Here’s yet another sad example of how the New York Times has dropped even the pretense of fair reporting about Israel. Jodi Rudoren acts as a stenographer for an Israeli government report that whitewashes the military of war crimes in last summer’s invasion of Gaza, in an article titled “Israeli Report Backs Tactics by Military in Gaza War.”
For now let us look at just one element of the whitewash: how Rudoren reports on the air strike that killed four little boys when they were playing soccer on a Gaza beach.
Regarding the four boys killed on the beach last July 16, for example, the report said that “testimony was collected from a large number” of soldiers and officers “involved in the planning and execution of the attack,” alongside a review of “an extensive number of documents” and “video footage.” The military also “made efforts to collect the testimonies” of Gazan witnesses, the report said, but “regretfully,” they declined to be interviewed.
The military said the airstrike targeted a compound where naval forces linked to Hamas, the Islamist group that dominates Gaza, had gathered to prepare for “military activity” and that a container of military supplies inside it had been hit by Israel the day before the deadly attack.
“Aerial surveillance identified a number of figures entering the compound at a running pace,” the report says. “It should be stressed that the figures were not identified at any point during the incident as children.” It later uses the word “tragically” to describe the outcome, and says “it would not have been possible for the operational entities involved to have identified these figures, via aerial surveillance, as children.”
Rudoren must have forgotten to call the Times‘s own photographer, Tyler Hicks, who was an eyewitness to the killings and put down his camera to write a powerful article about the attack the day it took place last July. Here are Hicks’s last two paragraphs, which contrast strongly with the Israeli whitewash.
There is no safe place in Gaza right now.
Bombs can land at any time, anywhere. A small metal shack with no electricity or running water on a jetty in the blazing seaside sun does not seem like the kind of place frequented by Hamas militants, the Israel Defense Forces’ intended targets. Children, maybe four feet tall, dressed in summer clothes, running from an explosion, don’t fit the description of Hamas fighters, either.
The New York Times also surely could have talked to the families of the victims. Aren’t they human? Don’t they deserve a chance to comment on the implausible government account? It wasn’t all that hard for my colleague, Dan Cohen, to meet the Bakr family. Today he posted several tweets with photos of the Bakrs. Like the one at the top of this post, of which Cohen says,
I recently spent time with the Bakr family. Here they pray at the graves of their sons who were killed by Israel.
Or like this one:
Here is the sister & grandfather of Ismail Bakr who was playing soccer on the beach when the Israeli navy killed him
Cohen also tweeted:
Gaza’s Bakr family will receive no justice from Israel for slaughtering their four boys. It’s hardly surprising but nonetheless sickening.
And even more shocking, for Americans, is that our leading newspaper lends itself to this propaganda.
We welcome more information from our many readers in Gaza about the little boys’ killings, and other features of the Israeli government whitewash.
That the Times still sells to anyone but rabid Zionists, and even has a reputation as a paper, says a lot about our population.
I just checked–no reader comment section on this article. Maybe I’m just missing them, but I haven’t seen reader comments on I/P stories in a while now. I don’t know if they have cut back on reader comments in general, but it is a very convenient policy, since people interested enough to read the story online could have also seen people pointing out the biases.
When I get the chance in a few days I’ll write Sullivan–I hope others do as well. It won’t make any fundamental difference in NYT behavior, but they should know that readers are onto their crap. Though that might be why no comment sections on I/P stories lately ( assuming I’m right about their recent absence).
Thought exercise: Regarding the NY Times reporter killed in her office, for example, the report said that “testimony was collected from a large number” of soldiers and officers “involved in the planning and execution of the attack,” alongside a review of “an extensive number of documents” and “video footage.” The military also “made efforts to collect the testimonies” of Israeli witnesses, the report said, but “regretfully,” they declined to be interviewed.
Oh well. Just a reporter. Who cares?
Read Peter Beaumont’s article in The Guardian.
“Israel exonerates itself over Gaza beach killings of four children last year
Israeli investigation says missile attack that killed boys aged between nine and 11 was ‘tragic accident’ in findings contradictory to journalists’ reports from scene”
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jun/11/israel-clears-military-gaza-beach-children
He was there. As I wrote earlier, this will not be forgotten by the journalists who witnessed it. Israel didn’t bother to interview him or the other witnesses that are journalists. Remember this?
“2014 Israel–Gaza conflict[edit]
On July 16, 2014, Mohyeldin witnessed and reported via a series of tweets, the death of 4 Palestinian children who were playing soccer and hide-and-seek on a Gaza beach during the 2014 conflict.[11] The first missile killed one child and the second killed the other 3. The killings were witnessed by many in the international press. Just moments earlier Mohyeldin was kicking a soccer ball with these boys in front of his hotel.[12][13]
Although Mohyeldin was a live witness to the event,[14] NBC correspondent Richard Engel reported the story from Tel Aviv. NBC followed by pulling Mohyeldin from Gaza and terminating his reporting duties from Gaza indefinitely. Engel was sent to replace him in Gaza.[15] NBC has been subsequently criticized by independent media outlets for removing Mohyeldin. NBC has not explained its actions[16] and reasons for pulling Mohyeldin.
Mohyeldin was returned to Gaza on July 18, 2014, after NBC received heavy criticism[17] for pulling him out of Gaza. NBC has offered no justification for either pulling him from Gaza, nor sending him back. On Sunday, Aug 3, 2014 Ayman announced via social media that after 4 weeks on the road he was “taking time to be with family..” Less than 48 hours later, Israel and Hamas agreed to a cease fire.”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ayman_Mohyeldin
Thanks, James North. Thanks also, and always, to Dan Cohen for his great journalism and heart.
As for Rudoren and the NYT~ thanks for nothing, and pfffffffffft.
Donald~ I am writing to Sullivan. You are correct.
This is the reason israelis call idf most moral army of the world. israelis are setting standards which American army will follow. Democracy like west?
Disgusting !!