Saturday, 11 October 2008


UK media ignores controversial statements by Hamas

THIS WEEK: JJ on the UK media's treatment of controversial statements by Hamas.

ALSO: Read how recent BBC News articles reflect a growing interest in the Haredi community in Israel.

NEXT WEEK: Read JJ's analysis of media coverage of the upcoming Channel 4 docu-drama, ‘The Shooting of Thomas Hurndall'.


UK MEDIA IGNORES CONTROVERSIAL STATEMENTS BY HAMAS

  • On Tuesday, an official spokesperson for Hamas, Fawzi Barhum, blamed the global financial crisis on a ‘bad banking system put into place and controlled by the Jewish lobby.' He also stated that the lobby ‘controls the US elections and defines the foreign policy of any new administration in a manner that allows it to retain control of the American government and economy.'
  • JJ observed that these controversial accusations were not reported in the mainstream UK media. Of particular interest is the fact that the BBC News website , which is updated numerous times a day, and hosts dozens of Middle East stories at any given point, excluded the story.
  • These comments were reminiscent of recent statements made by Iranian President Ahmadinejad at the UN, in which he blamed the ills of the world on a small group of ‘murderous', ‘deceitful' Zionists. As JJ reported in our newsletter from the 26 th September, these comments were underplayed in the UK media.


HAREDI COMMUNITY UNDER THE MEDIA SPOTLIGHT

  • Both BBC stories concentrated primarily on the challenges that modern technology poses for this extremely traditional community, detailing reactions to the encroaching influence of the internet, mobile phones, and contemporary music. In particular, the articles highlighted worries that these mainstays of secular society could encourage ‘immodest' and ‘inappropriate' behaviour amongst the young.
  • The pieces also observed how many felt that they had to conform to very stringent standards. Erica Chernofsky's piece quoted an Orthodox man who felt that anyone who did not have a kosher phone could feel ‘excluded from society', while 'Rabbis black-list non-kosher music' quoted a disc-jockey who had lost his job due to Haredi pressure.
  • This renewed interest in the Israeli ultra-orthodox has extended to the broadsheets. Two recent articles, in The Observer and Financial Times respectively, focused almost entirely on perceived negative aspects of the Haredi community, particularly stressing an alleged similarity between so-called ‘modesty police', prevalent in Haredi areas of Jerusalem, and Islamic extremists.
  • Tobias Buck of the FT gave a more even account than Toni O'Loughlin of The Observer , by balancing reported similarities with Islamic extremism with a quote from a member of the Haredi community who claimed that only a few ‘frantic and misguided' people, who do not represent the majority, are behaving this way.
  • The Observer, however, homed in on extremist tendencies: as well as an attack on a divorced woman, O'Loughlin quoted a secular woman who was harassed on a bus for not conforming to the Haredi mode of dress, and a self-styled ‘watcher of Israel' who admitted to slashing the tyres of a woman - again, for being ‘indecently dressed.' In an attempt to push the analogy with Islamic countries even further, she described Haredi women who cover themselves in scarves and veils as ‘much like Muslim women' , but did report that only around 100 women actually dress in this way.


STORIES OF INTEREST

Netanyahu's plans for Palestine

The Financial Times ran an interview with Likud leader Benjamin Netanyahu, which focused heavily on his vision for peace between Israel and the Palestinians.

Israel: Silicon Valley of the Middle East

The BBC News website posted a story on Israel's booming hi-tech industry, nurtured and strongly supported by the government. The article highlights a joint Israeli-Palestinian IT company, suggesting that such technological ventures might help the peace process.

Posted by Britannia Radio at 11:34