Ship of Fools: News from Gaza... or propaganda?

Thread: News from Gaza... or propaganda? Board: Oblivion / Ship of Fools.

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Posted by Graham J (# 505) on :

The old cliché about truth being the first casualty of war certainly seems to apply in the current conflict.
There seems to be no shortage of rumours, accusations and downright lies but where do shipmates turn for more reliable news or information?

Posted by Martin PC not & Ship's Biohazard (# 368) on :

Myself. Where the gift of the Holy Spirit continues to pour in through the old, broken sewer. My engraced liberal inclusive transcendent metanarrative. Held in this vessel, these septic entrails of diseased dung and febrile blood that feels lifetimes aged.

Where else?

Posted by Galilit (# 16470) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Graham J:
but where do shipmates turn for more reliable news or information?

People who are actually there or who know people who are there. (Apols to Gertrude Stein)
Blogs, and the Facebook, Twitter etc where you have first-person accounts.

I just today saw the first serious article in The Guardian on "the tunnels" after nearly a month of The Current Round.

I think though it's not just about finding and then sifting through reliable information and coming to a conclusion.
It's about how you carry on in hope and action when your reality out-strips your theology.

Posted by que sais-je (# 17185) on :

I'm not convinced that just because you are 'there' you are more reliable as a witness. But I do try to get different points of view: Aljazeera as well as the BBC. But I wouldn't trust Russia Today!

Actually, increasingly I prefer Aljazeera. Yes I know it's also biased but it does provide positive news stories more of the time. It seems to tend more to 'How amazing that people can cope with such disasters' and 'Look what good can be done' rather than 'It's all dreadful and hopeless, so here are some more pictures of suffering/dead people'. That said, even they struggle to find much good in Gaza.

Posted by Galloping Granny (# 13814) on :

You have to decide whom you can trust. I put my faith in (New Zealand churches') Christian World Service, who are in the toughest places alongside local Christian organisations. Their reports on Palestine ring true to me.

GG

Posted by Schroedinger's cat (# 64) on :

I did a blog post on this, and I don't believe that there are any reliable sources. All the sources of information are biased (this is actually always true, but more definitively so over this issue).

The only answer is to take information from multiple sources, with differing biases, and see if there is any truth available between all of them. Only believe 40% of what any one place tells you.

In the end, this is all I can really say [warning - language] Stop it

Posted by quetzalcoatl (# 16740) on :

I agree - you can't trust anyone. You can read between the lines - for example, some journos look seriously freaked out about Gaza, not in political terms, but just seeing children's body parts scattered round. I suppose one might draw political conclusions from that.

Posted by deano (# 12063) on :

Here you go...

Unbiased news from around the globe

Posted by Arethosemyfeet (# 17047) on :

I might find that funny if I didn't think there was a fair to middling chance you were serious, deano.

Posted by Kyzyl (# 374) on :

quote:
Originally posted by deano:
Here you go...

Unbiased news from around the globe

Wait, we're you serious?

(Sorry for the x-post)

[ 03. August 2014, 18:19: Message edited by: Kyzyl ]

Posted by Schroedinger's cat (# 64) on :

quote:
Originally posted by quetzalcoatl:
I agree - you can't trust anyone. You can read between the lines - for example, some journos look seriously freaked out about Gaza, not in political terms, but just seeing children's body parts scattered round. I suppose one might draw political conclusions from that.

Of course, you have to be certain that a) it is Gaza (or wherever someone says it is) and b) that the cause of it is what it is reported to be.

The problem is that all parties - supporters and protaganists - are using the media to push their interpretation. They are not above using pictures from other events for their purposes.

It is right to say that children blown up is wrong. Then the challenge is to find out exactly why someone blew those particular children to pieces.

This conflict is a prime example of Baudrillard's hyperreality - "The Gulf War did not take place" could be replaced by "The Gaza conflict did not take place". In his terms, this conflict is not taking place.

Posted by Gamaliel (# 812) on :

I'm sure Deano must be joking ...

Mustn't he ... [Eek!]

Posted by Gamaliel (# 812) on :

Perhaps he is joking ... he thinks Faux News is dangerously liberal or left-wing ...

[Big Grin]

Posted by Jade Constable (# 17175) on :

There is no such thing as unbiased news, because there's no such thing as an unbiased person. The best solution is to just use a variety of sources, and be suspicious if something is only reported by one source.

Posted by Schroedinger's cat (# 64) on :

Deanos post is hilarious, whether he is joking or not.

