More imbalanced reporting

On October 23rd CBC reported on the death of a baby in a Palestinian car attack at a Jerusalem light rail station. Here is the article:

Jerusalem's mayor on Thursday called for a crackdown against a wave of Palestinian unrest, as police beefed up security after a Palestinian motorist with a history of anti-Israel violence slammed his car into a crowded light rail train station, killing a baby girl.

The crash Wednesday night escalated already heightened tensions in east Jerusalem, the section of the holy city captured by Israel in 1967 and claimed by the Palestinians as their capital.

Since the summer, Palestinian youths have clashed frequently with Israeli police, throwing stones and firebombs at Israeli motorists and disrupting service of the city's light rail train — a service meant to unify the city.

In an interview, Mayor Nir Barkat said the violence has become intolerable, and he vowed to restore order.

"Yesterday, what we saw is another higher level, of people running over a three-month-old baby," he told The Associated Press. "We must fight violence, and we will win that war."

The latest unrest has created perhaps the biggest crisis for Barkat, a former high-tech entrepreneur, during his six years in office.Barkat has a particularly sensitive job, presiding over a diverse city that includes secular and observant Jews, an insular ultra-Orthodox Jewish community and more than 200,000 Palestinians. It is a cauldron of conflicting interest groups that frequently boils over into unrest.

The violence erupted over the summer after three Israeli teenagers were kidnapped and killed by militants in the West Bank. Jewish extremists retaliated by kidnapping and burning to death a Palestinian teenager in east Jerusalem, sparking violent riots.

The unrest continued throughout the summer after Israel attacked Gaza in response to heavy Hamas rocket fire. The arrival of Jewish nationalists into the heart of an Arab neighbourhood, coupled with clashes at Jerusalem's most sensitive holy site, have further fuelled the tensions.

Police called Wednesday's crash, which killed a three-month-old U.S. citizen and wounded eight other people, a terror attack.

Driver killed by police

The car's driver, identified as Abdel Rahman al-Shaludi, was a Palestinian from east Jerusalem who had served time in prison for militant activities. He was shot by police as he tried to run away and later died from his wounds.

Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said several hundred extra police personnel had been deployed in flashpoint areas, mostly Arab neighbourhoods in east Jerusalem. He said the reinforcements included riot-control troops and paramilitary border police.

Also, he said, new intelligence-gathering facilities, including small surveillance balloons, are being deployed. He called the buildup a "strategic decision" connected to the overall situation, not a response to Wednesday's killing.

"We have a peak of terror, and the use of violence in Jerusalem in the last few months," Barkat said. "We will deal with it and we'll make sure it's dramatically decreased, and it'll happen very, very soon."Overnight and early Thursday, police broke up unrest in several Arab neighbourhoods, Rosenfeld said. No major violence was reported, though authorities were bracing for trouble during Friday's weekly noon Muslim prayers, a time when clashes frequently erupt.

Palestinians say they suffer discrimination when it comes to housing and municipal services, and they consider Israeli actions in east Jerusalem as provocations.

Barkat rejected such suggestions, saying there is no excuse for the violence.

He said he frequently works quietly with Arab leaders to maintain calm, and that many Arab neighbourhoods have thrived with new roads and schools during his term by working with municipal authorities. But he said investment can only take place if the city is quiet.

"The majority of Arab residents in Jerusalem, they don't want the city divided, they understand exactly what they gain by the united city of Jerusalem," he said. "There's no way it will ever function, God forbid, as a divided city."

After waiting over 3 months, about 100 days, I finally got a reply from CBC to my August complaint to the CBC Ombudsman. As might be expected, CBC claims that they are lily-white and pure as the driven snow in their reporting on Israel/Palestine. I will post their reply later on this blog, but just look at the examples in today's article which show that CBC continues in its disgusting imbalanced reporting.

Here are some examples from today's article:

1) I complained that CBC always gives reasons why Israelis do bad things, but usually avoids giving reasons why Palestinians do bad things;

The violence erupted over the summer after three Israeli teenagers were kidnapped and killed by militants in the West Bank. Jewish extremists retaliated by kidnapping and burning to death a Palestinian teenager in east Jerusalem, sparking violent riots.

