As we've documented in great detail (including in this special report), HuffPost --- which claims it is a "nonpartisan newspaper" --- has a long history of anti-Semitic bias. Almost invariably, when Israel is accused of some wrongdoing, it's a good bet that HuffPost will not only feature the story prominently, it will manipulate the headline to make it even more incendiary or misleading. (HuffPost then routinely reviews, approves and decides to publish the Israel-hating, anti-Semitic user comments that, predictably, are submitted in response to this incitement --- even though many are violations of its "comment policy.")
So what do you think HuffPost did when Israel accomplished something so extraordinarily positive that it earned the admiring coverage of the world media (including those that HuffPost routinely relies upon for Middle East news)?
This special report documents the fact that HuffPost completely ignored the story... day after day, week after week --- while at the same time, prominently promoting its standard fare of Israel-bashing, Islamist-sympathizing, and nonsensical "news" stories.
When the Haitian earthquake struck on January 12, 2010, many nations provided aid.
One tiny nation, however, distinguished itself by the speed, quality and quantity of the rescue and medical teams and technology it was able to put on the ground in Haiti.
That nation is Israel.
So why did HuffPost --- which routinely features on its front page almost every negative story imaginable about Israel and Jews (whether true or not) --- not feature a single news story about Israel's remarkable achievements in Haiti? And why was this the case, given that the story was being covered by by several of the main news organizations upon which HuffPost most often relies for its features?
Perhaps one day, someone in a position of influence will ask HuffPost about this.
As for us, we contend this is another glaring facet of HuffPost's
anti-Semitic bias... in this instance, by omission.This is far from the first time we've documented HuffPost's blackout of "the rest of the story" concerning Israeli and Jewish affairs. From this extensive archive:
HuffPost's ongoing blackout of credible rebuttals to the anti-Israel stories it publishes
9/24/09: HuffPost's blackout of Netanyahu's blockbuster speech at the U.N.
7/13/09: The anti-Hamas story that HuffPost didn't publish
4/8/09: One-sided coverage of "Outlandish Statements" from the Middle East
3/11/09: Fomenting anti-Israel hatred by telling only one side of the Charles Freeman withdrawal story
Anti-Semitism and Anti-Israel Hatred on the Huffington Post
The remainder of this special report focuses on providing documentation that answers three key questions:
(1) What news source material was available to HuffPost regarding Israel's extraordinary achievements in Haiti --- and when?===============
(2) How can we prove that HuffPost did not feature a single news story covering this issue?
(3) So what other "news" stories did HuffPost decide to run during the Haitian earthquake period --- instead of a single news story about Israel's heroic actions?
(1) What news source material was available to HuffPost regarding Israel's extraordinary achievements in Haiti --- and when?
On January 18, three of the sources HuffPost often relies upon --- CNN, CBS and ABC --- featured compelling video stories about Israel's work in Haiti. As you'll see, these videos (4-6 minutes in length) show how Israel's generosity and technology saved lives when all other nations' resources could not --- even though Israel's came from the other side of the globe:
So as HuffPost devoted none of its news coverage to the story of Israel in Haiti, what did it choose to feature on its front page, as timely "news"? See Section 3. (Hint: If it involved negative stories about Israel or Jews, or assorted nonsense about celebrities and their genatalia, or a decades-old music video of the wife of a Senatorial candidate, or video of a man kissing a chicken, it was on HuffPost's front page during this period.)
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(2) How can we prove that HuffPost did not feature a single news story covering this issue?
The first element of our proof is the fact that our observers paid close attention during this period, but saw not a single "news" story post on either HuffPost's front page or its "World" page that discussed Israel's work in Haiti.
But saying we saw nothing, and proving it, are two separate matters. For which we are very thankful for HuffPost's internal search engine.
The second element of our proof is a simple HuffPost site-search, using the terms "Israel" and "Haiti". If you follow that link, what appears to come up is a listing of "articles" dealing with, indeed, "Israel" and "Haiti," in the context of the earthquake, and Israel's relief efforts.
But appearances are deceptive, because in this case, what this list shows is that:
- There is not a single "news" article there that was featured on HuffPost's front page.
How do we know? If you you look at the URL lines, they read, "www.huffingtonpost.com/wires/xxxxx." Click on any one of these items, then scroll down to where the comments normally are. You'll see that in every instance, there are no comments. (Note to HuffPost: Don't bother retroactively adding any fake comments to these stories; we have PDFs of the actual threads.)
HuffPost users know that whenever an article concerning anything regarding Israel is posted on its front page or "World" page, it (a) does not contain "wires" in the URL, and (b) is hit with comments, many of which, as we've proven, contain anti-Israel, anti-Semitic libels, propaganda and conspiracy theories. Here is but one example: a 3/9/10 front page story about Vice President Biden's visit to Israel, which generated more than 2,000 comments in the first 12 hours. Here's another: this front page story about an AIPAC conference in Washington got 2,500 comments in the first six hours.
We're not sure what "wires" is an indicator of, but we suspect it is an automated news feed that HuffPost obtains via affiliated news organizations, containing items that are not displayed on its main pages. - The rest of the items are blog articles, which were featured in the congested cluster along the left margin of HuffPost's front page, or World page.
