Are they looking in the right places?
The Times is hardly the only offender. A Los Angeles Times slideshow of more than 75 photographs from the conflict did not have a single image of a Hamas fighter either, according to the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America.
For many viewers, the narrative of this war must appear quite straightforward: Powerful Israel is bombarding defenseless Palestinians. That’s understandable when there are hardly any photographs of Palestinian aggressors.
In a July 15 Washington Post story by William Booth, Hamas’s use of Shifa Hospital in Gaza City as an operating base is mentioned – but only in half a sentence in the story’s eighth paragraph: “The [Palestinian health] minister was turned away before he reached the hospital, which has become a de facto headquarters for Hamas leaders, who can be seen in the hallways and offices.”
As Tablet’s “The Scroll” media column noted, that’s called burying the lede.
By all accounts Hamas is running a command center out of the basement of Shifa Hospital, but you wouldn’t know it watching or reading coverage of the conflict. Three UNRWA schools have reported finding Hamas rockets on their grounds, but we haven’t seen those images.
Likewise, a Palestinian (!) news agency reported two weeks ago that Hamas executed dozens of Palestinians suspected of collaborating with Israel. JTA reported this, but it was given no mention in mainstream media outlets.
Either reporters and editors are uninterested in telling the side of the story that shows what Hamas is doing in Gaza or they’re unable.
Let’s consider the latter possibility.
Much has been made by Israel supporters of a decision by The Wall Street Journal’s Nick Casey to delete a tweet about how Hamas uses Shifa Hospital as a base of operations. Presumably, Casey deleted the tweet because of threats by Hamas either to his person or his ability to continue to cover the conflict.
A Times of Israel report suggested as much:
“Several Western journalists currently working in Gaza have been harassed and threatened by Hamas for documenting cases of the terrorist group’s involvement of civilians in warfare against Israel, Israeli officials said, expressing outrage that some in the international media apparently allow themselves to be intimidated and do not report on such incidents.
“The Times of Israel confirmed several incidents in which journalists were questioned and threatened. These included cases involving photographers who had taken pictures of Hamas operatives in compromising circumstances — gunmen preparing to shoot rockets from within civilian structures, and/or fighting in civilian clothing — and who were then approached by Hamas men, bullied and had their equipment taken away. Another case involving a French reporter was initially reported by the journalist involved, but the account was subsequently removed from the Internet.”
After leaving Gaza, freelance Italian journalist Gabriele Barbati, in a pair of tweets blaming Hamas for a recent civilian casualty incident, backed up the claims that Hamas threatens reporters:
“Out of #Gaza far from #Hamas retaliation: misfired rocket killed children yday in Shati. Witness: militants rushed and cleared debris (July 29)”
Why are we reading about this intimidation only in Jewish or Israeli media – or on blogs – but not in Western mainstream media?
Attorney Scott Johnson takes news outlets to task for this on the blog Powerline:
“Hamas threats don’t account for the relentless ignorance and stupidity of the coverage of the Gaza hostilities, but they account for some of it. Reporters and their media employers cooperate with Hamas not only in suppressing stories that do not serve Hamas’s purposes, but also by failing to report on the restrictive conditions under which they are working.”