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The Media in the 2021 Gaza War: The New York Times' Journalistic Malpractice

(Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs) Lenny Ben-David - During the 2021 Gaza War, the New York Times published ten articles and features from Gaza written and photographed by local Gazan stringers, photographers, and "fixers." Since Gaza is controlled by Hamas, no one can report on or photograph Hamas rocket launchers located in civilian neighborhoods or the extensive and expensive Hamas tunnels with weaponry stored inside. A respected Arab reporter, who reported on Gaza for decades, explained, "They will report what Hamas wants them to write; photograph the pictures Hamas seeks. They cannot write or film anything that will hurt Hamas' image....I blame the news producers sitting in London or New York assigning stories when they know the fixers' restrictions." On June 24, 2021, the New York Times released a 14-minute investigative video entitled "Gaza's Deadly Night." Any Gaza war narrative must deal with Hamas' underground tunnels - used to move weaponry and personnel - which were the target of Israel's precision bombing of the Wahda Street area in Gaza City. Yet the video only included a 10-second clip of armed men moving through a narrow tunnel, from a clip filmed by Reuters in 2014. On June 5, Qatar's Al Jazeera and Iran's Mehr News broadcast a video showing Hamas' elaborate tunnels filled with rockets, guns, missiles, artillery shells, storage areas, and even a command center. But there was no hint of these in the New York Times' mega-production. The Times' video and articles build the case that the collapse of the Gaza apartments on Wahda Street "was a possible war crime." But it ignores the statement of survivor Azzam Al-Kollek, who described the collapse of his three-story building to the Wall Street Journal. He said engineers who visited the site told him the building dropped some 40 feet below street level as it fell into an underground void - a Hamas tunnel. With its coverage of the May 2021 Gaza War, the New York Times has honestly earned its reputation as the most prejudiced and biased critic of Israel in mainstream North American media. The writer served 25 years in senior posts in AIPAC in Washington and Jerusalem, and as Israel's Deputy Chief of Mission in Washington.
2021-07-08 00:00:00
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