The Truth About Palestine

When a Palestinian turns on the television or flips through a newspaper, he/she always encounter some form of misrepresenation of the Palestinian people. The word "terrorist" is constantly repeated in the media when describing Palestinians. When a Palestinian blows up an Israeli bus, he is labeled as a terrorist, but when an Israeli soldier aims and shoots at the eyes and heads of Palestinian children, he is a soldier defending himself. When six, seven, or even eight Palestinians are killed each day, the story is usually hidden at the end of the newspaper or does not even make the evening news. But when an Israeli dies, it is on every single major television network and all over the newspapers.

The media plays a very important role in modern politics because it is responsible for providing information to the public. What people read or watch on television has an enormous influence on how people think and behave. The media's perception and presentation of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict has caused the public to be misinformed and confused.

The public and even some journalists are not aware of the history that exists between the Palestinians and the Israelis. Do the people know of the British betrayal of the Palestinian people after World War I? Do people know what the Sykes-Picot Agreement is, or the significance of the Balfour Declaration? In order for people to understand what is going on between the Palestinians and the Israelis, they need to be accurately informed and have a clear understanding of the history of that region.

However, what the viewer sees on television is a thirty second segment of a blown up bus and women and children crying while the anchor explains that this is another, "Palestinian terrorist attack on Israel." Lately, it has been the image of young boys throwing rocks at Israeli soldiers while the reporter is interviewing an Israeli official who accuses Palestinian parents of sending their children to the front line to get sympathy from the world. Regarding the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, the media presents the same theme over and over again and portrays Israel as the victim and the Palestinians as the villain and as aggressors.

From an Unknown Palestinian