Israelis, your opinions on this please :)?

Question

A few days ago I mentioned to a friend that in Israel, Palestinians had attacked a bus full of children. My friend, non Jewish, remarked:

'Ah, but you read about it in an Israeli paper, so it's biased.'

Now this person is NOT racist/anti semitic/anti Israel or any of that. This person is a genuinely fair and intelligent guy.

But that makes it more worrying; let's extend his 'logic':

No report from any Israeli media is reliable, simply BECAUSE it's Israeli. The basic assumption is of course that Israelis can't provide accurate facts.

Have you ever heard this charge of bias directed at ANY other country? Should I now not believe anything I hear about France, if I watch it on a French TV show? Are English newspapers to be regarded with equal suspicion?

I would argue that an Israeli paper is a more reliable news source for the same reason that my friend disagreed: BECAUSE the attack happened in Israel!!

Should we be ignoring all Arabic and Muslim news sources for the same reason: bias ?

RACHEL - your answers are always most welcome :)

EDIT 2 FOR RACHEL

- thanks for those links! I'm rather surprised; there was me thinking we were taking over the world through pornography, and now it's drugs instead! Oh well..... ! (how many people will totally fail to miss the sarcasm, do you reckon?!)

- I meant how many people will totally fail to GET the sarcasm! lol lol lol am tired!

RACHEL - JUST SAW YOUR LAST EDIT, am laughing out loud, that is hilarious!! :)

MIKE S - cheers for another great answer, I always love getting your thoughts because unlike so many, you have actually put your life on the line. Kudos to you :)

RIVIVA - thanks :) And yes, I did indeed make those points to my friend. I in fact read the exact same allegation about Israeli papers on this website, and answered scathingly. It's so absurd.

Answer 1

Absurd logic. A paper or media outlet that reports falsely should be ignored; but to assume that someone is reporting events falsely, or with bias, because their country is involved is just silly. Indeed, you would probably find more bias concerning the Israeli-Arab conflicts in a lot of American and European papers - so many of these "news" sources ignore little things like facts and truth and opt instead for bigger, more fascinating tales like "Palestinian" persecution and victimization.

(EDIT: Sorry, I'm not an Israeli, I'm an American...but I figured I'd share my $.02 anyhow, LOL)

(EDIT 2: Thanks very much, Paperback!
I just wanted to add that I wish we paid MORE attention to the Arab and Muslim media. Imagine the reaction if people realized that this drivel was commonplace in the Muslim world:

News flash: JEWS PLAN TO TAKE OVER WORLD THROUGH DRUG TRAFFICKING
http://memri.org/bin/articles.cgi?Page=subjects&Area=antisemitism&ID=SP175407

News flash: Jews are serpents, world conquerers, plunderers, etc., etc.
http://memri.org/bin/articles.cgi?Page=subjects&Area=antisemitism&ID=IA36807

News flash: "We will annihilate the Jews."
http://memri.org/bin/articles.cgi?Page=subjects&Area=antisemitism&ID=SP157707

)

(EDIT again: LOL, I know...but, I guess our plan is pretty good...we're secretly taking over the world, but soooo secretly that we don't even know it...hmm...)

Answer 2

It is directed at the Americans and tends to be directed at any group you are at odds with. Israel can get facts wrong as can the Palestinians but I don't think we report inaccurate information on purpose (as I do believe the Palestinians do). I also do not think Americans do it on purpose but can be wrong like any group.
You need to get a fair and balanced (from reading different sources that are reliable and the key word is reliable) viewpoint.
Israeli papers do tend to give you a more honest assesment of the things that happen than other Arabic/Muslim papers. For instance, if you want to learn about the holocuast, do not go to an Iranian source, they deny it happened. Go to a Jewish source or a source that is seen as less biased, like Britian.
Lots of charges get thrown at Israel and America (especialy Israel) that are never thrown at other countries.

Answer 3

Not True, The Jeursalem Post and Haa'retz are both really good and fair newspapers who are Israeli.

I don't know about any other newspapers but those two are really good. I read Haa'retz every now and then to.

I even read on the talkback some Israelies saying some of those Articles are biased against Israel lol

Answer 4

Well, President Bush once asked the head of the CIA " How is it that those Jews seem to know everything that's going on before WE do?"

The CIA chief says, " It's because the Jews have this expression, " Vus Tutzach?"

"They just ask each other and they know everying!"

