In a surprising segment, CNN’s New Day discussed the role of the media in the Israel-Hamas conflict and whether they are providing proper context regarding the two sides. In an interview with co-host Kate Bolduan, guest Lee Habeeb, columnist for National Review, slammed the media for its biased coverage of the issue. In fact, in a recent piece for NRO, Habeeb went so far as to claim that the media have acted as "co-conspirators" to Hamas.
When Bolduan asked where Habeeb believed the media was lacking, he argued that “the point of the spear is the media and dead children and dead women...and I don’t believe the media is covering it.” Toward the end of the segment, Bolduan cited Hamas political leader Khaled Mashaal, who claimed that the U.S. has now adopted the Israeli narrative. The New Day co-host wondered how it could go both ways. Habeeb blasted the media again: [MP3 audio here; video below]
Human Shields
As the Israel-Hamas conflict rages on, it appears that the Israelis have lost Joe Scarborough as a trusted ally. On the July 31 edition of Morning Joe, the former Florida Congressman ripped Israel for their “indiscriminate” attacks upon Gaza, and feared that this would only cause the conflict to worsen in the future.
Following Ayman Mohyeldin’s pro-Hamas reporting on the issue, Scarborough reacted to the news that an Israeli rocket reportedly hit a UN school in Gaza: [MP3 audio here; video below]
Following an antagonistic interview with Benjamin Netanyahu’s spokesman Mark Regev, MSNBC’s Joy Reid brought pro-Palestinian guest on to her July 23 Reid Report program for his reaction. Reid lobbed a few softballs and let Yousef Munayyer – executive director of the Jerusalem Fund and Palestine Center – direct cheap shot after cheap shot at Israel, irrespective of the facts.
But what really takes the cake is how Munayyer used his platform to deny that Hamas uses innocent Gaza civilians as human shields. Reid, for her part, failed to push back against that ridiculous assertion. [MP3 audio here; video below]