At Least Pretend to be Impartial

By Kanrei Both sides agree to a cease-fire and the AP is pissed. I cannot believe a supposed impartial news service is actually upset with a cease-fire, but it seems they are. Zeina Karam, a writer for the Associated Press filed a story reporting that Sheik Hassan Nasrallah will accept the cease-fire passed by the UN Security Council last Friday. I have never read a more depressing account of a peace plan in my life. I have accepted that the AP and Reuters has taken a side in this conflict. The constant barrage of Lebanese possible deaths and fake photos while virtually ignoring the Israeli casualties has shown me that beyond a reasonable doubt. That did not mean I believed the press was actually rooting for more bloodshed. I thought any human being, regardless of any personal feelings would always choose a peaceful solution. These are reporters for G-d’s sake, not soldiers or politicians! The fact that Israel and Hezbollah are actually talking about a cease-fire is great news for those of us who fear the possibility of this exploding into some US versus the UN type affair. The situation is such that it would not take much for it to tip the world from almost chaos to biblical chaos. So why is Zenia Karam so down on this step? Do I believe it will take? Probably not; the two sides are too invested in a war and I think they enjoy it. That does not mean a reporter should be interjecting their pessimistic views in a news article. A column is fine, but this is an AP News Report, not Zenia Karam’s opinion. I was going to let it go. That report was filed at Noon EST, but appears to be down now. I was going to just forget it until I saw this just now: “Cease-fire gains momentum Fighting continues as Lebanon approves deal and Israel reportedly plans to halt attacks.” Lebanon approves deal? Israel REPORTEDLY plans to halt attacks? Israel accepted the deal before Hezbollah did for one thing and Zenia Karam is not even hiding bias or pretending to be a reporter in these reports. Third paragraph speaks of injured Israeli soldiers, no mention of civilians or the dead. You must wait until the fourth for that, and then it is not even Hezbollah’s fault they died. “The military confirmed more than 70 soldiers were hurt. In addition, at least seven Israeli soldiers were killed Saturday, including two crushed in a tank accident. The helicopter shootdown marked Israel's first loss of a helicopter in Lebanon in the monthlong conflict. Two helicopters collided and crashed and a third crashed separately in northern Israel early on in the fighting.” The deaths were all Israel’s fault. I also notice this writer is a big fan of switching back and forth between Lebanon and Hezbollah. Success is Hezbollah while failure is Lebanese victims. It is always Israeli soldiers or civilians. And while Hezbollah “fought back hard”, sounds so heroic, the Israelis want “to seize control of the area”. Curse them! Seizing is not nice while fighting back is what the oppressed do. This Zenia Karam seems like a failed fiction writer to me. “Their ability to withstand the Israeli military assault has also made Hezbollah heroes across the Arab and Islamic worlds.” Seems like to this writer as well. “Hezbollah's Mohammed Fneish, minister of hydraulic resources, said the two members of the Islamic militant group who are part of the Cabinet expressed reservations. Particular concern was raised over an article in the resolution that "gives the impression that it exonerates Israel of responsibility for the crimes" and blames Hezbollah for the monthlong war, he said.” Hezbollah is to blame! They crossed into Israel, killed eight soldiers and kidnapped two more. They have launched hundreds of rockets into Israel daily. They are launching these rockets from residential areas and hiding among civilians. What exactly is Israel supposed to do when the UN declares them the criminals? “Israel flew hundreds of commandos into southern Lebanon on Saturday, tripling its troop strength to 30,000 and sending some army units as far as the Litani River even as both sides indicated they would accept a U.N. cease-fire plan to stop the heavy fighting. Airstrikes killed at least 19 people in Lebanon, including 15 in one village, and Hezbollah rockets wounded at least five people in Israel.” This writer, notice I refuse to say reporter, keeps creating this impression that Israel is faking all of this desire for peace. That Israel is to blame for starting all of this. That Hezbollah is Lebanon. Hezbollah is Syria and Iran. Never forget that. Iran, the nation sworn to wipe Israel off the map and Syria, the nation recently kicked out of Lebanon. Israel does not have the AP and Reuters faking photos to incriminate Hezbollah. I want to know why these supposedly non-bias news services have yet to show pictures of the Hezbollah terrorists firing from crowds? No, instead we end the article…sorry, I mean opinion piece with: “The highway was impassable, but drivers tried to maneuver through ruts and ditches. The only other exits from Lebanon are rugged pathways and back roads through deserts or mountains. Israel seeks to block supply routes for Hezbollah and disrupt their mobility and has warned it would target any vehicles on the roads in southern Lebanon and along other main highways.” This writer is entitled to their opinion, but I must question why the AP is using this obviously bias writer for its reporting? Every story I have seen today on Yahoo from the AP has been from this writer and every one has painted Hezbollah as the brave fighters defending Lebanon from Israeli invaders without ever so much as a mention of the still missing soldiers. Do I feel bad for the innocent Lebanese civilians? Of course I do, just as much as I feel bad for the innocent Israeli civilians. Maybe I feel a little more badly for them simply because they do not seem to have a government willing to fight Hezbollah and would rather surrender control to them. Lucky for Hezbollah, the press is on their side. I am not picking on Zenia Karam, they are just the one that happened to be writing the stories today and displaying the bias I have been talking about for so long.