Posted by Martin PC not & Ship's Biohazard (# 368) on :

I switched to CNN for 9 11 only. From the BBC. It gets the balance better than any and all others by a country mile.

Posted by Byron (# 15532) on :

Best option, I find, is to select sources from each side. I use The Jerusalem Post for the Israeli perspective, Al Jazeera for the Arab perspective, and The New York Times and Ha'aretz for more detached reporting.

Posted by Graham J (# 505) on :

Thanks for the responses. Multiple sources is the way to go, I guess. One thing that I find extremely disturbing is the way that people who I would normally respect seem willing to accept the coverage of media that seem to me to be obviously partisan.
Surely we each have a responsibility not to spread rumours or lies?

Posted by 3M Matt (# 1675) on :

Best option, I think, is really know your history and the geopolitical backdrop to any situation.

It's far too easy to point a TV camera at something, and ignore the context which that thing is happening in.

For example, suppose the only thing you knew about World War II was the firebombing of Dresden, and the American nuclear attacks on Japan...without any context of Nazism etc etc...how warped could your view be?

I think, unless you feel reasonably confident that you understand the history of the region, (From the Ottoman empire, the Balfore declaration, the British Mandate, the creation of the state of Jordan, the Establishment of Israel, the 6 day war, the first and second intafada, the Rise and fall of the PLO and the rise and rise of Hamas....)

Unless you have clearly established in your mind the timeline and significance of those events, and can have a reasonably clear mental-map picture of the geography of Egypt, Israel, Jordan, The West Bank and Gaza...then, frankly...I'd suggest you can't put what's happening in Israel into any sense of context, any more than you could comment on the morality of World War II if all you knew of World War II was that the American B29 Enola Gay dropped a nuke on Hiroshima and killed 135,000 men, women and children.

Posted by Rosa Winkel (# 11424) on :

If you speak German, Jungle World (fortnightly) and konkret (monthly) offer reliable news/analysis on Israel.

[ 19. August 2014, 19:00: Message edited by: Rosa Winkel ]

Posted by Autenrieth Road (# 10509) on :

3M Matt, thank you, that is enormously helpful to me.

Posted by Dave W. (# 8765) on :

quote:
Originally posted by 3M Matt:
I think, unless you feel reasonably confident that you understand the history of the region, (From the Ottoman empire, the Balfore declaration, the British Mandate, the creation of the state of Jordan, the Establishment of Israel, the 6 day war, the first and second intafada, the Rise and fall of the PLO and the rise and rise of Hamas....)

Unless you have clearly established in your mind the timeline and significance of those events, and can have a reasonably clear mental-map picture of the geography of Egypt, Israel, Jordan, The West Bank and Gaza...then, frankly...I'd suggest you can't put what's happening in Israel into any sense of context [...]

And who exactly do you think is qualified, by your standards?

Will we be hearing more from you on the topic, or does modesty forbid?

(And why only start with the Ottoman Empire, founded in 1299? Johnny-come-latelies if you ask me...)

Posted by Taliesin (# 14017) on :

I want to add, that this topic is dropping down the page and Gaza is disappearing from national news but the body count is still rising. The deputy PM of the Israeli government has strongly advised killing or deporting everyone currently in Gaza, and making the whole area part of Israel under Israeli control.

[ 24. August 2014, 07:41: Message edited by: Taliesin ]

Posted by Baptist Trainfan (# 15128) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Jade Constable:
There is no such thing as unbiased news, because there's no such thing as an unbiased person.

And all news is selective, simply because there are a finite number of hours and pages to fill, and a limited number of journalists who can't be everywhere or see everything. Even local residents cannot see the whole picture. Good news editors will try to limit bias, but it's not easy.

Of course - as I heard a highly-educated Kurdish lady say in this town just a few days ago - you can simply give up and say that all news is lies anyway. I can see why she said that, but I disagree; I'm sure that many newspapers and channel try their very best.

[ 24. August 2014, 07:54: Message edited by: Baptist Trainfan ]

Posted by Robert Armin (# 182) on :

This may be the right place to ask - does any one know a good charity working in Gaza? One where you feel fairly sure the money given goes to first aid rather than guns?

Posted by Doublethink (# 1984) on :

Disasters Emergency Committee

Posted by Robert Armin (# 182) on :

Cheers

Posted by Gramps49 (# 16378) on :

Lutheran World Relief is working in Gaza

There is an online magazine that is jointly owned by Arab and Jewish journalists, called +972 Magazine. +972 is the international area code for Israel and Palestine.

I have been following its reports.

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