[Nettime-bold] Re: <nettime> Israel rushes to capitalise on terrorist attack

[Chaim Gingold <cog@chopper.slackworks.com>]

It is important to keep in mind that the limited footage on
celebrating Palestinians might be a result of censorship. The Foreign
Press Organization in Israel had this to say:


"The FPA expresses deep concern over the harassment of journalists by
the Palestinian Authority as police forces and armed gunmen tried to
prevent photo and video coverage of Tuesday's rally in
Nablus where hundreds of Palestinians celebrated the terror attacks
in NY and Washington.
                    
"We strongly condemn the direct threats made against
local videographers by local militia members and the
attitude of Palestinian officials who made no effort to counter the
threats, control the situation, or to guarantee the safety of the
journalists and the freedom of the press.

"We call on the PA to ensure freedom of the press and
the free flow of information and to prevent elements operating within
PA jurisdiction from making or carrying out threats that aim to impede
this and  effectively impose censorship. We hold the PA fully
responsible for the safety of each and every journalist operating within
their areas, especially those who were filming and covering
Tuesday's events in Nablus."


We must be careful when comparing Palestinian terror attacks with
those we witnessed Tuesday. In terms of style and substance -- the
deliberate targetting of random individuals -- they are identical. Drawing
distinctions of justification based upon underlying motivations seems to
be a slippery slope. The deliberate targetting of random men, women,
and children whether they be at the mall, WTC, Pentagon, or Sbarro's is
unjustifiable under any circumstances.


[excerpted from 
http://www.jpost.com/Editions/2001/09/13/LatestNews/LatestNews.34810.html]


On Thu, 13 Sep 2001, scotartt wrote:

> This is an extract from today's Sydney Morning Herald editorial. I find
> extremely disturbing the undue haste in the way that Israeli figures have
> used this appalling act of barbarity to attempt to advance their own
> interests in the most outrageous way. America, this Israel that thinks the
> attack is "very good"; this is the same Israel you spend $6 billion on each
> year so it can buy the tanks and helicopters it uses to shoot and bomb
> civilians.
> 
> It seems to me, watching CNN, FOX, CNBC that the American media can not
> and/or will not make a distinction between Palestinian organisations and
> others with a much broader agenda like al Quaeda. It seems to me, that
> these latter groups only use the name of Palestinian cause to further their
> own interests, and that it is relatively easy to distinguish between the
> two groups, their actions and their motives. I for one am sick of the total
> and complete lack of nuance present in American television (even in
> contrast to our own paltry imitations). I'd also like to note that in the
> many claims of "widespread" Palestinian rejoicing at the news of the
> attack, time and time again I only saw the same, identical, footage of the
> same 10 to 15 adults with about the same number of children. The only thing
> "widespread" about it was the airplay this solitary set of images received.
> 
> >From www.smh.com.au Thursday 13th Sept 2001.
> 
> " [...]    There is also a consciousness of the danger of stigmatising
> American Muslims in the wake of this latest outrage. (A similar
> consciousness, in the Australian context, has been evident in calls
> yesterday by Australian political and church leaders not to make rash
> judgments about who might have been responsible for the terrorist attacks.)
> But American Muslims have few but their own to speak for them. They
> struggle to assert their loyalty and commitment to the US and their
> abhorrence of violence. The reaction of some Jewish Americans has, in
> contrast, been to make an immediate connection between the terrorism
> visited so terribly on New York and Washington with the constant cycle of
> violence that grips Israel. The sentiment behind this has been chillingly
> expressed by the former Israeli prime minister Mr Benjamin Netanyahu. When
> asked what the attack on New York meant for relations between the US and
> Israel, he said: "It's very good." He quickly went on: "Well, not very
> good, but it will generate immediate sympathy."     [...] "
> 
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