The Middle East Conflict and How its Covered in the News

The Middle East is arguably the most political and confusing topic in the world. Many people find it both confusing and frustrating to follow.  Still a lot of people are interested in what happens in this small area of the world. The number one reason for this is because Jews live there. After the Holocaust the entire world was concerned about this small tiny nation. The United Nations voted and decided to give them a national homeland; the State of Israel. Many democratic developed countries, like the United States, decided to get involved. It also helps that there is a lot of oil in this part of the world. The American public is concerned about oil and wants to see what will happen.

The reason the Middle East conflict is getting so much intense coverage is the fact that many Jewish and Muslim citizens live in the United States, so there is a lot of proximity. The second reason is because the United States is kind of the middle man in the situation. They got involved a long time ago, and now have to finish the conflict.

Please note: I wrote this wonderful analysis at the end of November. I apologize for you not being able to view the articles. I wrote this for school. I didn't need to link them, I had to print them out to show the teacher and then write an annalysis. 

 In last few weeks of October 2010 and the first few weeks of  November 2010 most of the articles in the news have been about the 90 day settlement increase. To be honest I had very little idea what this was from reading the articles. It wasn’t until I read the New York Times A 90-Day Bet on Mideast Talks; did I understand. Even then I still had to ask some knowledgeable people like my dad to explain.

            To make the topic easy to understand I think the reporters should and could have easily given more background information. All they had to say was that on September 26, 2010 a 10-month settlement freeze in the West Bank by the Israeli government, a gesture to get the Palestinians to agree to talk about peace ended.

The New York Times while usually biased on most topics, covered Israel better than other publications, like MSNBC and CNN and BBC. The only article that mentioned the fact that Palestine did not negotiate for the first 9 months of the 10 month settlement freeze was the New York Time, article A 90-Day bet on Peace.  Although the number one article in my opinion that was unbiased and simply gave you facts was the Washington Post’s U.S. needs more than short-term deal making to aid Mideast talks. I thought the article did a good job of telling you the facts; the United States is willing to give Israel 3billion dollars worth of war planes for security. The article also points out, that the added three months is hoping to be able to get the two parties, Israel and the Palestine’s to agree on an idea for a Palestinian state, but says that it’s unlikely this will happen without further compromises.

 In the msnbc.com article Jewish-Arab relations in Israel hit Boiling Point; the article was pretty anti-Israel. I thought in the articles beginning the reporter started off talking about how scared Arab Israeli citizens are and all the negative acts of the Israeli government done to the Arabs. This goes on for about two whole pages. Then finally on the last page the reporter talks about what Arab politicians have done. Trust me, the crimes listed there are disgusting. According to the same msnbc.com article last week Amir Makhoul a community activist pleaded guilty to giving important information to the Hezbollah. This is breaking news. Timely, meaning happening now.   It could have easily been cut off from the bottom if this was written in a news pyramid method. So the question is, why is this not in the beginning of the article?

Even more disgusting than these crimes are the fact that publications have the audacity to make a big deal of two Israeli soldiers using human weapons. According to BBC.com’s Israeli troops demoted over Gaza 'human shield' boy article this is Israel’s first ever offense of its kind. I don’t think I can say the same for Palestinians. Although I have no sources because the Palestine are not in the news for committing such crimes.

Then the CNN West Bank freeze not a deal; source says source; article made everything look like Israel’s fault. Throughout the article they take a biased opinion that Israel should accept the new 90 day settlement freeze. The article has about 90 words on what Palestinians think. And Mohamed Shtayeh a member of Fatah Central Committee is quoted saying the Palestinian negotiating team was “hoping for a much better deal” including a freeze on construction in “all Palestinian territories”.

The reporter should have focused on that “give them a finger they want a hand; give them a hand,  they want an arm”  phrase rather than spending three pages quoting Israeli government officials on why they don’t want to stop settlements, and Obama on how this is “such a big step for Israel” Excuse me Israel has been trying. The Palestinians have done nothing but demand land and blow people up.

            All in all I found the coverage of Israel and the Middle East to be very very bias. And for the most part anti Israel. This is a shame. Six million Jews where killed because the press didn’t report crimes against Jews. What do you want next? The whole Western Wall to be blown up?! Stop taking the side of every oil nation. Start reporting THE FACTS.