Monday, August 23, 2010
The idea of mass-starvation and a "humanitarian crisis" in Gaza has become an increasingly untenable position to hold outside of the most ideologically blinkered. The cognitive dissonance between the statistics and images...aka "the facts"...and the desire to believe in Gaza as a living horror show seems to be maxing out. At Legal Insurrection: Gazanitive Dissonance
Ethan Bronner of The New York Times has a classic piece on the opening of a luxury mall in Gaza.
How does one balance the endless propaganda that Gaza is a concentration camp and that Israelis are committing genocide, with the reality that Gaza exceeds most of its Arab neighbors (and even Turkey) in key health measurements?
How does one balance the endless propaganda of mass starvation in Gaza with the reality that there is plenty of food available, and there was plenty of food available long before Israel eased the restriction on civilian imports?
Most of all, how does The New York Times show balance on a subject which almost never is treated with balance by the mainstream media, much less the Islamist-Leftist Anti-Israel Coalition and its blogospheric sympathizers?
Bronner achieves balance through an ingenious slight of argument: The luxury Gaza mall is mostly an act of defiance!...
But really, the punch line: "Why not just admit that for years the media has painted a false picture of Gaza?"
Asking a bit much, don't you think, Professor?
Lots more in this round-up from Soccerdad: Gaza-bag
It's not that the Main Stream Media lies to its audience, it's that the Main Stream Media lies to itself.
Here are wwo other blog posts that knock the stuffing out of Bronner's piece:
Daled Amos: Why Does New York Times Compare Gaza Mall To American Malls--But Not West Bank Mall?
Elder of Ziyon: Hungry or not? Mainstream media's hypocrisy on Gaza