Clueless in Gaza
The Observer’s report today on recent events in Gaza was an object lesson in how group-think creates reporting which is as demonstrably absurd as it is egregiously offensive. Reporter Peter Beaumont, describing the breaching of the wall separating Egypt from Gaza, nevertheless represented this as a means of escaping a blockade imposed solely by Israel. Despite recording the undoubted fact that the breach of the Egyptian barrier had created
a seismic and unstoppable reordering of the facts of the Middle Eastalong with a brief reference to
the attempt by Egyptian riot police who moved later in the week to try to reseal the borderthe flow of Gazans into Egypt through the breached barrier was represented as an escape from the stranglehold imposed by Israel — with no acknowledgement at all that the breached barrier represented Egypt’s own ‘stranglehold’. This fact was totally ignored. Instead the ‘wall in the mind’ that had come down belonged to Israel, not to Egypt; the breach had resulted in
a holiday from the oppressive conditions of Gaza under Israeli siegenot ‘Egyptian’ siege; despite the Egyptian barrier it was Israel alone that had ‘declared Hamas a hostile entity’, thus
further strangling a sealed off Gaza Strip and leading to severe shortages of cement, cigarettes and other basic goodsand tightening the noose on the innocent Gazans causing them to suffer every ill from economic ruin to domestic violence, divorce and child abuse.
I think this is called cognitive dissonance.
At least, however, Beaumont recognised not only Egypt’s undoubted consternation at having Hamas pouring across its border but the naivety of those Israeli politicians, for whom the wish is father to the thought, who have proposed that Egypt should now be forced to assume responsibility for Gaza altogether. Not so Ahdaf Soueif who, in a sidebar to Beaumont’s piece, claimed that Israel was deliberately pushing Egypt to open its Rafah border with Gaza so that it could itself finally separate from Gaza and thus destroy the peace process.
Uh, wait a minute… isn’t the complaint against Israel that it is supposed not to have separated from Gaza? Hmmn, bit of a problem, that complaint, when Israel continues to supply Gaza with electricity, food fuel and other necessities of life (thus enabling Gazans to continue to try to kill Israelis through war by rockets and terror). As for the idea that Israel actually wants the border between Egypt and Hamastan to be open, this is grotesque.Such an opening means a free flow of explosives, rockets and other weapons into Gaza to be used against Israel -- not to mention a free flow of terrorists who can then enter Israel through Egypt’s porous border in Sinai.
Meanwhile I searched the British media in vain for any reference to the terror attacks carried out against Israelis in the last few days. As Haaretz reports:
A knife-wielding Palestinian stabbed a Border Police officer on duty near the Atarot industrial area in northern Jerusalem, Israel Radio reported on Saturday. Policemen nearby opened fire at the Palestinian, who was seriously wounded.The stabbed policeman, who suffered light to moderate wounds, and the Palestinian are currently receiving treatment at Hadassah University Hospital, Ein Karem… The attack is the third to take place in the Jerusalem area within the last 48 hours. On Thursday night, two armed Palestinians infiltrated a yeshiva in the nearby settlement of Kfar Etzion, wounding three civilians.
In a separate incident that occurred around the same time Thursday, Palestinian gunmen opened fire on the Border Police officers stationed at the Ras Hamis checkpoint near the Shuafat refugee camp in East Jerusalem, killing a Border Police officer and wounding another. The two armed Palestinians who infiltrated the Kfar Etzion yeshiva were recently released from an Israeli prison after serving time for criminal violations, Palestinian and Israeli security officials said Friday.
The yeshiva attackers were Hamas; the others were terrorists affiliated to Fatah. You know, Fatah — yes, those same good-hearted guys who America tells us are committed to making peace with Israel.
Needless to say, as far as I can see none of these incidents has been reported in the British media.
I think this is called wilful blindness.
Previous
Blogs: Martin Bright | Susan Hill | Alex Massie | Coffee House | Faith Based
Actions: Print this article | Email to a friend | Permalink | Comments (15)
Post this entry to: del.icio.us | Digg | Newsvine | NowPublic | Reddit
Advertisement
Popular Blog Posts
Search this blog
Melanie Phillips is a Daily Mail columnist. She also writes for the Jewish Chronicle and is a panellist on BBC Radio Four's Moral Maze. Her most recent book is 'Londonistan', published by Encounter and Gibson Square.
For a complete set of Melanie's articles click here
Melanie Phillips blog archive
sponsored links
GASCONY
GASCONY, SW France, near Condom-en-Armagnac 13th Century stone house, 21st Century luxury for 12 in 5 en-suites. 50 acres +
BIG SAND STEEL BAND
IF YOU ARE PLANNING A CHAMPAGNE RECEPTION and looking for some light entertainment, you can now hire London's busiest steel
BOSC LEBAT, Tarn et Garonne.
BOSC LEBAT, SW France. Only 45 minutes from Toulouse Airport with daily flights from most provincial airports avoiding the horrors
Spectator Business | Apollo Magazine
Corporate | Advertising | Privacy | Terms
Spectator, 22 Old Queen Street, London, SW1H 9HP
All Articles and Content Copyright ©2009 by The Spectator | All Rights Reserved
Alex Bensky
January 28th, 2008 1:02amA wall between Egypt and Gaza? But...I thought separation barriers were impediments to peace, brotherhood, and good stuff like that. Excuse me while I go and look up all the UN resolutions condemning Egypt for this.
G. Ian Goodson
January 28th, 2008 1:34amMelanie, the world is turnig against Israel. It is irrational and I wish it were not so. However, the prophets warned us it would be so. Seek God, He is still the Lord and as Jews and Christians , we have no other hope.
