Why no photo?

Pictures are powerful. The picture of the Pope bowing his head against the Apartheid Wall is a powerful, historic, even iconic image. Why did CBC.ca fail to show it?

Sometimes inaction speaks volumes, and this is a case of it. CBC did not publish this photo as part of its routine defense of Israel, and attempt to mislead the Canadian public on behalf of a foreign state.

Pope at the wall

 

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Honours versus Boosts?

This was the headline for the May 26 CBC.ca article on the Pope's Middle East visit.

Pope Francis honours Jewish victims day after boost for Palestinians

Why couldn't CBC say that the Pope was honouring Palestinian suffering and victimhood as well? What does "boosts" mean? It is a feeble, wishy-washy word, and does not carry any of the power of "honouring'. This kind of biased headline is routine for CBC, and is a disgrace.

 
The truly meaningful action of the Pope, which was praying at the illegal Apartheid Wall, was played down by CBC. Instead it made much of the obligatory, routine and thus less-newsworthy visit to Yad Vashem, the Holocaust Memorial. How is the memorial to an event almost 70 years in the past, more important than an action recognizing the ongoing injustice of the Israeli occupation?

CBC always likes to quote Israeli leaders, even when they are spouting propagandistic nonsense, so again in the absence of any similar or contradictory quote from one of his Palestinian victims, they had this quote from Netanyahu:

"I explained to the pope that constructing the fence (separation barrier) prevented many more victims of Palestinian terror, which continues today," Netanyahu said.

So, although CBC is paid for by us Canadians, in the service of Israel, CBC bends over backwards to try to depreciate the action of the Pope's prayer at the Wall by emphasizing that it is a necessary evil (which is a patent untruth). It would be nice if CBC could dedicate itself more honestly to serving the information needs of Canadians who pay the bills, than serving the propaganda needs of this foreign country, Israel.

Missing in Action

There were two major stories covered by US major media and BBC but not even mentioned on CBC.ca

On May 25th, Pope Francis stopped on his way through Bethlehem to pray beside the Israeli-built wall that bisects the city. This was a subtle criticism of Israel's building of this travesty. It warranted international and CBC attention.

A few days earlier films were taken of Israeli soldiers intentionally shooting to death two unarmed, unthreatening Palestinian teenagers. This is not unusual, but it is usually not caught on film. This is proof of Israel's brutality to the occupied people of Palestine, and warranted media attention.

Why did CBC not think these two events were news-worthy? Is it fear of offending Canada's disgusting Prime Minister who blesses Israel repeatedly, regardless of how disgusting their behaviour.