Five people lost their lives in the Lebanese attack, one Israeli officer, three Lebanese soldiers and a reporter from a Hezbollah-run Lebanese newspaper.
Most of the mainstream media used Reuters and AP reports which falsely said that Israel was on the border or on the Lebanese side. Additionally the reports were written in a way to give the impression that Israel was the aggressor.
Reuters labeled the above picture as (emphasis mine):
An Israeli soldier is seen on a crane on the Lebanese side of the Lebanese-Israeli border near Adaisseh village, southern Lebanon August 3, 2010. Israeli artillery shelled the Lebanese village on Tuesday, wounding two people, after Lebanese Army troops fired warning shots at Israeli soldiers.
Forget the fact for a minute that if Reuters didn’t bother to check which side of the border Israel was on, or that the tree-trimming operation was coordinated with the UNIFIL “peace keepers,” but warning shots? Warning shots don’t kill people. The Lebanese bullets killed Israeli officer Lt. Col., Dov Harari, who was not near the fence but was monitoring the tree cutting operations from a distance.
The AP also told a fictional version of the story:
The violence apparently erupted over a move by Israeli soldiers to cut down a tree along the border, a sign of the high level of tensions at the frontier where Israel fought in 2006 with the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah….There was no sign of any extensive Israeli preparations for a large-scale operation — an early indication the clash might not trigger a wider conflict.
No mention of the coordination with UNIFIL. In fact one of the pictures the Associated Press published showed UNIFIL troops waiving to the Israelis working on the trees:
In a radio interview today, UNIFIL Spokesman Milos Struger confirms that the wire service stories were wrong. He said that the IDF had coordinated with UNIFIL in advance of the tree cutting operation and that the IDF was below the Blue Line, and within Israeli territory.
Golan Yochpaz, Israel Army Radio broadcaster, interviews Milos Struger, a Senior Political Advisor to the Commander of UNIFIL Forces along the Israeli-Lebanese border.
Yochpaz: “Those in charge of keeping the peace in the tense region on the border between Israel and Lebanon are UNIFIL soldiers, who were witnesses to the incident between two sides yesterday. The Hungarian diplomat Milos Struger who is used as a political advisor for the commander of the UNIFIL forces in the area, and is located with the UN forces there. A few hours ago we spoke to him over the phone and spoke about what appeared to be a planned deadly ambush by the LAF against the IDF. Struger clarifies that the IDF operated accordingly, and notified us accordingly about their intent to work to clear the region. It is not clear to us how such a routine activity, which occurs almost daily, ended with casualties to both sides.”
Struger: “IDF informed UNIFIL that they are going to do some work cutting the tree from the other side north of the technical fence but south of the blue line. The situation on the ground quickly became tense because the LAF also deployed their forces on the ground. We also had our own people who were trying to diffuse this tension.”
Yochpaz: “We now ask from Struger according to his facts, where exactly did the IDF work on the trees in relation to the boundaries on the map.”
Struger: “It was in the area of al Adessa just north of Misgad Am. Tomorrow we will have a technical team to exactly establish the location in relation to the blue line.”
“I can confirm that we received notification from the IDF early in the morning about this work, and we conveyed this to Lebanese army. Our investigation has been launched today…”
Yochpaz: (translating Struger from English to Hebrew for his audience) “We asked him if the IDF coordinated the activity with the LAF through UNIFIL and he confirms the statement, saying it was coordinated. We received the message in the morning and gave to the Lebanese army, meaning the Lebanese army knew about the event. Our investigation is not yet complete and I am waiting for final report that we will be released today. After UNIFIL workers will meet with Lebanese Army representatives and Israeli army representatives and present their findings. In Israel we know about a string of provocations and baiting that have occurred recently against IDF soldiers. How does UNIFIL intend to act in regards to this issue? We now ask the Hungarian diplomat [Struger].”
Struger: “Daily basis we are dealing with all the different situations. Sometimes there are incidents and we manage to resolve the potential danger.”
Yochpaz translates Struger’s comments and adds: “This is the most serious incident to occur along the Lebanese border since 2006.”
As usual AP and Reuters published the anti-Israel accounts without asking any questions, or making any attempt to seek the truth. Much to their dismay, this is one of the rare cases where the United Nations actually backs up Israel’s story. The wire services could have asked UNIFIL some questions before writing their reports, but that is not their modus operandi. This time however, Associated Press and Reuters have gotten caught with their bias showing.
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49 Comments
I know this sounds simplistic but why risk lives to clear brush and trees? Just hose the area down with defoliant to deprive the enemy of cover.
Meh, what do I know.
MSM racist or anti-semitic? Good Lord, what has the world come to?
They need to start re-producing Agent Orange.
hey, don't let the truth get in the way of telling your story. israel is alway the bad guy, even if they are being attacked, don't let the truth ever enter your story. were journolisters used to write this story?
