Can CBC editors and writers really be so incompetent, or are they intentionally misleading the Canadian public?
On February 26th there was the following article:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/story/2013/02/26/israel-palestinians-rocket.html
"Two Palestinian teens, ages 13 and 16, were wounded in a confrontation with Israeli soldiers. The older boy was transferred to Jerusalem's Hadassah Hospital after being shot in the head and was in critical condition Tuesday, hooked up to a respirator, officials said."
An unarmed 13-year old is shot in the head, and may die, and this is less news-worthy than a toy rocket?
Also notice the use of the passive voice, "after being shot in the head". Why didn't they write that the child was shot in the head by Israeli soldiers? Will we ever see a CBC headline with words like "UNARMED PALESTINIAN CHILD SHOT IN HEAD BY ISRAELIS". This kind of headline would be sensational. It would sell a lot of newspapers, as they say in the media business, but CBC would never want to make Israel look bad. Why not? They have no trouble writing screaming headlines that make Palestinians look bad.
On top of this CBC adds the following absurd quote:
"Quiet will be met with quiet, missiles will be met with a response," said Israeli President Shimon Peres,
Killing and maiming unarmed Palestinian children at a rate of one a week is defined by Peres as "quiet". Why would CBC repeat this disgusting quote as if it provided some real insight to the situation? Indeed why does CBC quote and cite Israeli official sources so often? By what reasonable criteria can Israeli sources be deemed credible in reporting on this conflict?
At the bottom of the same article there was the following puzzling statement, also from Israeli sources:
"In Monday evening's confrontation near Bethlehem, the Israeli military said protesters threw "improvised hand grenades" at a Jewish shrine in the area, endangering worshippers inside."
What in Heaven's name are "improvised hand grenades"? Given the fact that the Palestinians are essentially unarmed victims of strict Israeli occupation, it is likely these "improvised hand grenades" are just stones.
Also look at the sub-headline. The Palestinian referred to is dead. He is not a "Palestinian in Israeli custody", he is a corpse. He was a 30-year old man arrested for throwing rocks and he most likely died under torture. Certainly CBC has a better grasp of English and of reality than to write a headline like this. This sub-headline was carefully crafted to hide the truth and protect Israel, but why?
Israel is in a state of war against the people of Gaza and the West Bank. When CBC uses words to protect one side in a conflict, particularly the more war-like, heavily-armed, aggressive side, these are weaponized words.
And CBC's weaponized words are not only targeted at Palestinians. Ultimately they are targeted at us Canadians as well.
On February 26th there was the following article:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/story/2013/02/26/israel-palestinians-rocket.html
Israel hit by 1st rocket in 3 months
Militants say attack was in retaliation for Palestinian in Israeli custody
First we have to wonder why this ineffectual little toy rocket was such big news. Over the last several months since the November hostilities ended, Israeli forces have killed over half a dozen unarmed youths, but that never made a headline. Even in the text of this article, presented almost as an irrelevance, is the following information:"Two Palestinian teens, ages 13 and 16, were wounded in a confrontation with Israeli soldiers. The older boy was transferred to Jerusalem's Hadassah Hospital after being shot in the head and was in critical condition Tuesday, hooked up to a respirator, officials said."
An unarmed 13-year old is shot in the head, and may die, and this is less news-worthy than a toy rocket?
Also notice the use of the passive voice, "after being shot in the head". Why didn't they write that the child was shot in the head by Israeli soldiers? Will we ever see a CBC headline with words like "UNARMED PALESTINIAN CHILD SHOT IN HEAD BY ISRAELIS". This kind of headline would be sensational. It would sell a lot of newspapers, as they say in the media business, but CBC would never want to make Israel look bad. Why not? They have no trouble writing screaming headlines that make Palestinians look bad.
On top of this CBC adds the following absurd quote:
"Quiet will be met with quiet, missiles will be met with a response," said Israeli President Shimon Peres,
Killing and maiming unarmed Palestinian children at a rate of one a week is defined by Peres as "quiet". Why would CBC repeat this disgusting quote as if it provided some real insight to the situation? Indeed why does CBC quote and cite Israeli official sources so often? By what reasonable criteria can Israeli sources be deemed credible in reporting on this conflict?
At the bottom of the same article there was the following puzzling statement, also from Israeli sources:
"In Monday evening's confrontation near Bethlehem, the Israeli military said protesters threw "improvised hand grenades" at a Jewish shrine in the area, endangering worshippers inside."
What in Heaven's name are "improvised hand grenades"? Given the fact that the Palestinians are essentially unarmed victims of strict Israeli occupation, it is likely these "improvised hand grenades" are just stones.
Also look at the sub-headline. The Palestinian referred to is dead. He is not a "Palestinian in Israeli custody", he is a corpse. He was a 30-year old man arrested for throwing rocks and he most likely died under torture. Certainly CBC has a better grasp of English and of reality than to write a headline like this. This sub-headline was carefully crafted to hide the truth and protect Israel, but why?
Israel is in a state of war against the people of Gaza and the West Bank. When CBC uses words to protect one side in a conflict, particularly the more war-like, heavily-armed, aggressive side, these are weaponized words.
And CBC's weaponized words are not only targeted at Palestinians. Ultimately they are targeted at us Canadians as well.
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