas statement is the first time that he has condemned the violence during the recent spate of deadly attacks. But a key fact neglected by The Times writers is that until now, Abbas has condoned and even encouraged the terrorism. For instance, omitted from the New York Times article is the fact that Abbas had sent a condolence letter to the family of Muataz Hijazi, the Palestinian who attempted to murder Temple Mount activist Yehuda Glick. The Palestinian president wrote in the letter: With anger and condemnation we received the message about the heinous rime committed by the murderous, terrorist gangs in the Israeli occupation army against Muataz Ibrahim Hijazi, who rose to heaven as a casualtye in the ighft for the Palestinian peoples rights and for the holy sites....the Palestinian peoples rights and for the holy sites.... Similarly, last month, Abbas called for all means to be used to protect the Al-Aqsa Mosque. As was widely reported, but not by The New York Times, Abbas had said: It is not enough to say the settlers came, but they must be barred from entering the compound by any means. This is our Aqsa . . . and they have no right to enter it and desecrate it. Palestinian Media Watch has compiled clips of Abbas calls for violence which can be seen here. Also ignored by The Times are recent calls for Days of Rage by Fatah, Abbas political party. As reported in Times of Israel: Fatah calls to its fighters and to the masses of the Palestinian people to aid the Al-Aqsa Mosque and occupied Jerusalem, Fatah said in an announcement that was translated into English by Israel-based Palestinian Media Watch.... WAFA also reported that the Fatah Mobilization and Organization Commission had called to set tomorrow as a day of rage throughout the homeland and in countries which are home to refugees, to express the Palestinian peoples opposition to any attack on the holy places and foremost among them the Al-Aqsa Mosque.... And to consider desecration of Al-Aqsa as a declaration of a religious war against the Palestinian people and the Arab Islamic nations. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry this morning referred to Fatahs calls for Days of Rage, but The Times omitted that portion of his condemnation. The Associated Press reported that Mr. Kerry today admonished: To have this kind of act, which is a pure result of incitement, of calls for ‘days of rage,’ of just irresponsibility, is unacceptable,” Kerry said. “The Palestinian leadership must condemn this and they must begin to take serious steps to restrain any kind of incitement … and exhibit the kind of leadership that is necessary to put this region on a different path. This simply has no place in human behavior and we need to hear from leaders who are going to lead their people to a different place. The Times selectively quotes Kerrys remark, leaving out his pointed admonishment of calls for days of rage on the part of Palestinian leaders. The article obscures: Secretary of State John Kerry, who was in London on Tuesday, denounced the attack as a pure act of terror and called on Palestinian leaders to condemn it. I call on the Palestinian leadership at every single level to condemn this in the most powerful terms, Mr. Kerry said before meeting with his British counterpart. . . . Mr. Kerry called Mr. Abbas from London to express support for his statement condemning the attacks and to urge him to do everything possible to de-escalate tension. Rather than noting Fatahs calls for Days of Rage, or Kerrys condemnation of these calls, or Abbas letter of condolence to the family of a terrorist, The Times casts incitement on the part of Abbas and the Palestinian leadership as a right-wing Israeli claim. The reporters state: Right-wing Israeli politicians blamed Mr. Abbas of the Palestinian Authority for the attack. They say that Mr. Abbas has been fomenting violence by accusing Israel of trying to change the status quo at the holy site, at which non-Muslims are allowed to visit only during certain hours and are not to pray openly.... The hands that held the axes are of the terrorists but the voice is the voice of Abu Mazen, declared Yuval Steinitz, the minister of strategic affairs, using an alternate name for Mr. Abbas. Whoever calls on Muslims to defend the mosque in Al Aqsa using all the means against Jews bears direct responsibility for the horrific pogrom at the synagogue in Har Nof and all the attacks and deadly riots in Jerusalem. In a statement, Naftali Bennet, the economy minister and head of the Jewish Home party, called Mr. Abbas one of the greatest terrorists the Palestinian people sprouted and said he bears direct responsibility for Jewish blood spilled in tallit and tefillin. (Emphases added.) By relating ongoing Palestinian incitement as a claim on the part of right-wing Israelis, instead of providing straight reports of instances of incitement by Abbas, The New York Times continues to cover up calls for violence. See also In CNN Headline on Jerusalem Terror, Integrity Is Another Casualty
Posted on: Tue, 18 Nov 2014 19:35:06 +0000
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