Gaza

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 Earlier this month, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign rescinded its offer to Steven Salaita, a Palestinian-American former Virginia Tech professor, for a tenured position in the American Indian Studies department.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]

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]

Nets Declare Israeli Response to Captured Solider ‘Furious,’ ‘Pounding’; Tout Palestinians Praising the Kidnapping
By Curtis Houck | August 1, 2014 | 11:20 PM EDT

On Friday night, the major broadcast networks all covered the latest developments in the conflict between the Israelis and Hamas as a three-day cease-fire collapsed after an Israeli solider was captured during an ambush while the two sides fought in an underground tunnel. In their coverage, the networks used some harsh language in describing the Israeli offensive to seek out those responsible and two networks touted Palestinians praising the capture. 

Anchor Diane Sawyer said on ABC World News described Israel’s actions after “one of their soldiers was apparently captured by Hamas” as “[a] pounding response.” In a report from ABC News chief foreign correspondent Terry Moran, he noted how, at the start of the cease fire, there “was quiet in Gaza” as “[y]ou could hear the birds chirp” before noting that, not long after, “it was on again.” [MP3 audio here; Video below]

Hamas Leader Compares Palestinians to Nelson Mandela and South Africans During PBS Interview
By Curtis Houck | July 29, 2014 | 3:50 PM EDT

On Monday night’s edition of his PBS show, Charlie Rose aired an interview with Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal that he conducted in Doha, Qatar over the weekend and Meshaal took the insane and ridiculous step of comparing himself and the Palestinian people to what Nelson Mandela and South Africa went through under apartheid. This statement is just the latest since excerpts began airing on CBS’s Face the Nation, CBS This Morning, and CBS Evening News on Sunday and Monday.

When asked by Rose for a prediction on how does he believe that the fighting in Gaza will end, Meshaal railed against Israel as carrying out the “occupation” by declaring that: “Every single occupation ought to fail and every single occupation ought to stop and every single settlement ought to perish. Yes, it is difficult, we'll pay a price, Mandela played – paid plenty but he was victorious at the end of the day. Ultimately, the Palestinian people will be independent." [MP3 audio here; Video below]

CBS’s Rose Allows Hamas Leader to Compare Palestinian Terrorism to U.S. Defeating British in Revolutionary War
By Curtis Houck | July 28, 2014 | 5:45 PM EDT

CBS This Morning aired multiple excerpts on Monday morning of co-host Charlie Rose’s interview with Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal, that will air on Rose’s PBS show on Monday night. In the excerpts that were aired, Rose allowed him to compare the Palestinian people in their fighting with Israel to Americans waging war with the British in the America Revolution. Further, Meshaal denied any possibility that, in his mind, a state of Israel could co-exist with any Palestinian state.

In the first excerpt, which aired in the 7:00 a.m. hour, Rose began by citing former U.S. President Bill Clinton, who said that “Hamas was perfectly well aware of what would happen” if they shot rockets toward Israel and that “they have a strategy designed to force Israel to kill their own civilians so the rest of the world will condemn them”. Rose cited Clinton as someone who isn’t Israeli, but was “a man who worked hard to create peace between Palestinians and Israelis.” [MP3 audio here; Video below]

Moment of Moral Clarity from Bill Maher on Israel vs. Hamas
By Jack Coleman | July 21, 2014 | 12:02 PM EDT

It doesn't happen often, just enough to pique the interest of conservatives who comprise a sliver of his audience, but comedian Bill Maher occasionally lapses into lucidity.

Earlier this month, for example, Maher observed that liberals are often little more than "useless Obama hacks."  Back in April he denounced "political correctness Nazis" who hound him to "censor every joke" and "apologize for every slight." Two months earlier, Maher mocked the awkward fact that liberals got weak in the knees over Soviet dictator Joe Stalin back in the 1930s. (Video after the jump)

CNN's Cuomo Frets Over Image of 'Strong Israel Killing Civilians in Gaza'
By Connor Williams | July 14, 2014 | 12:45 PM EDT

CNN’s Chris Cuomo was shocked that the death toll from the latest violence between Israel and Hamas was disproportionately on the Palestinian side. On the July 14 edition of New Day, the host implied that the perception was bad for Israel because they are causing high levels of casualties among Palestinian civilians, while the Israelis have suffered comparatively less.

In an interview with CNN Middle East analyst Michael Oren, Cuomo posed this question: “To the United States audience, they see this: strong Israel killing civilians in Gaza. We most often see the human toll on the Palestinian side. What do you offer as perspective as to who is being attacked here and what is continuing the cycle of violence?” [MP3 audio here; video below]