Barghouti spin highlights faults in Mideast media

[notfullofit]

Contradictory reports in the Israeli and Palestinian media are placing question marks over the reliability of the Middle Eastern media.

Reports are abounding regarding the inclusion of two senior jailed Palestinians in a possible deal to release Israel soldier Gilad Shalit from captivity in Gaza.
The London-based Al-Quds Al-Arabi quoted Palestinian sources as saying that a prisoner exchange deal between Israel and Hamas, brokered by Egypt, would include both Barghouti and Sa’dat.
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Israel is not confirming the reports.

A separate report in the Palestinian Ma’an News Agency said Palestinians had found a projectile south of Nablus and accused Israelis in post-1967 Jewish communities of firing rockets onto their communities.

Israel denied these rockets had been fired by Israelis.

But beyond the veracity of the reports themselves, the explosion of information and often-conflicting reports in the Middle East media sometimes confuse the media consumers more than informing them.

The Palestinian media tend to be less independent and are often politically aligned, Be’er explains.

“The Israeli media are more professional, freer and more pluralistic and have no formal censorship except for specific security matters,” Be’er says.

“But there are gaps between the information that the reporters send and the end result after the editorial work. We see the editors frame the reports in a way that highlights the responsibility of the Palestinians and downplays the Israeli responsibility. The main narrative is that the other side is to blame for the situation we’re in.”

Be’er is of the opinion that there is no such thing as objective media. This is especially pertinent to the Middle East, where the Israeli-Arab conflict has too many emotional, nationalistic and religious elements for the media to maintain neutrality.
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The Arab media, and especially outlets that are national and not pan-Arab, have a propensity to quote unnamed sources, a fact that makes the reports more difficult to verify.
Nimri says this tendency is much more prevalent in country-based media, rather than pan-Arab outlets.

“It’s different being a media outlet in Syria and being in London,” he says.
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[notfullofit]

1. Al-Jazeera holds party for baby killer Kuntar, hailed a hero

For the second time this year, Israel has decided to act against Al-Jazeera, after the influential TV station held a party for released Lebanese child-killer Samir Kuntar, The Jerusalem Post has learned.

The party, held in Beirut, was organized by the Al-Jazeera bureau there to honor Kuntar on the occasion of his release from Israeli prison. He was hailed as a hero who carried out a brave military operation against the Jewish state.

The Government Press Office said it would impose sanctions on Al-Jazeera and demand an explanation from the station.

Al-Jazeera's bureau chief in Beirut, Ghassan bin Jeddo, has long been known for his close ties to Hizbullah.

Kuntar, for his part, thanked Jeddo and Al-Jazeera for supporting him and other prisoners in Israeli jails and for waging a campaign to bring about their release.

Daniel Seaman, director of the GPO, expressed outrage over the event.

On Tuesday, Seaman phoned Walid Omari, the Al-Jazeera bureau chief in Israel, and summoned him to an urgent meeting to inform him of the GPO's decision to suspend ties with the station.

Omari, who is currently abroad, is scheduled to report to the GPO on his return, a source at Al-Jazeera said, adding that the station had still not been informed of the new measures against it.

Seaman said he also planned to write to the Foreign Press Association in Israel to explain his decision.

"We will suspend all handling of Al-Jazeera requests," Seaman told the Post. "For now, we won't provide them with any of our services, which include issuing press credentials and assistance with bureaucracy and applications for visas."

Seaman said he would demand an explanation from Al-Jazeera's headquarters in Doha, Qatar, about the event.

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