By Berl Falbaum
On October 23, 2023, a mere 16 days after the worst slaughter of Jews since the Holocaust, my first two words in a column on the Israeli-Hamas war were “Hamas Won.”
Of course, I did not mean militarily. But I saw only too clearly that after some initial sympathy for Israel following the October 7 attack by Hamas, the media turned against Israel, giving the world’s politicians and decision-makers cover for their one-sided disparagement and condemnation of Israel.
It did not take long.
If you follow the news on the war daily all you will hear and read are reports on how many civilians Israel has killed. And I mean daily, and you can be sure, the report will stress “mostly women and children.” Enemy combatants? They are not included; they don’t exist.
For instance, The Guardian devoted an entire page to analyzing the demographics of those who have died in Gaza, listing the number of children and women who perished. The word “combatants” is absent. Instead, the paper uses a category labeled “men.”
Hamas? It is never — yes, the absolute — mentioned. Israel is not facing a military enemy. Its only military and political objective is to unleash its military prowess to kill civilians.
One “minor” example of objective reporting: “Israel Attack Kills X at Hospital.” How about: “Israel-Hamas Fire Fight Kills X at Hospital.”
Given these “facts,” it follows logically that some 900 Israel soldiers who reportedly have lost their lives and approximately 16,000 that were wounded, must have been fatally shot or injured by patients in hospitals and/or starving Palestinians. If Hamas isn’t at fault, then it has to be Palestinian civilians who caused the Israeli casualties.
None of this is to suggest that the plight of Palestinians is not gut-wrenching. Like all wars, it is tragic, particularly because civilians always suffer more than combatants.
But to blame the entire crisis on Israel, without any context, or reports that civilian deaths are a major component of Hamas’s strategy, is nothing short of libelous.
Hamas understands the PR value of having civilians die. At times, Hamas even fired on Palestinians seeking refuge.
The Wall Street Journal published emails from Yahya Sinwar, the Hamas leader who was killed by Israel, in which he hailed civilian deaths and encouraged more.
Little, if anything, is said about Hamas entrenchment in homes, apartment buildings, hospitals and tunnels constructed under civilian infrastructures. Even hostages were kept in civilian homes.
As to the data on fatalities, it comes from the Hamas Health Ministry, an arm of Hamas that committed the October 7 butchery. Such a terrorist organization, of course, would not lie.
This is not to make light of whatever the toll. But the war could end instantly, indeed, as I am writing this, if Hamas would simply lay down its arms. This has not occurred to anyone in the media.
The only public official who continually made this point was former Secretary of State in the Biden administration, Antony Blinken. He repeatedly stressed that the responsibility of ending the war was in Hamas’ hands. All it had to do was stop fighting.
Also important, we need to understand that media coverage can be slanted and distorted not only by what is broadcast or published in newspapers/magazines but by what is omitted.
While there are some 31 wars raging in the world, the only one that the media feel obligated to cover is the Hamas-Israel conflict. The humanitarian disasters elsewhere are not newsworthy.
Here are just a few facts from a rare public report on the two-year civil war in Sudan:
An estimated 3.2 million children, under the age of five, are projected to suffer from acute malnutrition in 2025. Read that number again. Photos of emaciated children (televised continually in Israel’s case) could fill an entire newscast, yet nary one has been broadcast.
Of that number, 770,000 children will suffer from the deadliest form of malnutrition, severe acute malnutrition. Recurrent disease outbreaks, including measles and malaria, continue to affect large numbers of children, and the routine immunization rate has rapidly fallen with one in six children completely unprotected.
About 11 million people, almost one-third of the population, are in need of food, water, and medical supplies.
The numbers are so staggering that some humanitarian organizations have called the Sudan disaster the worst in human history.
Yet, that has not interested the media, nor have the other catastrophes in the world. Distortion by omission. Israel is the only villain.
An aside to Hamas apologists in the media and political leaders around the world who want to appease Hamas by supporting a two-state solution.
The problem: Hamas did not launch its attack in support of a two-state solution. It has opposed that through the years. It did not cry “apartheid” or “genocide.” It proudly stated its intention was to kill as many Jews as possible, the only goal stated in its charter — that apparently all the critics of Israel have never read. It wants to murder every Jew hiding under a rock or behind a tree. And it has pledged to “do October 7 over and over and over again.”
The limits of a political column like this cannot fully capture the irresponsibility of the media (along with the hypocrisy of major political figures and governments that cannot look past Israel.)
