Lethal journalism: the Gaza hospital strike by Israel that wasn’t
[NOTE: I just published a post on Richard Landes’ work on the lies of Palestinian propaganda and how they are propagated by the Western press. One of the phrases he uses – and one I believe he coined – is “lethal journalism.” And in the following story we have a good example of that.]
First we heard – from our own MSM – that the Israelis had blown up a Gaza hospital and 500 people were dead. It was such tempting news – it so perfectly fit the “Israel bad” narrative – that much of our renowned and illustrious MSM ran with it, with a little caveat “Palestinians claim.” And this, even though they are well aware of the history of blatant lies disseminated by Palestinians about that sort of thing. It’s been going on as long as the conflict has gone on. So there’s no excuse for our media except wishful thinking. They’d love to balance the score after the obviously horrific Palestinian terror attack on October 7th.
Next we learn it was probably a rocket fired by the Palestinians. That’s what the evidence shows. Then it was “maybe not 500 killed.”
And now we learn there is some evidence it didn’t even hit the hospital – just the parking lot and some cars. I haven’t had a chance to fully check that out, and I don’t see many outlets reporting it, but it may indeed be the case that there are few casualties.
Nevertheless, the incident as originally reported will be believed by the Arab world as well as all the Jew-hating leftists in the US. There have already been riots, and the American embassy in Lebanon has been swarmed and a fire set by the rioters.
Nice going, lethal journalists. You must be so proud.
OFF TOPIC FOR THIS POST
Jordan lost second vote. What do the holdouts want? Have they said? Again, Stupid Party rides again. The World might just really blow up and these Reps are not being responsible. Please don’t tell me they are voting the way their constituents want.
SHIREHOME:
They want concessions and power for their side.
We’ve gone from 500 people killed in an Israeli airstrike that leveled an entire hospital to having to file an auto-insurance claim.
They want to let the gravy train to block any accountability to the administration thats my two cents
One of the worst
https://www.newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/alex-christy/2023/10/18/msnbc-analyst-media-breathlessly-word-word-repeated-hamas
The truth is putting its pants on…….
It’s interesting to see what organizations were quick to jump on the “Israel bombs hospital, 500 dead” band wagon. Aside from our own Lefty press there was the UK Daily Mail and The Irish Independent. Not surprising since Islam is the second largest religion in the UK and the third largest in the Republic of Ireland. On the other hand not many Jews availing themselves of the open borders policies of the UK and ROI.
Our press wants so badly to paint Israel as the bad guys that they’ll fervently leap at the wildest claims made by demonstrable lying psychopaths who are bent on the destruction of modern civilization. Yet they seem bemused that public trust in the fourth estate is at an all time low.
I am concerned at last that Israel is at a critical point. My enthusiasm about Israel dates back to the Entebbe raid that rescued hostages that we could not accomplish a few years later. Since then I have been a fan even though I am not Jewish. I had hoped to visit a couple of years ago but it was not to be. Even Lyndon Johnson, as bad as his judgement was about Vietnam, was a serious supporter. Now, we see the Biden regime threatening resupply of munitions. Better they should go to Ukraine where we have no serious interest than to a long term ally. The US used to have long term interests, shared by political parties. No more.
I watched CNN run the story with the Hamas claim in large type and the Israeli counterargument in tiny type at the bottom of the screen. In the live report the correspondent did discuss the Israeli claims in greater detail (as well as those of US intelligence), but claimed that they weren’t able to verify them. They are a damn news organization! It’s their job to investigate and evaluate the veracity of competing claims! And if you can’t verify, then stop the incessant repetition (obviously meant to rile the feral masses) until you can.
Published 1 hour ago by the IDF on YouTube, what “journalism” won’t be broadcasting anytime soon. Headlined “GRAPHIC RAW FOOTAGE: Massacre Across Israel From the Eyes of Hamas”. I too warn here — don’t watch this unless you have a strong constitution fit against seeing murder and death, because that is what this is (10:50 mins): https://youtu.be/wAFDI63yvNQ?si=3nXFhs0MqkOvF-6l
“Jew-hating leftists”
Thank you Neo…it is THIS.
I’m tired of the word anti-Semitic. Like racist, anti-Semitic is almost too tame for the vile and ghastly stuff we’re seeing and hearing from the left.
“For from the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, all sexual immorality, theft, lying, and slander. These are what defile you.” It’s from the heart that the left despises Jews. Deep. Visceral. Hate.
https://www.thetower.org/article/why-everything-reported-from-gaza-is-crazy-twisted/
“there’s no excuse for our media except wishful thinking.”
Our media’s motivations are far more nefarious than “wishful thinking”.
It is malice aforethought.
So now we have over 300 people in the Capital Rotunda protesting against Israel, and a large number are Jews (including Rabbi’s). Self interest is not in evidence. And, will they all be charge with Insurrection and Attempting to over throw the Gov’t?’
So they were arrested, but will they go to jail?? Get real.
Neo, I have not seen what the Rep holdouts demands are. I do understand the idea they want power and control.
OK now, I must ask, “Does anyone believe anything that is published by “Big Media”? And I include every newspaper, every TV conglomerate, UPI, Reuters and AP. My rule of thumb is to start by believing the exact opposite of everything they put out, then gradually attempting to see if there are any surviving factual needles within the gigantic haystack of lies produced.
Geoffrey Britain:
That’s what I mean in this case by “wishful thinking.” The wish is malevolent.
@ Miguel – thanks for the post from The Tower. Although written in 2014, every principle in it still applies – if not more so.
Some of the examples were familiar, but the ones I hadn’t heard of before about just how badly the news is actively and passively censored are sickening.
I think that it would be better to get NO news than the travesty that comes out of the Middle East (and other dictatorships alluded to).
