Hamas

CNN's Jim Clancy Melts Down on Twitter Over Paris Massacre's Cause
By Tom Blumer | January 9, 2015 | 4:22 PM EST

CNN's Jim Clancy has been with the network for 32 years. His network's bio says that he "brings the experience of more than three decades covering the world to every newscast on CNN International." He also apparently has a lot of pent-up feelings about the Middle East.

Those feelings boiled to the top over Twitter early Thursday. Clancy started it all by claiming that the cartoons published by journalists who were killed in the Charlie Hebdo massacre on Wednesday "NEVER mocked the Prophet. They mocked how the COWARDS tried to distort his word. Pay attention." It went downhill from there, both factually and professionally.

AP's Headline After Driver Plows Into Crowd: 'Israeli Police Shoot Man'
By Tom Blumer | October 23, 2014 | 4:03 PM EDT

Here's the first sentence from an Associated Press dispatch relating to a breaking news story out of Israel: "OCCUPIED JERUSALEM: Israeli police say they have shot a man whose car slammed into a crowded train stop in east Jerusalem, in what they suspect was an intentional attack." ("OCCUPIED JERUSALEM"" Really? — Ed.) The story goes on to note that nine people were wounded.

NBC Promotes ‘Close’ Kentucky Senate Race; Todd Pushes 3 Races That Are ‘Big Hurdles’ for GOP
By Curtis Houck | October 14, 2014 | 10:55 PM EDT

Following a segment that aired on Sunday night’s NBC Nightly News on President Obama’s unpopularity ahead of the midterm elections, the evening news program with two more midterm election segments on Tuesday. Both segments, however, were not without liberal bias, as one segment promoted the “close” Kentucky Senate race and the other discussed three Senate races to watch that present “big hurdles” for a Republican Senate majority.

What Some Consider Terrorist Propaganda: WashPost Tackles The 'Sunny Side' of Hamas Radio
By Tim Graham | September 30, 2014 | 7:51 AM EDT

The Washington Post publicized Hamas-controlled al-Aqsa Radio on Tuesday. The headline in the paper is “On Hamas radio, the news is all good.” Online, it’s “Hamas radio station in Gaza reports on the sunny side of Islamist movement’s rule.”

Post reporter Terrence McCoy starts with praise from Gaza political analyst Talal Okal. “Hamas is very good at media...People listen to them every day, and every day they speak frankly and fondly about Hamas.” Well, except, they only choose a narrative that makes Hamas looks good.

Jihad-TV: Al Jazeera America Favored Hamas-Controlled Gaza Over Israelis 5-1
By Matt Philbin | and By Katie Yoder | September 11, 2014 | 8:14 AM EDT

Qatar-owned network avoided Hamas ‘terror,’ Israeli casualties.

Prof Loses Job Offer Over Israel Hate Tweets. Media Howls About ‘Academic Freedom’
By Kristine Marsh | August 26, 2014 | 3:05 PM EDT

Editor's note: This article contains offensive language.

You would think in uber-liberal academia, a leftist professor could get away saying anything. But apparently you can go too far. Earlier this month, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign rescinded its offer to Steven Salaita, a Palestinian-American former Virginia Tech professor, for a tenured position in the American Indian Studies department. Why?

Because of dozens of tweets Salaita made from his Twitter account preaching hatred of Israel and bashing America’s ties to the Jewish homeland. At the news of his hiring earlier in the Summer, the university started to get backlash from students, parents and donors who did not appreciate Salaita’s aggressively unfriendly attitude towards Israel. So the Univ. of Illinois’ Chancellor Phyllis Wise wrote to Salaita, stating he was no longer welcome as a professor at the university.

ABC, NBC Fail to Cite Hamas Official Admitting to Group’s Kidnapping and Murder of Israeli Teens in June
By Curtis Houck | August 21, 2014 | 3:25 PM EDT

The morning news shows for the major broadcast networks came and went on Thursday and two of the three networks in ABC and NBC refused to mention a key revelation in the ongoing fighting between Israel and the Islamic terrorist group Hamas. After previously denying involvement, a senior Hamas official admitted to the group's involvement in the kidnapping and murder of three Israeli teenagers in early June that later led to the intense fighting throughout the summer.

