Thursday, June 14, 2007

Israel-Palestine on Record

Israel-Palestine on Record - How the New York Times Misreports Conflict in the Middle East, by Howard Friel and Richard Falk.

Published by Verso: http://www.versobooks.com/books/cdef/ef-titles/friel_falk_israel_palestine.shtml

Anyone studying how the media reports news from Palestine and Israel will be fascinated with this new book. It's also a great resource for those working in media advocacy, writing commentary, or compiling comparative media reports.

Chapters review the Times' presentation of reports from human rights organizations and news as it relates to international law. There is an excellent overview of British and Israeli news reporting compared to that of the New York Times.

An interesting side note: I didn't expect my local library to have this book, but I thought it would be available somewhere in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. Instead my copy came through inter-library loan all the way from Little Rock, Ark.

The publisher, Verso, says:
In this scathing analysis of Israel-Palestine coverage in the US media, Howard Friel and Richard Falk reveal the persistent ways the New York Times has ignored principles of international law in order to shield its readers from Israel's lawlessness. While the Times publishes dozens of front-page stories and extensive commentary on the killings of Israelis, it publishes very few such stories on the killings of Palestinians, and mostly ignores the extensive documentation of massive violations of Palestinian human rights by the government of Israel. Furthermore, the Times regularly ignores or under-reports a multitude of critical legal issues pertaining to Israel's policies, including Israel's expropriation and settlement of Palestinian land, the two-tier system of laws based on national origin evocative of South Africa's apartheid regime, the demolition of Palestinian homes, and use of deadly force against Palestinians. These journalistic practices have not only shielded the extent of Israel's transgressions from the American electorate, which is Israel's main source of financial and military support, it has severely diminished our understanding of the Middle East and of US foreign policy in general.

Take a look at Israel-Palestine on Record: http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbnInquiry.asp?z=y&EAN=9781844671090&itm=9

No comments: