Thursday, May 27, 2010

Article: Netanyahu, Obama to meet; Rahm Emanuel extends invitation in person

This was a wire service story published by The Hartford Courant May 27. The article was mostly factual, but did include a small number of (mostly reasonable) opinions and misleading half-truths.

The article mostly concerned an invitation from President Barack Obama to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, but near the end also touched on a convoy of ships trying to go from Turkey to Gaza.

Opinion: "President Barack Obama has invited Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to the White House next week for an apparent fence-mending visit."

While we agree with the opinion about the purpose of the visit, it remains an opinion inserted into a news article.

Omission, Misleading: The article referred to Israel being "ready to prevent a Turkish-led convoy of ships carrying humanitarian aid from entering the blockaded Gaza Strip."

The reference misleads the reader by omitting the fact that there is no need for this so-called "humanitarian aid;" the convoy is really a propaganda ploy.

Omission, Misleading, Half-Truth: The article misleadingly refers to Israel and Egypt closing Gaza's borders after Hamas' bloody takeover in 2007. It omits reference to the European Union monitors fleeing for their lives, in fear of Hamas. It was really the disappearance of the EU monitors that ineffectively sealed Gaza's borders.

Omission: The article omits any reference to the massive amounts of humanitarian aid transferred to Gaza by Israel, clearly obviating any need for other aid and making it clear the convoy was really an exercise in anti-Israel propaganda. It also omits any reference to the massive amounts of goods and people transferred in and out of Gaza through tunnels between Gaza and Egypt, making it clear the borders are far from sealed.

Ratings

Factual Accuracy: 9
Bias-Free: 8
Pro-Israel: 0
Anti-Israel: 1

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