HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --------------------------- Muted criticism in American
newspapers
Scepticism at reports of Jenin bloodbath Julian Borger in
Washington The outcry in the European press
over the killings of civilians in Jenin has not been echoed in US newspapers.
Since being allowed into the West Bank town, American journalists have reported
extensively on the devastation there, but the editorial pages have offered a
mixed response.
The New York Times has made no direct criticism of the Israeli operations,
noting only that "there remained heated charges and counter-charges regarding
the number of the dead and the extent of the attack's brutality".
A news analysis by one of the paper's leading commentators, RW Apple, pointed
out that broad support for President Bush's anti-terror policy "had dissolved on
the Continent", but attributed this to European unease with its own position in
the world. "In truth, Europe is still trying to adjust to a world with a single
superpower, and it is having a hard time doing so," he wrote.
The Washington Post has been far more outspoken against Israeli actions.
In a Sunday editorial, it argued: "Israel's right to target the authors of
such murderous attacks is undeniable.
"But with its killings of women and children, its torture and terrorising of
unarmed men and its mass destruction of the property and dignity of people in
the West Bank, Mr Sharon's army is also achieving the opposite of its aim. Its
brutal offensive has not and will not stop suicide bombers; it risks bringing on
even more terrible bloodshed."
However, a front page Washington Post report from Jenin was sceptical of
reports of a bloodbath: "Interviews with residents inside the camp and
international aid workers who were allowed here for the first time today
indicated that no evidence has surfaced to support allegations... of large-scale
massacres or executions by Israeli troops."
The Los Angeles Times said in an editorial yesterday that, by barring
journalists from Jenin during its offensive, Israel had scored a propaganda own
goal. "By aggressively keeping reporters out of the battle zones, in some cases
at gunpoint, it has assured rising suspicion and the declining sympathy that
invariably accompanies such distrust."
--------------------------- ANTI-NATO INFORMATION LIST ==^================================================================ This email was sent to: archive@jab.org EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.a9617B Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^================================================================ |
