CNN is still in the Game.

by Steven Shamrak

Last week CNN published an article with the title "Nearly 30 hurt as Israel extremists march in Arab town". This is, as most people only read the headlines, an inappropriately 'primed' headline. The headline did not mention that most of the people who were hurt were Jews who were marching not in an "Arab town" but in Umm al-Fahm, an Israeli town.

The inappropriate headline was followed by an article in which author did not ask tough questions and avoided making factual comments that would inform readers about the reality of the incident. Therefore, CNN failed its readers as it is supposed to be a professional news organization!

A recent article stated: "Deputy Israeli police commissioner Shahar Ayalon and 15 other policemen were wounded by stone throwing demonstrators". But it did not emphasise that the stone-throwers were Arabs, citizens of Israel!

Briefly, and without comments, the article mentioned that Jewish citizens of Israel "were exercising their right to march under Israeli law as Arabs and Muslims have done in Israeli towns like Tel Aviv". So why would it be "setting people (Arabs) off"? Why was the word "people used, not Arabs? Isn't it done deliberately to hide the fact that an act of terror was perpetrated by Israeli-Arabs? And it seems that not only Jewish "extremists" have the right to worry about why Jews are not able to walk or drive through Israeli towns populated by Arabs without being abused and fearing for their lives; stones are regularly thrown by Arabs, one hardly can call them Israelis, at cars driven by Jews!

In the past, there have been many reports and petitions about CNN's anti-Israel bias and even some apologies were issued by the organization. However, it seems that CNN, just like many other 'Israel-friendly' news organizations, is still playing anti-Israel games by twisting or omitting facts and distorting the truth. This approach to reporting news deprives the viewers and readers of unbiased information, but provides the audience with heavily loaded and skewed, anti-Israel 'editorial' opinions.

CNN failed to make clear that: Umm al-Fahm is Israeli town; Jewish citizens were just exercising their right to walk through a town in their own country; Arab-Israelis violently opposed this right by throwing stones and injuring participants in the march as well as members of the police! But in order to report accurately, media 'professionals' need to have integrity and professional pride, commodities have been long forgotten by media personalities, especially where Israel is concerned!