BJ
January 28th, 2008 11:25amand the New York Times ludicrously described the breakout from Gaza as a "shopping spree". At least at times like this we can rely on the BBC and parts of the British media to make an attempt at balance.
Carrie Lewis
January 28th, 2008 11:58amMelanie, there is a very good reason why certain segments of the media have been discussing the situation as one of Israel's blockade rather than of Egypt's blockade. For a very long time they have been claiming that Israel has been strangling Gaza and representing that it has encircled this particular Palestinian territory. These people have no knowledge of the geography of the area (and/or are too lazy to check for themselves) and have allowed themselves to be convinced that Gaza has no border with Egypt or a sea shore with the Mediterranean. In other words, they are a bunch of useful idiots.
Yorkshire Miner
January 28th, 2008 12:14pmNot a mention of why the Egyptians built a wall in the first place. I goes back I gather to the peace accord. Well that is the excuse, the Egyptian ruling elite are not so stupid as our P.C, elite they know there history. They remember Jordan when King Hussein had to destroy them because they were trying to stage a coup. These thugs were forced into Lebanon where they started all over again and finally caused the civil war the results of which we are seeing now. Do you think that the Egyptians want this lot lose running around in Ciro. Better be safe than sorry. it wont be long before they are penned back up in Gaza.
Maven
January 28th, 2008 1:37pm"and the New York Times ludicrously described the breakout from Gaza as a "shopping spree" Yes, "shopping expedition", "Sale time", "Bonanza for Egyptian trader" would all have been better IMHO. I was struck by the obviously un-healthy, un-athletic, immobile, starving Gazans who miraculously had the energy to carry heavy goods all the way home. My feelings have been roused by the Hamas Parliament sitting under the intimacy of candle-light when they should have just opened the curtains and let the daylight in. Starnge how they all stayed in their positions so they could use the microphones and computer equipment to conduct their affairs. Have you been taken-in by the Hamas propaganda? Guess so!
J. Isaacs
January 28th, 2008 5:05pmYet again Melanie Phillips is the first to break the news to the UK public of deaths and casualties in Israel caused by Palestinians. Not only has this news been ignored by the BBC, but its only UK 24-hour news competitor on freeview, Sky News, was removed from freeview this weekend. Clearly the Murdoch family has belatedly realised that Sky News is much better than BBC News 24 and now worth charging money for. Once more, thank goodness for Melanie Phillips and the internet.
Lynne T
January 28th, 2008 5:45pmAnother barrier wall in the Middle East seldom mentioned - the one erected by Saudi Arabia to keep terrorists from Bin Laden's actual country of birth -- Yemen, from infiltrating. But no holes will ever be blown through that one unless Iran decides to start supporting a jihad against Saudi Arabia, which the mullahs would probably recognize as being absolute suicide. You'd never know by most of the reportage about the "imprisonment" of Gaza, that those ingenious Hamasniks continued to smuggle sufficient supplies of the sort required to keep their opposition quiet and blow holes through the barrier between Gaza and Egypt.
YA
January 28th, 2008 6:01pm>>"..two armed Palestinians infiltrated a yeshiva in the nearby settlement of Kfar Etzion'.." - these attackers were shot dead, eventually. Here is how Reuters reported this incident: "..meanwhile in the West Bank, two Palestinians were shot dead by Jewish settlers".
Lee Jakeman
January 28th, 2008 8:25pmI wouldn't call it "wilful blindness". I would call it what it actually is - ignorance. People seem to forget that the noun "ignorance" is related to the verb "to ignore". An ignorant person is one who ignores inconvenient facts / truths. It is usually taken to mean being uninformed or uneducated, but this is not true at all. In most societies, it is the educated class who are the most ignorant, not the ordinary people, who have no political or other motive for covering up the truth.
Lynne T
January 28th, 2008 8:33pmOver at the Dry Bones blogsite, the normally poignantly funny Yaakov Kirschen suspects that Hamas's real game is not to help Gazans to move freely into Eqypt to purchase food and much needed consumer goods, but rather to establish a beach head in the Sinai, where neither Egypt nor Israel may move in security forces, with the expectation that they will overrun the multi-national forces and observers patrolling that area. http://drybonesblog.blogspot.com/
harvey
January 28th, 2008 11:43pmoh stop complaining...
Paul
January 29th, 2008 10:22amThe quote from the article that struck me was: "further strangling a sealed off Gaza Strip and leading to severe shortages of cement, cigarettes and other basic goods" Is this what "further strangling Gaza" means? A "severe shortage" of cigarettes? I had no idea the situation there was so desperate. You can bet that the tobacco companies are in on this one, too: I haven't figured out how, but they *must* be. The Gazans are after all an approved victim group, and the tobacco companies are in the evil oppressor category. I just have to figure out what their aim is here. Perhaps loyalty to the zionist-neocon-israelinazi cause trumps even the commitment to capitalist exploitation. Can someone help me here? In the meantime, I've started up a blog to raise awareness of this outrage. If anyone wishes to contribute an article, please go to www.fagless-in-gaza.blogspot.com With apologies to Milton, Huxley (and Melanie).
Paul
January 29th, 2008 11:31amAs usual Orwell says it all.'To see what is in front of one's nose needs a constant struggle'. This applies to the BBC news department especially to Bowen et alia who wander through the Middle East with only half a brain.
J. Isaacs
January 29th, 2008 7:20pmCome on Paul. Jeremy Bowen played some great "air guitar" dressed in a leather jacket with Andrew Marr on the BBC Xmas Special last month. They are obviously both angling to be considered part of the BBC light entertainment department. They could interview each other like the comedians Bird and Fortune on the other channel and then ask for a Jonathan Ross-style pay rise once the BBC is forced into publishing the Balen report.