Images of Palestinians in US media

Nathan Newman nathan at newman.org
Wed Sep 5 09:53:40 PDT 2001


----- Original Message ----- From: "Doug Henwood" <dhenwood at panix.com>

Nathan Newman wrote:
>Which is a key point- Israel kills quietly for specific political and
>military results, while the Palestinians bombers concentrate on generating
>horrific images.

-Different strategies are available when you have a powerful state, -subsidized and armed by the U.S., and when you don't.

Absolutely- I've defended Palestinian terrorism in the past as a useful strategy at points. I wasn't making a moral condemnation, just a strategic one. I think the Palestinians are gaining little through the present series of bombings and are losing quite a bit, so it's bad strategy. But then, I said the same about the Israeli repressions which have become increasingly counterproductive.

But the point was on the media. There are ideological analyses of the media but often the best is that the media is lazy- they follow the easiest images. If the military (US or Israel) excludes the media from an area (Grenada or Sabra), the event barely occurred. And if they are invited in (as with most terrorist acts), they get lots of coverage.

-- Nathan Newman



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