Someone at Twitter asked:
“At what point does having recent work for @nytimes, or even
@TechCrunch, on a resume turn into a career risk because journalistic integrity is so low?”
My response was:
“The people doing this probably think it creates career *benefit*, because it signals a tribal identification shared by a lot of prominent media organizations.”
https://twitter.com/jessegenet/status/1714726050067083754
I thought that some might not have seen this but would want to.
It is one of the less expurgated or blurred videos. One section is blurred here, but seen clearly on other presentations – where you can hear the groans of an Israeli victim of a gunshot and the shooting out of ambulance tires.
However most other mainstream media snippets cut before the “happy ending”. As the terrorist’s body-cam records it, he takes one to the torso, drops his AK, and, as the Illiad put it, groaning, flops forward to bite the dust.
Some with sensitive natures, may wish to forgo the viewing.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=38T8KhigG6s
The Fake News is the Enemy of the People.
Just the News is the only impartial account I’ve found from yesterday, exemplifying the journalistic standards that should apply.
https://justthenews.com/world/middle-east/rocket-strike-hits-gaza-city-hospital-unconfirmed-reports-hundreds-dead
Steve @ 7:03 pm,
Exactly (and yet, I initially fell for the mass casualty number, too, even if I was extremely skeptical of the purported responsibility of the Israeli armed forces for this hoax “massacre”).
Harsanyi breaks down the details, and I love his sub-head.
https://thefederalist.com/2023/10/18/the-gaza-hospital-fiasco-offers-a-vivid-example-of-journalisms-rot/
“The disinformation is coming from inside the house!”
He also says this about the infamous photo of the “destroyed” hospital:
One of my most vehement complaints about news media, print or digital, is the affixing of un-factual photos to sensationalized stories, which have the effect desired but are lies by design (even if they have a tiny print disclaimer of “stock” or “file image”).
The Federalist has at least 3 more stories today expanding on HospitalGate (to coin a phrase).
I didn’t see any stories on their site yesterday, so maybe they are hewing to the “72-hour-rule” now discounted to “24-hour” or perhaps they always wait a day to offer opinions rather than breathlessly breaking news just to print something.
And then there is this to consider.
https://thefederalist.com/2023/10/18/leftists-cant-acknowledge-real-terrorists-without-exposing-terrorist-smears-of-republicans-as-ridiculous/
Doc Zero – to be blunt about it:
https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1714620211750486306.html
From John Podhoretz today, a look into the past which differs in few ways from the present.
https://www.commentary.org/articles/norman-podhoretz/jaccuse/
1982-09 J’Accuse – Norman Podhoretz, Commentary Magazine
“The war in Lebanon triggered an explosion of invective against Israel that in its fury and its reach was unprecedented in the public discourse of this country. ”
RTWT it is very long, detailed, and perceptive about the history of Israel, the PLO and anti-Semitism in the West.
AesopFan:
1982! I’ve been thinking Israel-Lebanon 2006, courtesy of Hezbollah.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2006_Lebanon_War
Strange, how it is always the Muslims who precipitate these things.
So they got busted….
As Aunt Polly remarked,”Didn’t get a lick amiss,I reckon.”
So the hospital wasn’t hit by an Israeli bomb, and the explosion was an errant Hamas missile hitting a parking lot, killing a number of people.
But the problem is that the governments of Turkey, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Egypt and Morocco (and even Canada) have all endorsed the original claim that Israel bombed the hospital. And they are making foreign policy decisions based on that claim.
If Israel does invade Gaza, which seems likely, other countries in the region are likely to get involved, and that includes the US and Russia.
I watched CNN run the story
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Have their ratings exceeded Paw Patrol‘s recently?
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other countries in the region are likely to get involved, and that includes the US and Russia.
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Russia cannot conquer six square feet in the Ukraine and the Navy knows perfectly well that their commander-in-chief is demented.
our navy is full of DEI apologists, and pronoun obsessed midshipmen,
of course Gaza took the opportunity of the Hudna since 21, and the arab parties that were the tent poll behind the four cabinets before bibi and the protests to stock up to train,
Art Deco: the only reason I was watching CNN was that it was the only English channel news I could get in a European hotel. And while CNN’s ratings may be down in the US, I think they have greater reach in foreign capitals where the street protests have been more prominent.
https://www.spiked-online.com/2023/10/16/why-wont-the-jews-just-let-themselves-be-killed/
“And now we learn there is some evidence it didn’t even hit the hospital – just the parking lot and some cars. I haven’t had a chance to fully check that out, and I don’t see many outlets reporting it, but it may indeed be the case that there are few casualties.”
When you get the chance to study this, be sure to go look at this hospital from something like Google Earth. Coordinates 31deg,30’17.64″N 34deg,27’42.68″E.
I like Google Earth, because it can measure distances and areas. The entire complex, including 5 buildings around the parking lot and including the parking lot is 830 sq feet. The buildings are about 2 stories tall, and perhaps have a basement. Ask yourself, does that sound like a place where there were 500 people present at one time? Or even 400 as numbers start to come down.
You don’t need to know anything about rockets, bombs, or explosions. You don’t even need to have a political bias. Just have a sense of scale of people, structures, and area plus the willingness to actually look at the place being discussed. If you need a scale for human size, there is a cemetery across the street. Draw the same size box over it and count the number of markers.
I could speculate that the rockets hit the parking lot ( seen a few pictures of the burnt out vehicles and read hospital had minimum damage) that it’s quite possible lots of people could have been living in cars there.
The parking lot is big enough to hold 15 cars over parked. Let’s say each seat had a passenger and they were all 7 seat large SUVs. Tell me how you get to 500 dead and report it as a headline?