;.cTIME 4/26/96; Grapes of Wrath / Fedarko 
;.l1,6,60,66,1,0,10,75,192,2,15,20,25,127,10,0,
;.l2,15,75,192,2,20,25,127,15,0,
MEDIA BIAS
TO:    David bar-Ilan, Eye on Media, Jlem Post
FROM:  Steve Amdur, Kibbutz Haon, Jordan Valley, 15170 Israel.
       Telephone:  972-6-757572; FAX:  972-6-757554
DATE:  4/18/96
RE:    
REF:   TIME 4/22/96: "Grapes of Wrath"
       Written: Kevin Fedarko;
       "Reported by Lisa Beyer/ Jerusalem and Lara Marlow / Beirut
CC:    TIME, Rockefeller Center, New York City.
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SUMMARY:  Classical Israel-bashing.
Apparently a hatchet-job from Rockefeller Center, based entirelyon reports from the Lebanon reporter, who may have rather a tokenfunction.  No apparent contribution, not even IDF Spokesman'sdenials, from the Jerusalem correspondent.
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TEXTS:                                                 
All underlining is my emphasis added; not italics in text.

1) "... Israeli commmanders gloatingly screened the videotapes..."
	COMMENT:  "gloatingly"?

2) "... incinerating a 27-year-old woman.  Those images were allthe fruit, intended or otherwise, of operation Grapes of Wrath..."
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COMMENT: All human actions are intended or otherwise.
The implication here, if one assumes that the phrase'intended or otherwise' was not intentionally superfluous, is that there is a reasonable possibility that Israelintended to produce civilian casualities (or, in a strictreading of the text, images of such casualities.)  That oftenhappens in war; but I've heard no suggestion that Israel hasdone it in this one.  (Nor, with the exception of largelydiscredited allegations about Dir Yassin, in any other.)      
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3) " ... aimed at the camps, arms caches, and homes of Hizbollahguerillas ... "
l2
COMMENT:  I am not clear whether, and to what extent, Israelhas deliberately targeted the homes of Hizbollah activists.
l1

4) "... since July 1993, when Israel pulverized villages ... "

THE FOLLOWING PASSAGE IS CONTINUOUS TEXT AFTER THE ELLIPSIS.
I FLAG WITH ADDED LETTERS THE PROBLEMATIC PHRASING:

5) "During the past three years ... (a)each side has refrained,with occasional lapeses, from attacking the other's civillians. But three weeks ago, tensions rose after an Israeli Cobra gunshipkilled two Lebanese men building a water tower in the village ofYater... The Israelis apologized and said it wasn't a mistake. that wasn't enought for Hizballah, (b)which has heard suchstandard disclaimers all too many times after similar incidents. The militia retaliated by firing 28 (c)Soviet-era Katyusha rocketsinto the northern Israeli town of Qiryat Shemona.  Then last weeka Lebanese boy was killed when a roadside bomb exploed in thevillage of Brashit, on the edge of the Israeli-held zone.  TheIsralis said they had nothing to do with it, (d)but Hizballah saidit found Hebrew markings on the bomb fragments."    
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COMMENTS ON (5):
(5a): False equivalence:  Israel has not intentionallytargetted civilians; Hizbollah has continually targettedexclusively civilian areas; the difference is that Israeldoes not and Hizbolla does operate from civilian areas.

(5b): Uses the atmosphere of a colloquial expression todismiss without factual examination the Israeli denial.

(5c):  The implication is that the Israelis are over-reactingat having been bombarded with antiques.

(5d): Evades the obvious possibility that this was a leftover bomb from a previous military encounter, which the boyhad been either playing with or trying to salvage.
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6) "... Peres, who is facing a nasty fight ... was under intensepressure to respond with the closed fist."

l2
COMMENT:  A bit of Bibi-bashing on the side.
The implication here is that Netanyahu, waging an unfairelectoral campaign, pushed Peres into this action.  As amatter of fact Netanyahu has been scrupulously civilized, andhad not attempted to exploit the attacks on Kiryat Shemona.  
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7) "By Friday morning Hizballah ... [sent] 40 rockets across thenorthern Galilee.  That was precisely the excuse Israel wasseeking ..."                                    
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COMMENT: 'across' implies that they didn't hit the region;
'excuse' is not the correct term for a justified caususbelli.   Most nations would take getting hit by 40 rockets asa causus belli.
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8) "Helicopter gunships hit Beirut again, sending missiles intothe city's southern quarter, where Hizballah is concentrated."
l2
COMMENT:  A simple fallacy of inappropriate scale. Precisely, the missiles were targeted at specific Hizbollahused floors (used exclusively by Hizbollah, I assume) inspecific buildings.                                   
l1
9) "An Israeli chopper fired on an ambulance, killing four girlsand two women."
l2
COMMENT;  Israel apparently conceeds that it firedintentionally on an ambulance, and claims that the ambulancewas driven by a Hizbollah fighter.  Apparently Israeli policywas subsequently changed, so that vehicles with bothHizbollah fighters and civilians will not be targeted [per aninterview with a field officer on Israel English radio news.]

One may expect that this incident, for which Israel as far asI know, made some expressions of regret but did notapologize, will get long-lasting air-time; CNN featured agirl who was injured on it [CNN Headline News, Mideast TV,4/17.]
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10) "Women wept and children screamed"
l2
COMMENT:  As the Battleship Maine went down?
It probably sometimes happens in Israel too.
l1

11) Map: Israeli and Hizbollah attacks.  The focus is on Lebanon. Israel attacks are marked with red swooping snake-head arrows andred burst; Hizbollah attacks with black bursts.  (Including,improbably, one that would seem to be on the north shore of theKineret.).

12) Primary photo is on an Israel strike "over the southernLebanon town of Nabatiyeh".  There seems to be clear ground on allsides of the smoke-cloud, so presumably this was an attack on aspecific building or emplacement in a thinly-settled area.

Smaller photo:  A burning car; caption:  "A Katuysha attackagainst Israel left the driver of this car in Qiryat Shemonaseriously injured."  
l2
COMMENT:  I assume the victim was the wife of the DeputyMayor of Kiryat Shemonah. 
Presumably TIME knew that; Netanyahu had mentioned that on aU.S.-media interview (ABC?), I think the day after itoccurred; rebroadcast on Israel radio English News (17:00),which presumably TIME's Jerusalem correspondent records.
Having made a point of identifying women and children victimson the Lebanese side, a disinterested news-magazine wouldhave used that style symmetrically.
 