Also this: The unrest continued throughout the summer after Israel attacked Gaza in response to heavy Hamas rocket fire.

CBC just says Palestinian militants did the kidnapping - no need to suggest why they did it. But the barbaric act by Israelis is explained as retaliation. Wasn't the Palestinian action done in retaliation as well? Why does CBC explain one but not the other? The implication is that Palestinians are just EVIL, SUBHUMANS, and they just do things that evil, subhumans do. There is no need to offer any reasons.

And again, Israel attacked Gaza "in response to heavy Hamas rocket fire", but no need to explain what Hamas was responding to.

2) I complained to CBC that they too often leave out ESSENTIAL context in their reporting, which leads to certain misunderstandings on the part of readers:

disrupting service of the city's light rail train — a service meant to unify the city.

Legally Jerusalem is supposed to be divided. The light rail system is designed to unify the city in a way which is detrimental to the Palestinian position, and to facilitate Israeli control over all of Jerusalem. The way CBC presents it here it sounds like it is some benign, humanitarian project designed to make everyone's life easier, which is a skewed view of this project.

3) I complained about CBC's use of fuzzy wording to cover up reality, and they do it again here:

The arrival of Jewish nationalists into the heart of an Arab neighbourhood, coupled with clashes at Jerusalem's most sensitive holy site, have further fuelled the tensions.

CBC uses the word "arrival" of Jewish nationalists. "Arrival" sounds so benign. I am looking forward to the arrival of my friend in Vancouver. But is it "arrival" when you move in, with guns and military protection, into houses and buildings in the heart of Palestinian neighbourhoods, from which the Palestinian residents have been cruelly evicted, and with the openly stated purpose of "Judaizing" all of Jerusalem? Would I welcome the arrival of my friend in Vancouver if his stated intention was to kick me out of my house? Would I call this an "arrival" or an "attack" or a crime?

4) I complained to CBC that they quote Israelis too much, and here CBC not only does not quote Palestinians but allows Israelis to speak on behalf of Palestinians:

Palestinians say they suffer discrimination when it comes to housing and municipal services, and they consider Israeli actions in east Jerusalem as provocations.

Barkat rejected such suggestions, saying there is no excuse for the violence.

He said he frequently works quietly with Arab leaders to maintain calm, and that many Arab neighbourhoods have thrived with new roads and schools during his term by working with municipal authorities. But he said investment can only take place if the city is quiet.

"The majority of Arab residents in Jerusalem, they don't want the city divided, they understand exactly what they gain by the united city of Jerusalem," he said. "There's no way it will ever function, God forbid, as a divided city."

Again CBC has not provided important context. It is a fact that Arab East Jerusalem is served very poorly by the Israeli authorities. In every indicator they are disadvantaged, but here CBC just presents it as a claim by Palestinians. And the average Arab citizen of Jerusalem does not want a city "united" on Israel's terms as this mayor claims.

5) I complained to CBC that they give disproportionate attention to Israeli deaths, and almost ignore Palestinian deaths. Here is a headline story, ranked with the top news stories of the day, about the death of an Israeli child. This is, of course, a tragedy, and a reprehensible act by the perpetrator. But why does CBC not make similar headline, highly-ranked, stories when Israelis kill Palestinian children?

In the last few weeks several Palestinian children were killed by Israeli settlers. Here are some news reports that CBC chose to ignore:

a) less than a week ago a similar situation to the Jerusalem attack occurred. In a different hit and run an Israeli driver fled a crash that killed five-year old Einas Khalil from a village outside of Ramallah. 

b) October 18 RAMALLAH (Ma'an) — Thousands of people in the central West Bank village of Beit Laqiya on Friday attended the funeral of 13-year-old Bahaa Samir Badir, who was shot dead by Israeli soldiers a day earlier. 

The killing of the 5-year old in Ramallah was almost identical to the killing in Jerusalem. A crazed individual with political motives, intentionally drove into a child and killed him/her. The only difference is in the ethnic origin of the child that was killed.

In the reply to me, CBC says they are not racist. There is no other explanation for this imbalance. It is not as if today is a slow news day, with the Ottawa events and Ebola, etc. and that is why there was room for this story but not the ones about Palestinian deaths.