"Dubya" always says " that to see it is to believe it", So he decides to personally go undercover to find out if that is true and just how this works.

Bush gets dressed up as a Chasidic Orthodox Jew ( wearing hat, beard, payos, talit, etc.). He is secretly flown in an unmarked plane to New York, picked up in an unmarked car, and dropped off in Brooklyn's most visibly Chasidic neighborhood.

Soon, a little old Jewish man comes shuffling along nearby and George whispers to him, "Vus Tutzach?"

The old guy whispers back, " Did you hear, President Bush is in Brooklyn?"


("Vus Tutzach" means essentially the same thing as " Whazzup?" or " What's Happeneing" )

I thought this insane and illogical topic needed some humor.

I really had nothing constructive to add because, paperback, your additional details said it all.

Shalom :)

Answer 5

You are missing the point.
It is the subject matter being reported that causes the bias.
Your friend is not saying all of the reports in the Israeli newspaper are biased simply because the newspaper is Israeli. He is saying that the newspaper is incapable of providing a rounded view of the incident because it and its reporters are (probably) Israeli, its readership is Israeli and the subject matter of this particular event is very controversial, emotion-provoking and involves the death of many young civilian Israelis.

Your friend is welcome to his opinion and I for one would tend to side with him on this matter. The newspaper can no doubt claim with almost certain veracity the correct weather report for any given day but when it comes to reporting attacks on its own people I doubt that the approach will be completely unbiased 100% of the time.

Answer 6

You could have said "it's fact, not a normative statement. Do you feel the same way about the Palestinian media? How do you expect to get any news from the region if the only sources you trust are based thousands of miles away and do not speak the local languages?"

I have not heard this charge directed at any other country. Perhaps you could point out to your friend that Israelis are the most vociferous critics of their state-- he could check out haaretz if he has doubts?

Good luck Paperback. You're a smart woman, and I'm glad your friend has you to counteract his worrying "logic."

Answer 7

God you get BBC and French newspapers? I must be doing something with my cable subscription because I get neither. Nor do I look for French papers if truth be known, they're far to arrogant with nothing to back it up with for my taste. But as far as media is concerned...I don't believe 95 percent of what I see on American (Make that read US) media sources either. They've all proven themselves with one or two exceptions to be pushing some agenda of their own. In a free society such as we profess, where free speech is protected you can't really expect anything less. The powers that be at the networks have agendas of their own and can monopolize the airwaves with drivel of their choice. Any attempt to stop them is of course violation of the First Amendment and cannot be done. I've no complaint with that, I spent 26 years of my life laying life on the line to ensure that people could burn my flag or wear it on the backside of their pants or even for the courts to uphold their right to do it to complain now. But I find that anything you find in the media is bound to be slanted in one way or another, at least in a democratic country. Short answer, and yes I eventually get around to my two cents worth on your question, is that no news outlet is completely accurate. There are going to be diametrically opposed opinions about any news event. Who do you believe? Ah that's the quandry...My suggestion is read as much as you can and draw the line of truth/distortion(?) somewhere in between. No one is either all right or all wrong though some people come closer than others. Too many people are complacent to watch or read only one or two sources of any sort of news and base their opinions on only their bend. This of course is wrong but most people are inherently lazy. They will believe what they choose to believe. Can we actually deride them in a democratic society?,,,I think not but it doesn't make them right. Education is everything and the more that one reads the more one knows. One must question everything. One of our own Presidential candidates once claimed we have to protect our borders but has done nothing to do exactly that. So our borders are still wide open as they have always been yet nothing has been done to change this. Are Israel's borders that porous?,,,I think not. Question everything and read as much as you can about everything. Okay, overly simplistic but what else can you do short of standing on the border yourself with an M16A2 in hand? Keep them coming PaperBack, this one actually got me going. Good for you!!!!!

Rachel F: Gotta say I like the way you think. Wish I had actually read your response before I answered myself. Does your $0.02 plus my 2 bent pennies add up to 4?

Answer 8

I think all media is accused of being biased, Most papers and TV stations have a political leaning and all are going to be biased towards the country that there trying to sell their product in, otherwise no one would buy it. There's no such thing as truth just perception of truth.

Answer 9

Well Paperback all "Palestinian" (notice the quotes) sources are also unreliable. Don't feel bad. I mean you say should they be biased also , since day 1 you all call them biased so what's to discuss more? Cheers!

Answer 10

what do you think israelis? now all is in ..........