Media Screws Israel

The pretty boy of Israeli politics, Yair Lapid, hits the international media

Media Bias in Reporting on Terror Attacks in Israel - Yair Lapid
(Jewish News-UK)

• In the past two weeks terrorists have been chasing Israeli civilians across the country armed with knives, axes and guns. Jihadists are murdering and maiming, stabbing and burning. They no longer pretend this is about foreign policy, or even about settlements. It is religious fanaticism which knows no limits. In their own words, they want to murder Jews because they are Jews.
• Those in the media covering this wave of violence have created the impression that the victim is the aggressor, that the ones protecting themselves are the murderers, that Israel has no right to defend itself. Here are a few examples:
  • BBC headline - "Palestinian shot dead after Jerusalem attack kills two"
    The Palestinian who was shot wasn't a passerby; he was a terrorist who stabbed two Jews who walked past him.
  • CNN headline - "Joseph's Tomb Catches Fire"
    The tomb, a Jewish holy site under Palestinian Authority jurisdiction, didn't "catch fire." It was set on fire, it was arson.
  • Los Angeles Times headline - "4 Palestinian teens killed in Israeli violence"
    There is no mention that the four Palestinians were on a murder spree when they were killed.
  • NBC headline - "Man shot after rushing past police"
    The man tried to stab a police officer in the neck at Lion's Gate in the Old City of Jerusalem.
• Before I was a politician I worked in the media for 31 years. I covered wars, international conflicts and countless clashes. I can say, with total responsibility, that this is an incomprehensible number of incorrect reports, misleading headlines, distortions of fact and total falsifications of the truth.
• It doesn't happen anywhere else in the world where democratic countries fight Islamic fundamentalism. When Israel isn't involved, the world understands that murderers can't wander free on the streets with guns and knives.
  
  The writer, a former Israeli finance minister, is the leader of the Yesh Atid party.