So, we’ll settle here for the following three words to summarize the media’s coverage of the Israel-Hamas war: Scandalous and slanderous.
Of course, I did not mean militarily. But I saw only too clearly that after some initial sympathy for Israel following the October 7 attack by Hamas, the media turned against Israel, giving the world’s politicians and decision-makers cover for their one-sided disparagement and condemnation of Israel.
It did not take long.
If you follow the news on the war daily all you will hear and read are reports on how many civilians Israel has killed. And I mean daily, and you can be sure, the report will stress “mostly women and children.” Enemy combatants? They are not included; they don’t exist.
For instance, The Guardian devoted an entire page to analyzing the demographics of those who have died in Gaza, listing the number of children and women who perished. The word “combatants” is absent. Instead, the paper uses a category labeled “men.”
Hamas? It is never — yes, the absolute — mentioned. Israel is not facing a military enemy. Its only military and political objective is to unleash its military prowess to kill civilians.
One “minor” example of objective reporting: “Israel Attack Kills X at Hospital.” How about: “Israel-Hamas Fire Fight Kills X at Hospital.”
Given these “facts,” it follows logically that some 900 Israel soldiers who reportedly have lost their lives and approximately 16,000 that were wounded, must have been fatally shot or injured by patients in hospitals and/or starving Palestinians. If Hamas isn’t at fault, then it has to be Palestinian civilians who caused the Israeli casualties.
None of this is to suggest that the plight of Palestinians is not gut-wrenching. Like all wars, it is tragic, particularly because civilians always suffer more than combatants.
But to blame the entire crisis on Israel, without any context, or reports that civilian deaths are a major component of Hamas’s strategy, is nothing short of libelous.
Hamas understands the PR value of having civilians die. At times, Hamas even fired on Palestinians seeking refuge.
The Wall Street Journal published emails from Yahya Sinwar, the Hamas leader who was killed by Israel, in which he hailed civilian deaths and encouraged more.
Little, if anything, is said about Hamas entrenchment in homes, apartment buildings, hospitals and tunnels constructed under civilian infrastructures. Even hostages were kept in civilian homes.
As to the data on fatalities, it comes from the Hamas Health Ministry, an arm of Hamas that committed the October 7 butchery. Such a terrorist organization, of course, would not lie.
This is not to make light of whatever the toll. But the war could end instantly, indeed, as I am writing this, if Hamas would simply lay down its arms. This has not occurred to anyone in the media.
The only public official who continually made this point was former Secretary of State in the Biden administration, Antony Blinken. He repeatedly stressed that the responsibility of ending the war was in Hamas’ hands. All it had to do was stop fighting.
Also important, we need to understand that media coverage can be slanted and distorted not only by what is broadcast or published in newspapers/magazines but by what is omitted.
While there are some 31 wars raging in the world, the only one that the media feel obligated to cover is the Hamas-Israel conflict. The humanitarian disasters elsewhere are not newsworthy.
Here are just a few facts from a rare public report on the two-year civil war in Sudan:
An estimated 3.2 million children, under the age of five, are projected to suffer from acute malnutrition in 2025. Read that number again. Photos of emaciated children (televised continually in Israel’s case) could fill an entire newscast, yet nary one has been broadcast.
Of that number, 770,000 children will suffer from the deadliest form of malnutrition, severe acute malnutrition. Recurrent disease outbreaks, including measles and malaria, continue to affect large numbers of children, and the routine immunization rate has rapidly fallen with one in six children completely unprotected.
About 11 million people, almost one-third of the population, are in need of food, water, and medical supplies.
The numbers are so staggering that some humanitarian organizations have called the Sudan disaster the worst in human history.
Yet, that has not interested the media, nor have the other catastrophes in the world. Distortion by omission. Israel is the only villain.
An aside to Hamas apologists in the media and political leaders around the world who want to appease Hamas by supporting a two-state solution.
The problem: Hamas did not launch its attack in support of a two-state solution. It has opposed that through the years. It did not cry “apartheid” or “genocide.” It proudly stated its intention was to kill as many Jews as possible, the only goal stated in its charter — that apparently all the critics of Israel have never read. It wants to murder every Jew hiding under a rock or behind a tree. And it has pledged to “do October 7 over and over and over again.”
The limits of a political column like this cannot fully capture the irresponsibility of the media (along with the hypocrisy of major political figures and governments that cannot look past Israel.)
So, we’ll settle here for the following three words to summarize the media’s coverage of the Israel-Hamas war: Scandalous and slanderous.