Something similar happened in Korea in 1976.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Axe_murder_incident
Sure looks similar
I couldn't agree more. But seriously, you cannot maintain proper vigilance without being able to actually SEE the enemy. They should just pave over the plants like they do here in Jersey…
"Yochpaz: (translating Struger from English to Hebrew for his audience) “We asked him if the IDF coordinated the activity with the LAF through UNIFIL and he confirms the statement, saying it was coordinated. We received the message in the morning and gave to the Lebanese army, meaning the Lebanese army knew about the event."
in other words" the LAF or Hezbollah in LAF uniforms (heck there often one in the same) where told exactly WHEN and WHERE to ambush the IDF by the UN.
Reporters have become so used to not doing any legwork that they have become nothing but stenographers (Rush's word) And this story was right up their alley.
If you are a journalist, and not from the blogosphere, where facts are gathered and manipulated with the sole purpose of supporting a preconceived notion, if takes time and effort to assemble a story. For instance, UNIFIL didn't confirm that it had received notice of the Israeli operation until a day after the incident. Secondly, captions do not constitute a story. They are usually writtten by a photographer who probably assumed the fence was the actual border. Yes, he should have known better or checked first, but that doesn't constitute anti-Israel bias. Finally, journalists are supposed to present all sides of the story that seem plausible and relevant. They publish fact as they get them and don't wait until one side can complete its case (otherwise, the story would have been effectively censored for hours while the media waitedfor everyone to present their sides of the story — an obviously ridiculous way to report news). Again, only in the blogosphere, as the commentary above exemplifies, do you present a straight, even line of facts that inevitably lead to a single possible conclusion.
Yep, Reuters and the AP all over the truth (and then conveniently leaving something important out or just straight lying). When did the news begin to slant politically? Why can't just get a news report filled with the news as it happened. I'll pick out of it what I want and then become outraged. Don't try to dictate which way I vent my rage!
Seems to miss the point of the story: Reuters automatic anti-Semitic tilt.
"Yes, he should have known better or checked first, but that doesn't constitute anti-Israel bias. Finally, journalists are supposed to present all sides of the story that seem plausible and relevant. They publish fact as they get them and don't wait until one side can complete its case (otherwise, the story would have been effectively censored for hours while the media waitedfor everyone to present their sides of the story — an obviously ridiculous way to report news). "
They did zero leg work, didnt prestent "all sides" as they said nothing about Isreal's side, and mentined nothing of the RPGs used by the LAF. To say its not bias is naive at best.
I don't think they ever stopped, they just tweaked the molecule a bit. It was common as a cotton defoliant.
Stenograpfers, yes, but only to there commie masters,
Shhhhhhhhhh!
And in other AP News…
(AP, Berlin) Yesterday, three prison guards at the Auschwitz Concentration facility were injured when Jewish grandmothers attacked, following several repeated warning gas showers. No word yet on the condition of said guards. More updates to follow….
"They publish fact as they get them and don't wait until one side can complete its case"
Two things disturbing about that statement.
1) Complete its case? If you are a journalist, and your reporting one side of a story, isn't it due diligence on the part of the writer to make it clear that the description of what took place comes from one side or the other?
2) They publish the facts as they get them?…….Am I wrong? Or is a FACT not supposed to be an accounting of something which is supported by indisputable evidence?
If that's what you do when your a "journalist" then I have no use for such people.
No, I understand that Reuters is reliably anti-Semitic but I just thought I'd throw my worthless opinion into the mix.
It seems anything Israel does will always offend the running dogs of the left.
Reuters lied about the IDF? Perish the thought!
(Pardon me, I just had to say it. Reuters is the most anti-zionist group in the middle east. They make Hamas seem Israel-friendly.)
I suppose the flip answer would be:
"Because Jews don't make gardens into deserts, they make deserts into gardens."
Trimming back brush and trees is one thing.
Widespread use of defoliants is another.
Of course Jews have a long tradition of dying for their beliefs. Just look at that Jesus guy.
Don't you know the old "joke"? (That is, Jewish ghetto, gallows humor.)
Its 1957, a short time after the Suez Crisis. A Jew, a Brit, and a Frenchman are walking in the Sinai when they are jumped by two Arabs carrying knives.
"Filthy imperialists!" the Arabs shout, "Now you will pay for your crimes!"
The Brit throws his chest out and solemnly declares "G-D save the Queen!"
The Frenchman steps forwards and nobly intones "Vive le France!"
The Jew ducks his head and timidly suggests, "Before you stab us, could you beat me up first?"
The Arabs gleefully respond, "Sure!" and proceed to punch and smack the Jew until he falls to the ground.
Laying there, the Jew looks up at them and asks, "Now could you kick me? Stomp on me?"
The Arabs are nearly overcome with joy, and proceed to kick the Jew bloody.
When they are finished, they look down at him, covered in blood, and ask, "Now what?"
The Jew, bloodied and bruised, looks up at them and says, "Now this", at which point he pulls a gun, and blows both their heads off.
As they help him to his feet, the Brit says "Sir, why did you let them do that to you?" while the Frenchman asks, "Yes mon amis, if you had the gun, why did you not shoot them right away?"
The Jew looks at both of them and responds, "If I did that, I'd have been accused of being the agressor."
Of course these days AP and Reuters accuse them anyway.
