On Thursday 24th May, the Israeli media agency Haaretz published a news story about Amnesty International's 2012 annual report, that exposed details of the violation of human rights by the Israeli Authorities towards Palestinians, however the photograph used and the presentation of the article depicted the Palestinian's as the violent party.
The Haaretz article showed details of the annual report from Amnesty International, which included the Israeli Defense Force using, "excessive, sometimes lethal, force against demonstrators in the West Bank and civilians in Gaza. The IDF this year has killed 55 civilians in the West Bank and Gaza, including 11 children."
Furthermore they reported details of the continued blockade of the Gaza strip, restriction of movement of Palestinians in the West Bank, demolishments of Palestinians homes, administrative prisoners, annexation of settlements through the construction of the wall on Palestinian lands amongst other atrocities for which the Israeli Authorities are not held fully accountable.
This is not an isolated incident. In Haaretz's coverage of Nakba day, they chose to publish a picture of graffiti in Rachels Tomb, Bethlehem. The picture depicts a Palestinian stone thrower in the background and two calm soldiers arresting a blindfolded man, perhaps conveying that justice has been served?
The bias is hauntingly clear in the article as they state about the clashes "The most prominent of those was a protest taking place near the IDF checkpoint in Qalandia, where about 150 Palestinians rallied, hurling rocks at Israeli forces, who responded by firing tear gas canisters." The bias clearly showing that the IDF were responding to attacks and provocations from the Palestinians.
According to research, newspapers are usually written in a "pyramid" style, keeping the most important facts at the top. In the case of the average news story most people only read the headline, the first paragraph and, supported by the picture published, gain the relevant information.
In the case of the Haaretz article, it is therefore telling that they published a picture of violent Palestinians and failed to mention in the first paragraph that Israel were being accused of violations of human rights.
Haaretz state online that they have a "broadly liberal outlook both on domestic issues and on international affairs" although they state that the paper was founded by Zionist immigrants mainly from Russia. In 1935, the paper was bought by Salman Schocken, a businessman and prominent Zionist from Germany who had recently settled in Palestine.
Considering it was established and continued to run by Zionist settlers, Haaretz are worryingly placing themselves under the auspices of a "liberal" paper and furthermore, as stated by Haaretz, plays an important role in shaping public opinion. More worryingly they state that the paper is "read with care in government and decision-making circles". If this does indeed shape public opinion then the general status quo of liberal thinking in Israel remains that it is indeed Palestinians who are the violent provocateurs and negates the human rights abuses reported by Amnesty International and other human rights organizations.
More worryingly they seem set to deceive their own readers by masking this agenda and carefully manipulating the layout of the stories rather than clearly expressing their conservative Zionist ideology.
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