Unreliable Media
How reliable do you find your chosen news outlet? Do you watch television news like many people in this country and accept that what you are presented with is what's happening in the world? Images, particularly moving images, accompanying sound and convincing, concise language are very effective in convincing us that what we are being fed is exactly what we need. A case in point: the September 11 attacks in 2001. Let's cast aside the conspiracy theories for another argument and let us view this at face value. Everyone knows where they were on September 11 2001. Everyone knows at what point they tuned in to what is probably the same broadcast of the biggest news story of this generation. How much of what you saw did you believe? A bit? Most of it? All of it? If you answered all of it based on the facts that you could see and hear with your very eyes, then you are normal.
We rely on TV news to bring a story to life for us in a way that print and radio can never aspire to. It requires a level of engagement that does not allow our eyes to wander to secondary tasks like mindlessly flicking through Facebook and watching meaningless YouTube videos. When you watch the news, you really watch the news. Herein lies the problem. Because we devote so much attention and trust to that medium of broadcasting, we rarely question it. Rarely do we sit back and question what we see or hear. Rarely do we sit back and question whether this is all that's happening in the world but we should.
The Argument
There are two factors that dictate what we will be told.
1 - Which is sexier
August 31, 1997. Everyone knows where they were the day Diana was killed in that tunnel in Paris. It was on every news channel. Images of the tunnel where the crash took place were emblazoned across every news station for weeks afterwards. Who remembers this as the day Mother Teresa died. Me either. That one of the world's most celebrated "charitable" women died went completely unnoticed because it wasn't as sexy as Diana's death. Red is green.
2- The narrative
Sure you can argue that there plenty of other media outlets and politically alligned stations to watch if we want an alternative angle but the fact remains that many Irish people trust what they are told and believe what they are presented with. We are a conservative country and our national broadcaster knows this. This brings us to the narrative of the legacy of the Gaza "War". We were told that there was a ceasefire signed by both sides last year and we have been presented with precisely no updates on events since. It is as if they want us to believe that these days, the people of Gaza and occupying Israels are now living their lives hand-in-hand, showing each other brotherly love and sharing the land that they fought over so much.
The Evidence - there is no ceasefire
So where does this leave us with Israel and Gaza in 2015. People I speak to think the conflict is over and I don't blame them. This is what they are told. Generations of people have believed the half truths and lies they have been told in this country and it will continue for generations more. This is why the Irish are so religious. We look to the sky for answers and stick our heads in the sand when we get them.
When is a ceasefire not a ceasefire? That depends on the participants.
January 14
Two Palestinean boys are shot, one fatally, in an attack by an Israeli soldier after the boys were involved in a "criminal incident". The incident was that they tried to steal a car.
Subsequent investigation - none.
Subsequent prosecutions - none.
January 16
In Gush Etzion, a 17-year-old boy is shot dead in cold blood as he walked with friends. He was not guilty of nor suspected of any crime. His body was not released to his family for 24 hours.
Subsequent investigation - none.
Subsequent prosecutions - none.
January 17
A 12-year-old Palestinian boy is shot in the head with a rubber bullet. Bullets were fired randomly by the IOC into a group of children in a refugee camp. They also field teargas canisters into the group. Their crime? They had just taken part in folklore dances known as Dabka.
Subsequent investigation - none.
Subsequent prosecutions - none.
The legacy of war
Here are some agreed figures of the war:
- 1,000 Palestinians murdered by Israeli army, mostly civilians.
- 0.055% of their population wiped out.
- The youngest dead - a 4-year-old girl.
- The oldest dead - a 92-year-old man.
- The Associated Press confirm that 844 deaths occurred from airstrikes on homes.
- 274 different strikes
- 60% or 508 were women children or old people
- 19 babies were killed
- 105 were pre-schoolers, aged between 1 and 5
- In 83 strikes, 3 or more family members were killed
- 96 of the dead were suspected fighters, that's 11%
The investigation
People want to move on, to step forward and to present the world as a whole place. The problem with this comflict is that it gathered worldwide attention. People took to the streets to voice their protests at the bombing of hospitals and schools. The world was involved and international pressure grew. The sooner the war stopped, the sooner the international pressure stopped but it hasn't stopped. Guerilla tactics are still being used against peaceful people, against women and children and against refugees.
In a bid to alleviate some of this pressure, the UN eventually took a step towards perceived closure by hiring Canadian academic William Schabas as the head of an inquiry into last summer's war. Schabas' initial findings were shocking.
Schabas' findings:
- The number of Palestinian deaths were greatly underestimated. The agreed number of 1,000 was less than half of the true figure of an estimated 2,100
- Almost all of Gaza's infrastructure - water, electricity, gas - was destroyed
- A further 11,000 were wounded
- Over 100,000 made homeless
- Israel claimed that hundreds of Israelis were murdered. Schabas found that 60 Israelis were killed, 59 of whom were soldiers
The UN's reaction to the findings? Israel began a petition to remove what they referred to as an unreliable source once his findings were about to be published. The UN pulled the plug on the Schabas investigation, after receiving considerable pressure from an international ally of Israel that wished to remain "unidentified". Schabas was made to sign a confidentiality agreement to never release further contents of his investigation.
So what now?
"Our position is very clear, Israel did not commit war crimes" - Israeli Foreign Ministry Spokesman Emmanuel Nahshon.
If you believe that, keep watching, keep believing and keep looking to the sky for answers.
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