Following a period of relative media quiet on Israel, when coverage of the Middle East shifted its focus from Egypt to Bahrain, Yemen and Libya, Israel returned to the headlines today following Iran's planned attempt to send warships through the Suez Canal. The media produced varied portrayals of Israel's reaction to the Iranian move, with some characterising Israel as having legitimate concerns, and others casting Israel in an aggressive light. In general, there was a failure to report increased tensions yesterday between Israel and Hezbollah, including Hassan Nasrallah's threat to attack and occupy northern Israel. Israel and Iran Four publications led with Israel's response to Iran's plans to send military vessels past Israel and through the international waterway for the first time since the Iranian Revolution in 1979. Wed. 16 Feb. 2011 @ 15.44 - Guardian editor to appear at panel discussion on leaked negotiating papers, organised by pro-Hamas advocacy group. On Tuesday 22 February, Middle East Monitor(MEMO) will be hosting a panel discussion on the Palestine papers, the leaked negotiating papers that were jointly published last month by Al-Jazeera and The Guardian. The event will include Seumas Milne, associate editor of The Guardian, alongside a variety of speakers. According to MEMO, the papers 'revealed shocking disclosures which have serious implications for the region.' The event will 'bring together a distinguished panel of experts' to 'explain what the papers revealed' and to 'discuss their impact on the ground and on future negotiations.' The conference is likely to promote the view that the 'shocking disclosures' were the concessions offered by the Palestinian negotiators, since MEMO is a pro-Hamas organisation that rejects the notion of Palestinian concessions for peace, while supporting irredentist maximalist claims against Israel. It is run by Dr Daud Abdullah, a known Hamas sympathiser who famously signed the Istanbul Declaration in 2009, which called on Muslims to attack the British Navy if it tried to prevent arms being smuggled into Gaza. Tues. 15 Feb. 2011 @ 12.02 - Established in 2005, Ma'an News Agency today operates as the only nonpartisan and independent source of journalism in the Palestinian Territories. With offices in Bethlehem and Gaza City, Ma'an works in a 24-hour news cycle, competing not only with the variegated Israeli media but also Al-Jazeera and Al-Arabiya, yet focused exclusively on one sector of the Middle East where transparency and the separation of press and state has traditionally been nonexistent. It publishes in Arabic, Hebrew and English, and broadcasts on local radio and television. Ma'an's popularity can be measured by the fact that its Arabic web portal attracts an estimated 3 million hits per month; Haaretz's English website gets 1 million. Some 95.6% of Palestinians are said to 'frequently visit' the news agency's website, putting it just behind Google, Yahoo and YouTube for Internet bandwidth in Gaza and the West Bank. Just Journalism Executive Director Michael Weiss recently spoke via email to George Hale, an editor of Ma'an in Bethlehem, about Palestinian state-building reforms, press freedoms in Gaza and the West Bank, and how the aftereffects of Egypt's revolution are wafting into the Territories. Mon. 14 Feb. 2011 @ 18.18 - UN's humanitarian news service reports on lack of medical supplies in Gaza due to discord between Hamas and the Palestinian Authority; World Health Organisation director does not attribute shortfall to Israel. Integrated Regional Information Networks (IRIN), a 'humanitarian news and analysis service' which describes itself as an 'editorially independent, non-profit project of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs' today reports on the lack of adequate medical provisions in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip: 'The main reason for the worsening shortages of essential drugs and medical supplies in the Gaza Strip is that the Palestinian Authority (PA) ministry of health in the West Bank has not delivered enough drugs and medical supplies to Gaza, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), international aid organizations and Gaza health ministry officials.' Thurs. 17 Feb. 2011 @ 15.35 - Protests in Libya trigger varying portrayals of dictatorial political system. The media today covers the growing tensions in Libya, with protesters calling for a 'day of rage' in light of the mass demonstrations that have spread across the region. In the coverage, a variety of descriptions have been given of the political system in Libya, which has been run for the past four decades by Colonel Muammar Gaddafi. While Gaddafi has defined the Libyan political system of 'Jamahiriya' as being a unique combination of democratic, socialist and Islamic principles, in reality the country is a dictatorial police state. Freedom House, which evaluates global political rights and civil liberties, has consistently given Libya the worst possible rating every year since it began reviewing the country in 2000.
February 17, 2011 Media Analysis Portrayal of Israel's response to regional threat
The Wire Palestine papers: Seumas Milne to appear at pro-Hamas conference
The Wire Interview: George Hale, Ma'an News Agency editor
The Wire 
Humanitarian news service blames Gaza medical shortfall on Palestinian divisionThe Wire 
Media discussion of Libya's 'grassroots democracy'
Thursday, 17 February 2011
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