Reporting from the Middle East; A Shame for Reporters Nauman Faridi Reporters are supposed to report fairly, accurately and completely. Incomplete reports are as wrong as false reports.
In reference to the latest suicide bombings by the Palestinians and then the military attacks by the Israelis, almost all US newspapers quickly blamed Palestinian Authority (PA) leader Yasir Arafat for not doing enough to stop it. In addition, they failed to mention other facts that surrounded the incidents. They were not fair, accurate and complete. They were not being reporters. Before we look at the situation in detail, let me stress on the fact that Islam has no support for suicide bombings. Not whatsoever. Anyone who engages in such activities can only be politically motivated and must not have a strong faith in Allah and His revenge against the oppressors. It should also be noted that it’s not the clash of the religions. It’s Israelis oppressing innocent Palestinians. Also, please remember that it’s Israelis who are the occupying force and not the other way. Now, lets explore some facts. After the suicide bombings, some newspapers reported: "Arafat didn't send the suicide bombers, but he didn't stop them either," -- CBS Evening News “Mr. Arafat's lieutenants said they would crack down on two powerful extremist groups, Hamas and Islamic Jihad, and began making arrests. Mr. Arafat had said before that he would take this step, without doing so.” -- NY Times In reference to the Israeli military attacks on Yasir Arafat’s compound and seven other sites, one report would suffice: “PAYBACK.” -- New York Daily News front-page headline (12/04/01) Do you know why fully functional human beings gave up their lives in these suicide attacks? Before these attacks, Israeli forces attacked and killed Mahmoud Abu Hanoud, a Hamas leader. Yet another Internationally unacceptable ‘targeted killing’. He must have trained and armed military groups, as claimed by the Israelis, but Israelis didn’t have the right to kill him without a proper trial. That’s how the democratic governments work and Israel ‘claims’ to be the only democratic government in the Middle East. If you are one of those who believe that Israelis didn’t have any choice and Arafat should have done something to capture this guy before then you don’t know anything. So the news was reported by NY times: “Firing missiles from helicopters at a van on a West Bank road, Israeli forces tonight killed a top leader of the Palestinian extremist group Hamas who had eluded them for years, Hamas officials said. The man, Mahmoud Abu Hanoud. (NY Times, 11/23/01) Then came the suicide bombings and the same paper reported: "The Islamist group Hamas claimed responsibility today for the attacks here and in Jerusalem, saying it was seeking to avenge the killing by Israelis on Nov. 23 of its senior West Bank leader, Mahmoud Abu Hanoud" (NY Times, 12/03/01). So there was a reason. Retaliation. Israelis killed their leader and so they replied in killing themselves, unacceptable by Islam, along with some Israelis. In recent times, PA has arrested number of militants. Don’t you wonder why Abu Hanoud was not arrested? I do. According to the Associated Press, on August 26 of last year, Hanoud was wounded by Israeli forces in a shootout near the West Bank town of Nablus. He then surrendered to the PA, and four days later he was sentenced to 12 years in prison by a Palestinian military tribunal for training and arming military groups (Associated Press, 9/2/00). He surrendered. He was sentenced for 12 years. By the same PA, claimed by NY Times to have an “uneasy relations with Hamas”. Relations are uneasy no doubt. Just not the in the same way as NY Times reported. The paper failed to report that Hamas is an unaffiliated rival of the PA (FAIR, 12/06/01). So when Abu Hanoud was jailed by PA what was he doing out at the time when Israeli forces attacked and killed him. Did PA release him after sentencing in prison for 12 years? I bet that’s the case. On May 18 2001, Israel launched an F-16 attack on the Nablus jail where Hanoud was being held, in an attempt to kill him. The action proved disastrous: Eleven Palestinian police officers are believed to have died, and Hanoud escaped (New York Times, 5/20/01). Castro Salameh, the Palestinian commander of the Nablus post, told the Times, "Abu Hanoud has been my charge for nine months, and I have kept him under lock and key... But now Israel has liberated him. I have absolutely no idea where he has gone to." (FAIR 12/06/01) I lost my bet. Note: This article was motivated by FAIR’s Media Advisory: NYT Should Tell Full Story in Terror Blast (12/6/01) http://www.fair.org/press-releases/nyt-hanoud.html ---------------------------------------- FARIDI NETWORK - "Sharing the Knowledge" http://faridi.net
