One of the most famous sayings of Ariel Sharon as prime minister was: “things we see from here can’t be seen from there”. This saying provides an essential articulation of the idea that everything can be viewed from different perspectives.
Even more than that – circumstances in significant moments can lead us to look at things in a way which is opposed to the way in which we saw them just a moment ago. Therefore, in a transforming world like ours, one that is dynamic and evolving, a world in which a consensus can turn within a moment to a controversy and a controversy can become a consensus in a matter of seconds, perspective has crucial importance. This is noticeable especially in the way in which news reports or published articles are brought to the audience. Moreover, a picture, worth a thousand words, can create public opinion, causing a specific orientation for years to come.
One of the most well-known cases in which the power of the media was put to the test was the story of the killing of Palestinian child Muhammad a-Dora. During the beginning of the violent act known as the Al-Aqsa Intifada, the 12 year old boy was caught in a confrontation area, where an incited Palestinian mob began throwing stones and shooting towards IDF soldiers. The Palestinian photographer of the French news network FRANCE 2 took part in directing a scene which later became an establishing myth, in which Muhammad a-Dora is supposedly killed by IDF soldiers. Sufficed to say, that this incident inflamed the spirits in the Arab world and became one of the catalyses in the radicalization of the Israeli-Arab conflict. However, it was proved in several different circumstances that the French network’s version of the events was false, and worse – directed. IDF soldiers could not have killed the child. He was killed by Palestinian police officers whose entire purpose was to cause excitement and passion.
But the damage was already done…
The coverage of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is no different.
On the one hand, the BBC, a British television network, presents the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in a biased way and turns Israel into a horrible Goliath. The network passes harsh judgment of Israel without any profound discourse. From any point of view or position, in any issue – Israel is in the wrong.
On the other hand we have Fox. This American network presents the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in a more balanced way and thoroughly demonstrates the positions of both sides. Israel is in the wrong, but in many cases it is also right. The discussion in this network is much more profound and less biased.
The reality in Israel today is that most foreign TV networks present the relations between Israel and the Palestinian People in a one-dimensional way, while bluntly disregarding the reality in the field and other objective factors. Therefore, in light of the aforementioned and of the examples just given, a news and information website about Israel should be established, to be the first in many steps leading eventually to an international news website. Just like the Arabs have Al Jazeera (meaning “island” in Arabic), it is time that the Jewish People and the Western world have an “island” of their own.
אתר "ליכודניק" הינו אתר לסיקור פוליטי. האתר עושה את כל המאמצים לאתר זכויות על תמונות וסרטונים. אולם, בהתאם לסעיף 27א' לחוק זכויות היוצרים כל אדם הרואה עצמו נפגע עקב בעלות על זכויות היוצרים של תמונה או סרטון מוזמן לפנות להנהלת האתר