I am in Jerusalem and have already written about my travel experiences so far. This article is about what I have read in today’s Jerusalem Post, an English language newspaper published here. You can visit the Jerusalem Post’s website, but I’m going to summarise what I read in the print edition and give some impressions.
On the front page of today’s paper the main headline is “Israel warns south Lebanese to stay off the roads”. 160 rockets (Katyushas) fell across the north on Monday but there were no casualties. The prime minister, Ehud Olmert is quoted saying, “It’s inconceivable for a million residents to be living in shelters.” I don’t think the media in the UK is giving the impression that people in Israel are spending large amounts of time hiding in bomb shelters. Low casualty numbers compared to those in Lebanon are always given, but it’s never explained that casualties are low partly because people are hiding in shelters. I was aware of it, but only from reading blogs.
The main front page photo is of an explosion with the caption, “A HIZBULLAH rocket launcher is destroyed by IDF missles yesterday.”
Hizbollah apparently have UAVs: unmanned aerial vehicles. One was shot down by F-16s. It was either a reconaissance drone or loaded with explosives. No word on the range of these devices, but I’d imagine they are expensive and easy to shoot down.
There is an analysis by David Horowitz titled, “Ethical dilemmas for Israel at war”. He explains that Israel has always tried to maintain the moral high ground by keeping casualties to a minimum, but that this time it does not seem to be working: the rockets keep falling. The dilemma is that Israel needs to ramp up its military campaign to stop the rockets, but that more air strikes would cause more casualties in Lebanon and more ground attacks would cause more IDF casualties. This would reduce support from the US which Israel relies upon because, “without America in its corner, Isreal is in real, existential trouble.”
Hizbollah is not weakened enough, according to Yaakov Katz. “The big question now is whether Prime Minister Ehud Olmert will give the green light for an IDF incursion up to the Litani, a move that could save Israel face and provide it with the victory it has been seeking from the outset of a conflict that has proven to be more difficult than initially expected.” This fits in with what a commentator was saying on CNN last night — that both sides are looking to declare victory before any cease-fire. The UN are not going to vote on the cease-fire until Thursday.
Another article by Katz describes an IDF unit tasked with getting humanitarian assistance to Lebanon. They are working with the UN and the Red Cross, and have helped co-ordinate the evacuation of foreign nationals from Lebanon.
An article on page 5 titled, “Left: Media ignore our anti-war demos” shows that not everyone in Israel agrees with the war. Then again, one protest in Haifa was cancelled because of rocket attacks. On the same page there is a photo of a pro-Israel rally in Denver, Colorado. One banner reads, “ISRAEL has the RIGHT to DEFEND ITSELF”.
On page 2 is a story about Jews and Arabs in Haifa mourning together. Some Arabs are complaining about the lack of communal bomb shelters. Amir Hamam said that the missiles did not discriminate between Jews and Arabs but the city did. A city spokeswoman rejected such claims, saying that it is safer to go to a secure place in your home than run to a communal shelter, as the time between the siren and the missile strike is only 30 seconds to a minute. A Home Front Command spokesman said that this was true for Haifa but not for communities further north, whose residents were indeed safer in shelters.
On page 7 is an interesting article about a workshop on handling the media for Israeli refugees from the north. “The event was organised by media experts who are dissatisfied with the way Israel is being depicted abroad, both in print and on screen.” Refugees were taught to get their point across in just seven seconds — the length of a TV soundbite. One of the organisers, Gil Samsonov, said that BBC and other foreign media are really slanting their reports against Israel.
I agree that there is anti-Israel bias in the UK media. It seems as if most of the stories are about civilian casualties in Lebanon. The current BBC News top story is quite mild, concentrating on what the UN are doing. But this story from a few days ago is more the usual kind of tone. It says that Israel killed lots of civilians but Hezbollah killed only a few, but there is no context: that Hezbollah are aiming for civilians; that they hide among civilians; that no-one really knows who is a civilian and who isn’t; that Israelis are hiding in bomb shelters. What’s going on in Israel is not reported much at all in the UK.
On the first page of the Comment & Features section is an article about blogging that asks, “Does blogging, uncensored and grassroots, authentically reflect the events of the current war?” It has quotes from and links to some first-hand accounts, including Daphna Zilber‘s and Vitali Gueron‘s blogs. It talks about various stories that have been unearthed by blogs, including staged photos (some of which appeared in the Independent) and dodgy Reuters photos (blogs are good at peer reviewing the media). The article doesn’t explicitly answer the question it poses, concluding with a quote from a university professor that “there is a huge amount of good and important information out there reaching all over the globe.”
Not all the news in the Jerusalem Post is about the war. As soon as page 4 comes a story about World Pride, homosexuality and family values. On page 9 is a story about the return of bedbugs. Sports coverage on page 11 includes a test match between England and Pakistan at Headingly.
Some other interesting links I came across while searching things for this article: Rockets stored in bunkers under schools; a chap called Eugene blogging from a bunker in Haifa; a so-called peace protestor; and a CNN reporter explains how Hezbollah manipulate the media, telling reporters what to film and staging fake ambulance responses.