| Newsflash: Goliath is Jewish | |
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The Bible Story
The original story of David and Goliath is written in the Book of Samuel (I Samuel, 16-18). David was a young Israelite, living with his family in Bethlehem, a few miles south of Jerusalem. Goliath was a well-trained Philistine soldier who stood 9 and 3/4 feet tall. The Israelites, led by King Saul, were in a battle against the great armies of the Philistines.
Goliath yelled to Israelites, "Choose a man from among you to come fight me. If he can kill me, then the Philistines will be your servants. If I kill him, then all of you will become servants of the Philistines."
Young David volunteered to fight Goliath. No other soldier was willing to fight the giant. Armed with only a sling and stones, David slung a stone into the giant's forehead. The giant fell down, and David grabbed the giant's sword and killed him.
This remarkable story, in which the underdog prevails against great odds, has survived thousands of years. The story is familiar. In almost every struggle or competition (military, political, business, athletic, ...), generally one side is weaker than the other. The story is appealing. Knowing that the weaker side can become the victor gives us great hope. The story is exciting. Since the expected outcome is for the stronger side to win, it is exciting when the unexpected occurs and the weaker side prevails.
The CNN Story
It is 9 a.m. in Israel on October 23, 2000 and I just watched a five minute segment on CNN covering "The Crises in the Middle East." In the coverage, Rula Amin interviews Arafat, a Hamas leader, and two Palestinian leaders. No Israelis or Jews were interviewed for this segment. In this segment, the Palestinians are portrayed as stone throwing children, and the Israelis as well-trained, uniformed soldiers with sophisticated weapons. No armed Palestinians are shown, and no pained Israeli civilians - those whose cars have been hit by stones on the highway, whose apartments have been sprayed with gunfire, or whose loved ones have been beaten, kidnapped, lynched or murdered - are shown.
CNN put a great deal of work into producing this segment. First, camera crews had to obtain footage of events - both the violence and interviews with people about the violence. Then, a narrative had to be written that transformed the footage into a comprehensible (familiar), appealing and exciting story which the network could sell to its consumers/viewers. Finally, the tape had to be edited. Different editing of the same set of pictures can produce an entirely different views of the news.
In editing this segment, CNN chose to include the following points: 1) Sharon's visit was the source of the violence 2) Barak called a "time-out" from the peace process despite the moderate Arab Summit, and 3) more than 120 Arabs have been killed by Israeli troops.
CNN chose to NOT to include these points in this segment. Arafat's lack of a counteroffer to the serious compromises made by Barak at Camp David. Arafat's call for the violence (knowing the deaths of children would win him back international sympathy) as a way to gain the moral high-ground after Camp David. Arafat failure to call for an end to the violence despite the Sharm E-Sheikh agreement. Arafat's decision to free terrorists from prison knowing this increases the chance of terrorist attacks against Israelis. Barak's many unanswered requests for Arafat to show himself as a "peace partner" before calling for the "time-out" from the peace talks. The 120+ deaths as the direct result of the Israeli army trying to defend themselves and Israeli citizens against Palestinians throwing stones, igniting home-made bombs, and firing live ammunition at Israeli targets. Orders given by the Israeli government to the Israeli army to avoid causalities and only to shoot to kill if fired upon.
It is now 9:30 a.m., and CNN shows a flash which reads, "Israeli helicopter gunships attack Palestinian area near Jerusalem." In this case, CNN decided to exclude the fact that this "attack," in which there were no causalities because Beit Jala residents were warned to leave their homes, was a response to Palestinian aggression. The night before, Palestinian gunmen in Beit Jala fired shots into five streets, hitting 16 buildings, of the Jerusalem neighborhood of Gilo. The Palestinian gunmen did not warn Gilo residents to leave their homes. Two Gilo women were treated for shock.
Why Repeat the Story?
A media war is taking place in the Middle East today. In this war, the side which uses the media best to gain international sympathy and support will win.
The weapons being used in this war are newspaper articles, radio shows, and television news. The Palestinians were winning this war due to the photos of the twelve-year-old Palestinian boy being killed, but Israelis gained back some lost ground when photos of the Ramallah lynch were broadcast. The Israeli army has distributed video cameras to Israeli soldiers. Cameras are more powerful than tanks in this war.
Just as manufacturers of traditional weapons make money during traditional wars, the media is cashing in on this media war. Newspapers are selling, and ratings of television news are rising.
Why is the media portraying the crisis in the Middle East as a David and Goliath struggle with the Palestinians as David and the Jews as Goliath? The short answer is that this familiar, appealing and exciting story sells. A more in-depth answer to this question can be found in the continuation of this article. Part 2 of this article documents cases of this media bias. Part 3 explores the reasons for this bias, and more specifically why a Jewish Goliath sells so well. Part 4 offers ways to fight this media bias.
Next page > [Examples of Biased Media Coverage]
> Page 1, 2, 3,
4
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Lisa Katz
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