Israel/Palestine

Yes, Hamas is a terrorist organization that indiscriminately fires rockets into civilian population centers in Israel. But hey, they ARE the people's choice. That essentially is what comedian John Fugelsang offered listeners as he guest hosted the November 19 edition of Full Court Press, the radio program of liberal commentator Bill Press. Only, of course, Fugelsang was being completely…

Saturday's New York Times front page featured former Jerusalem bureau chief Ethan Bronner's take on the rockets being fired into Israel from Gaza: "Israel, Battlefield Altered, Takes a Tougher Approach." Bronner, whose coverage as bureau chief was not sympathetic toward Israel's side of the conflict, subtly suggested (via the trick of the phrase "many analysts and diplomats outside Israel")…

Anderson Cooper had a bit of a scare Monday morning. Appearing on a CNN Newsroom broadcast from Gaza airing around 7PM eastern time Sunday, Cooper was rocked by a huge explosion behind him (video follows with transcript and commentary):

On Friday's Anderson Cooper 360 on CNN, as noted at HonestReporting.com, host Cooper devoted a one-minute segment to informing viewers that his show on Thursday had used footage of a Palestinian man in Gaza who was apparently faking injury for the benefit of cameras. Cooper began his retraction:

A video at CNN with reporting by Sara Sidner from Gaza tells us "how a small child became a symbol of civilian casualties." Some of her narrative: "A scene no parent should ever have to endure"; "Four year-old Mahmoud Sadallah lies dead in the arms of a neighbor, a child of Gaza, another victim of an airstrike"; "we saw no evidence here of military activity." There's even a scene where Ms.…

Media mogul Rupert Murdoch took to Twitter Saturday to criticize the press's reporting of hostilities in Israel. One tweet in particular raised eyebrows on both sides of the aisle:

The pro-Israel group HonestReporting.com has reported on BBC footage of what appears to be a Palestinian man pretending to be injured so he can be carried away in front of cameras, as the man appears in another part of the video walking around obviously uninjured.

On Thursday's World News on ABC, as correspondent Christiane Amanpour discussed the war between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip, Amanpour seemed to presume that Israel created an unreasonable number of civilian casualties during the late 2008/early 2009 war in Gaza, even though the Israeli military concluded that the overwhelming majority of Gaza residents killed were members of the Hamas…

On Friday's World News on ABC, correspondent Alex Marquardt relayed without question a claim by "one of the militant groups behind" the rocket attacks on Israel that they "wouldn't fire rockets if Israel wasn't killing us," even though almost 700 rockets had already been fired out of Gaza into the Jewish state between January 1 and November 5, well before Israel's recent sustained military…

Why don't America's media members want to acknowledge Jerusalem as being the capital of Israel? On CNN Newsroom Friday, Ashleigh Banfield actually said, "Rockets fired at Jerusalem. It is not the capital at this point, but it is the disputed center of the universe so to speak when it comes to Israel" (video follows with transcript and commentary):

Israel was attacked by more than 200 rockets on Nov. 15 by a known terror organization – known by everyone but ABC, CBS and NBC. Hamas, which runs the Gaza Strip, was declared a “foreign terrorist organization” more than 15 years ago by the United States. But not one rocket attack story on the network morning or evening news shows called the terrorists anything other than “militants.” In 61…

Thursday's New York Times led with Israel pinpointing targets in Gaza, including a direct hit on a Hamas commander, after years of rockets fired into Israel. The report from Jerusalem by Isabel Kershner and Fares Akram blamed the victim of scores of rocket attacks for an effective retaliation (a "ferocious assault"): "Israeli Assault Into Gaza Kills A Hamas Leader – Wider Conflict Feared –…

With President Obama's election win, the worldwide celebrations have commenced again. NBC's Today show documented as much as they possibly could on Wednesday morning. Reporting from London, foreign correspondent Michelle Kosinski was tasked with narrating the story of how the election has been perceived and reported overseas. Eerily similar to four long years ago, jubilant residents from…

Where was the criticism of Israel? That was the plaint from Ethan Bronner (pictured) in his Wednesday "News Analysis," "Foreign Policy Debate's Omissions Highlight Skewed Worldview." Bronner, former Jerusalem bureau chief for the New York Times, wrung his hands over all the issues missed during the third and last presidential debate Monday night, which focused (mostly) on foreign policy.…