The other major broadcast network, CBS, did mention this new development at the end of a 21-second news brief on its morning show, CBS This Morning. Co-host Norah O’Donnell reported that: “Also this morning, for the first time, Hamas officials confirm that the group kidnapped three Israeli teenagers who were killed back in June.” [MP3 audio here; Video below]

Al Jazeera America at One Year – Yes, it’s Still on the Air
By Matt Philbin | August 20, 2014 | 2:07 PM EDT

The news that Al Gore is suing Al Jazeera America for millions of dollars owed him from the purchase of his Current TV network rocked the media world last week. After all, who knew Al Jazeera America still existed?

But AJA is still there (probably), snug in the old Current TV channel slot on your cable guide. It’s just that you’re not watching. Neither is anyone else.

NYT Blames Hamas, Israel Equally For End of Cease-Fire; Story Ignores Hamas Plot to Overthrow Abbas
By Tom Blumer | August 19, 2014 | 11:59 PM EDT

Over at Hot Air on Tuesday night, Mary Katharine Ham pointed to a headline at the New York Times, present at its web home page as well as at the story itself, which equally blames Hamas and Israel for the end of their cease-fire: "Rockets From Gaza and Israeli Response Break Cease-Fire." Someone needs to tell Isabel Kershner and Jodi Rudoren that it's the "rockets from Gaza" which broke the cease-fire.

There's a bigger problem with the story, and with establishment press coverage of the conflict in general during the past 36 hours, namely that virtually everyone is ignoring a Monday blockbuster report at the Jerusalem Post presenting compelling evidence that Hamas intended to overthrow the Palestinian government and its President, Mahmoud Abbas, in conjunction with its attacks on Israel (Shin Bet is Israel's internal security service; bolds are mine):

Peculiar: New York Times Reporters Stick Up for Hamas on Social Media, Television
By Clay Waters | August 12, 2014 | 7:55 AM EDT

As a 72-hour ceasefire takes hold in Israel, New York Times Gaza-based reporters remain locked in a peculiar moral equivalency between Israel and the terrorist group Hamas bent on the nation's destruction, with reporters taking pains on social media and television to stick up for Hamas, dismissing the idea of Hamas harassment of journalists as "nonsense," and even criticizing Hillary Clinton for taking on the group..

Reporter Anne Barnard appeared on Sunday's edition of CNN's Reliable Sources, hosted by former Times colleague Brian Stelter. When Stelter asked Barnard about the "biggest misconceptions" in the coverage offered by naysayers "thousands of miles" away from Gaza, she herself raised the subject of unfair accusations against Hamas.

ABC, CBS Won’t Explicitly Cite Hamas For Ending Cease-Fire; Labeled Merely 'Militants' Instead
By Curtis Houck | August 8, 2014 | 3:25 PM EDT

During Friday morning’s coverage of the 72-hour cease-fire ending in Gaza, ABC and CBS refused to explicitly acknowledge Hamas as the party responsible for ending the cease-fire with Israel. Instead, those two networks referred to those responsible only as “militants” or “Palestinian militants” firing rockets at Israel.

NBC’s Today did cite Hamas as the side responsible for terminating the truce, but it came during a news brief in the 8:00 a.m. hour after a one-minute-and-17 second report aired during the 7:00 a.m. hour. News reader Natalie Morales stated during the news brief that: “The three-day truce between Israel and Hamas militants in Gaza expired overnight. Israel says it responded to Hamas rocket fire with air strikes of its own. The new fighting has cast a shadow over negotiations being held in Egypt aimed at reaching a longer truce.” [MP3 audio here; Video below]

Indian TV Shows 'How Hamas Assembles and Fires Rockets'; U.S. Press Mostly Ignores
By Tom Blumer | August 8, 2014 | 1:04 PM EDT

In an English language report at NDTV.com on Tuesday, Sreenivasan Jain, reporting from Gaza, witnessed a Hamas "rocket silo being created under a tent right next to the hotel where our team was staying."

His news team then "saw the rocket being fired, just before the 72-hour ceasefire came into effect." It would seem that Western news organizations who have seen their onsite reporters intimidated and threatened by Hamas in Gaza would jump at the opportunity to report some of the reality they've refrained from showing. But there's very little evidence that these organizations have used NDTV's work. Video and a portion of the report's accompanying text follow the jump.