Telling the Truth about the Palestinians

[drdon326]

When Arafat returned to the West Bank and Gaza from his exile, his security forces ignored pursuing terrorists and instead arrested independent journalists not loyal enough to the PLO. Over 38 journalists were forced out of their jobs or the country. This was not given much attention by the foreign media because at the time Arafat was allowed to do whatever he wanted in the name of Oslo. Although they did not cover the story heavily, I was not alone in pointing out to foreign journalists that the first thing Arafat did when PLO returned to the territories was to restrict freedom of speech.

Arafat has complete control over the Palestinian media to this day. Almost all Palestinian newspapers are financed by the PLO, and serve as a mouthpiece for the organization, which is basically Arafat's office. Some days the headlines for the three major Palestinians papers are identical. The lack of freedom at these papers is a big disappointment for Palestinian journalists; they were freer to write what they wanted under Israeli occupation before the PLO returned from exile.

snip

Another problem with the Palestinian media is the sad fact that some Palestinian journalists see themselves as foot soldiers serving the revolution. These so-called journalists are often politically affiliated with one group or another. Under the PA, you basically cannot be a journalist if you are not a member of Fatah or the security forces. All the credible independent journalists have been fired by the three major Palestinian newspapers, and there are many professional Palestinian journalists, but they have been forced to seek work with the Arab and foreign media.

snip

People in the rest of the world therefore do not get an accurate picture of what happens in the region, and there are two parties to blame for this journalistic failure. Partly to blame are foreign journalists who allow themselves to be misled by some of their Palestinian consultants. The bulk of the blame, however, rests with the PA, whose tyrannical approach and control of the media creates an atmosphere of intimidation and fear among Palestinian journalists.

http://www.meforum.org/article/604
...........................................................

Interesting article

[Name removed]

1. Deleted message

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[drdon326]

2. Perhaps you want to know about the author??

Khaled Abu Toameh, an Israeli Arab, is the West Bank and Gaza correspondent for the Jerusalem Post and U.S. News and World Report. He previously served as a senior writer for the Jerusalem Report, and a correspondent for Al-Fajr. He has produced several documentaries on the Palestinians for the BBC and many other networks, including ones that exposed the connection between Arafat and payments to the armed wing of Fatah and the financial corruption within the Palestinian Authority. Mr. Abu Toameh received his BA in English Literature from the Hebrew University and currently lives in Jerusalem with his wife and three children. He addressed the Middle East Forum in Philadelphia on April 27, 2004.

:shrug:

[Aidoneus]

5. You know about the "Middle East Forum", right?

I assume you do, since it fits a pattern that most of us have noticed for months (or years)..

[Name removed]

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[drdon326]

15. Actually......

I've posted on every forum in DU......including even the
meeting room.

Now what is your opinion of the author and his contention
that Arafat has gone against freedom of the press and
has used the press as a propaganda tool??

[Aidoneus]

29. My veiled question remains

Are you familiar with that which you are letting speak for you?

[Devils Advocate NZ]

3. Bollocks...

The snippet goes to great length telling us how controlled the Palestinian press is, then tries to draw the conclusion that the rest of the world do not get an accurate picture of what happens in the region.

Of course, this is BOLLOCKS. When was the last time most of us read a Palestinian newspaper? In fact when was the last time you read an article in AP or REUTERS that was sourced to Palestinian newspapers?

So how is it that these Palestinian newspapers control the rest of the worlds media too? The answer of course is that they don't. It just plain bullshit.

[drdon326]

4. Thank you....

While I disagree with you, I enjoyed reading it.

[Gimel]

12. Is there anyone here

who accepts western journalism on the I/P conflict? (outside of the BBC)

Choice news outlets are Electric Intifada and Al Jazeera. Al Jeezra articles are regularly noted in mainstream press.

[Malikshah]

16. Western Journalism needs definition

As for the Electronic Intifada-- it used to be a clearing house for media reports along with editorials statistics and the like. It is not akin to al-Jazeera.

For the record, I have yet to find any evidence of Electronic Intifada being shown to be factually in error.

It is often maligned without any proof. Would anyone care to take up the challenge with evidence?

[Gimel]

17. Major news outlets

Such as NBC, CNN, and even most serious analysis in major news reports do not see to be the standard. Electronic Intifada does seem to slant the news in ways to condemn Israel and Jews in Europe. Factual, if you persist and follow the later reports, while early reports are usually wildly exaggerated. This is sometimes toned down as other news agencies report also, but the slant is still against Israel. It is not a clearing house for factual information, imo.

[Malikshah]

21. Electronic Intifada

When it was conceived it utilized Moreover technologies to list reports in a similar vein to Buzzflash.

They still use such a format.

The slant come from editorials, which are inherently opinion.

The sources it links to in many cases are statistics and various reports.

To date no hard evidence has been provided to justify the claims against it. Just editorializing (see above)

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[bemildred]

18. Very informative thread, thanks.

I feel like the scales have finally fallen from my eyes.
A lot of very illuminating comments, too.

[JohnLocke]

26. I missed this entire affair...

[bemildred]

27. Me too. Makes me long for the old days at DU. Heh.

(Not really.)

[JohnLocke]

28. I mean the mass of deleted messages (nt).

[bemildred]

30. Me too. We used to see a lot more of that. nt

[newyorican]

31. It was about *censored*

and the time difference between posting this tripe here and <censored>. Also included some speculation about if <censored> ever posted over at <censored>.

Hope that clears things up. ;)

[bemildred]

32. Clear enough, Thanks. nt

[JohnLocke]

33. It does, rest assured.

[Djinn]

34. My deleted post

was mentioning that the ME Forum isn't reknown for "telling the truth about Palestinians" and given it's run by bigots like Pipes, I wouldn't bother reading their tripe.

Not sure why that was a problem - people here have also asked about the increasing prevalance of articles being posted here that reflect what was posted shortly before on LGF - if calling THAT piece of swill a bigot breeding ground is deletable - well that says something pretty freaky

[geek tragedy]

19. If the Israelis hadn't built Arafat up into the symbol of resistance,

the Palestinians would have thrown him and the rest of his "Tunisian mafia" overboard long ago. They realize what a creep he is, but the enemy of my enemy is my friend, as the saying goes.

[bemildred]

20. Arafat would be long dead if he was effective.

There are plenty who are dead, if he isn't it's no accident.
It's not like he's hard to find.

[geek tragedy]

22. Effective at what?

Going weeks without a shower? The man has failed his people on just about every level possible.

[bemildred]

23. There you go, you answered yourself. nt

[number6]

24. is this the truth about Arafat or Palestinians or ... ?

Palestinian journalists..?? :shrug:

[drdon326]

25. Excellent Question......

Its fairly obvious to me the article refers to ARAFAT's control
over PALESTINIAN JOURNALISTS which by any standard affects
the general population of the PALESTINIANS.

[Djinn]

35. so the fact that the VAST

majority of journalism in the western world reflects a corporate agenda means that's the agenda/bias of the general population of people living in the western world. riiiggghhhttt.