Sorry, I understand where you are coming from. Did you read the article about the Journolist in AT today?
That was a good one, BronxZ. I'll have to share that with my dad. He and I love some good gallows humor, and he's a walking repository of them.
The Suez Crisis was one case of everyone getting it wrong and blaming the Brits, French and Israelis. I think it was our own State Department that pressured the Brits to withdraw.
It was.
Eisenhower was afraid it would drive the Egyptians utterly into the Soviet camp, so he refused to back the action of the Brits, French, and Israelis.
Now mind you, I've got little to nothing good to say about British actions in the Middle East or French colonial actions in general, but broken clocks and all, and this time Ike just plain got it wrong.
Yay evil UN!
The US should support Israel unequivocally.
davros:
You would have a valid point, if it weren't for the inconvenient (to you and other terrorist apologists) fact that, when such mislabeled captions, and late-coming confirmation, and innocently unchecked info and sources, ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS accrues to the detriment of Israel, and NEVER, NEVER, NEVER to that of the other side.
It is way more than just denying Israel – as the (to you) "oppressor" – the benefit of the doubt.
It is anti-Semitism, pure and simple.
Especially with the wire services (AP and Reuters), the reporters' and photographers' collusion with Hez'bOllah and Hamas are well documented, and poorly, though prolifically, excused by the rest of the anti-Israel media, which are roughly ALL of them.
So excuse me if I giggle uncontrollably at your tired, worn out excuses for these "journalists".
To attribute this to laziness is way off the mark, Mr.Nose.
These reporters are doing plenty of legwork – working their asses off putting together every bit of mis-information and propaganda they can get, in order to hurt Israel.
Call this what it is – ANTI-SEMITISM.
To attribute this to anything else is to allow it to keep happening.
HAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!
"Finally, journalists are supposed to present all sides of the story that seem plausible and relevant. They publish fact as they get them and don't wait until one side can complete its case (otherwise, the story would have been effectively censored for hours while the media waited for everyone to present their sides of the story — an obviously ridiculous way to report news)." And yet notice the standards the MSM held Andrew Breitbart to.
They don't have to work for it , the left lays it on their desk, or makes a phone call. Work would be getting the other side of a story.
Wow; the UN; aren't they are always right. Aren't they ? In this case, I will take their side against the drive by media.
There are a non-neglible number of honest men in UN peacekeeping forces. After all, Americans serve with them.
In this case a Hungarian was speaking. Eastern Europeans are also more trustworthy, on average, than your typical UN drone, having been liberated by virtue of American efforts a lot more recently than your typical Western Eurotrash.
100% correct. Why is it when the MSM makes a mistake they almost always mistake left?
Muslims and Beer:
http://www.practicalstate.com/2010/08/04/bad-idea...
Cheers
Sorry, my fault for deviating from the topic of the story.
I am more pessimistic about how effective it is to call out MSM and their anti-Semitic stringers, I think it is like complaining about the weather.
I just thought if the IDF defoliated the who area it would reduce their exposure to the bad guys and the idiots in the MSM who will always make the IDF look bad.
They ain't making Jews like Jesus anymore.
I agree with the deserts into gardens thing but this is a national defense issue then the use of defoliants might be a safer way to go.
Sadly, it would not.
You can find stories about the Israelis polluting Judea and Samaria by letting raw sewage drain from pipes into open water sources. Of course when you read closely you discover the sewage is coming from "Palestinian" settlements. Naturally when you bring that up they then blame the Jews for not building a proper sewage system for them.
Napalm the other side of the border, clear out the debris.
They aren't making anybody like the old teachers anymore.
It remains that widespread destruction of the land, even if it makes things a bit easier, is low down on the list of options for Jews, even the secular ones.
B-52.. make a carpet bomb run over southern Lebannon. Make a 35 mile, 'no man's land'.. ..
Just more Proxies for what goes on behind the scene……Some nasty comes this way and the mideast is about to boil over. This incident looks like a test of the border responses and general harassment for its own sake. Even when the Lebonnonese ambush the IDF they get their @#$ handed to them. Imagine if the whole of Israel's might was unleased::shutter:: what kind of destruction and death could be inflicted upon the (sic)poor palistinians, lebonnese and syriains…..Not to mention the god incarnate ahmadinejad
Nuke'em all and let Allah figure it out,…….We can drill through glass and if those nuetron bombs are around we could turn Lebenonn into a thriving city like it once was. As Monte Carlo of the eastern med for a long time the arabs screwed up a perfectly good economy, infastructure, and society to wage war on themselves and Israel!
I've said the same thing. If the enemy wants to play dirty, then play dirty back. Make the area a no-mans land, no life. After all it's on their property anyway.
We are talking Reuters here. The same "agency" that supplied the doctored photos in 2006. Remember that? The phony burning Koran photo? The phony burning city photos? Remember?
What do you expect?
( headlines in msm) evil israelis break hamas bullets with their bodies. hamas seeks repayment for ammunition.
(msm headline news) israel house destroys hamas rocket but refuses to reimburse hamas.
I can't wait to see the Leagions of our Lords Angels come and spank these cowards.
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