As HuffPost users know, blog articles generally garner little attention, and few user comments. The heavy "action" at the site is always on the news side --- the center and right columns, where headlines are matched with pictures. This is where HuffPost routinely features "news" articles that reflect its anti-Israel, anti-Semitic/pro-Islamist, pro-Palestinian bias. And these are the articles that routinely generate many hundreds of thousands of comments, within the first few hours after they're posted.
The third element of our proof are these helpful HuffPost daily digests, which profile the stories that HuffPost was pushing on specific days, during the Haiti crisis:
"The News" - January 17, 2010
"The News" - January 18, 2010
"The News" - January 19, 2010
"The News" - January 20, 2010
"The News" - January 21, 2010
"The News" - January 22, 2010
What you will find is that these digests contain not a single news story about Israel's actions in Haiti.
===============
(3) So what other "news" stories did HuffPost decide to run during the Haitian earthquake period --- instead of a single news story about Israel's heroic actions?
This section is divided into two parts:
(A) While HuffPost totally blacked out any coverage of Israel's actions in Haiti as a "news" feature,it pimped an irrelevant Palestinian-sympathizing feature, day after day, atop its splash headline story page
(B) A sampling of the other "news" stories that HuffPost ran during this period
(A) While HuffPost totally blacked out any coverage of Israel's actions in Haiti as a "news" feature, it pimped an irrelevant, Palestinian-sympathizing feature --- day after day --- atop its splash headline story page
For those who are new to HuffPost, this is how it uses its "news" pages to act as an uncritical, global conveyor belt for the Islamist-sympathizing propaganda machine in the Gaza Strip ("Pallywood"). (Might this have something to do with the fact that an estimated 135,000* of HuffPost's monthly visitors originate from Iran and Pakistan, two of the leading fomenters, exporters and supporters of global Islamist terror, especially against Jews? *See Section 4.3 here.)
On February 13, this was HuffPost's front page splash headline:
When one clicked on that story, here is the page that was brought up (Q: Does Microsoft realize that it is now supporting HuffPost's anti-Semitic bias? See banner ad at top.):
Let's take a closer look at that image in the center of the top row of "teasers":
This story is what HuffPost decided to place at its top billing, atop its main story of the day? This is a story of such vital importance that HuffPost gave it one of these prized positions?
And yet, when Israeli Jews --- whom HuffPost so routinely vilifies, and allows to be unjustly demonized via user comments --- perform such heroic acts in Haiti (while Muslim nations stood idle), HuffPost decided that this does not merit any mention as a news story?
Because of HuffPost's prominent placement of this story (which was posted at 2:54pm*), in less than 4 hours it received 233 comments --- even though it was "fully moderated" (*see timestamp at lower right of this screencap):
But that wasn't enough --- HuffPost pimped the "Palestinians as (victims) Avatar Characters" story as a top-line feature for a second day. On February 14, the following was HuffPost's splash headline of the evening:
When one clicked on that story, here's the page that came up --- note that the Palestinian story is once again at the very top of the page, as a teaser:
And yet, throughout HuffPost's extensive Haitian earthquake coverage, it featured not one news story about Israel's heroic, lifesaving actions there.
(B) A sampling of the other "news" stories that HuffPost ran during this period
As you review this list of "news" stories that HuffPost featured on its front page, ask yourself: Could it not have set aside its anti-Israel bias for one day, and devoted a little space to giving Israel credit for its work in Haiti?
Note also that negative stories relating to Israel (the only kind HuffPost published during this period, as usual) are highlighted in bold:
January 17:
- Lillian Peretz, Ex-Housekeeper, Alleges Netanyahu's Wife Abused Her
- Ricky Gervais: I Have A VERY Tiny Penis
- Jessica Alba Forgets To Shave Her Armpits
- Golden Globes Breast Dressed: Who Wore Cleavage Best?
January 18:
- Jennifer Aniston Shows Off Thigh, Cuddles With Gerard Butler
- Tobey Maguire: How I Lost 20 Pounds In 4 Weeks
- Skin-Lightening Creams May Also Bring Health Risks
January 19:
January 20:
January 22:
January 26:
- "HuffPost's State Of The Union Drinking Game"
- "Kirstie Alley Wants To Bash In Joy Behar's Privates"
- "World's Second Pregnant Man Due To Give Birth Next Month"
- "Donald Trump Sells Palm Beach Mansion For $100 Million"
January 27:
You get the idea.
And when Israel and/or Jews have been mentioned at HuffPost in the month since then, what was the context, and was it handled honestly? Judge for yourself:
2/17/10: HuffPost manipulates headline to falsely incriminate Israel in assassination; users unleash hate (HuffPost: "Approved!!!")
Another case in which HuffPost consciously ignored readily-available facts that balanced out an incendiary story about Israel, and instead reported only on accusations against Israel --- then dutifully approved and published numerous hateful comments that were incited by this biased "reporting." Examples: "This kind of rogue, murderous imperialism is why I truly hope Iran successfully builds nukes"; "Innocents are always killed by Israel anyway."
1/27/10: HuffPost twists crime story to focus on irrelevant Jewish aspect; users unleash anti-Semitic hate (HuffPost: "Approved!!!")
While the major news sources upon which HuffPost most often played this story "straight," it decided to create an incendiary headline that dealt only with the Jewish aspect of the story --- and it turns out its allegation was false. It then went on to actually protect a user whom it approved to post that he's "tired of all the Heebs in the world" --- while at the same time, continuing to censor and ban non-violating users, on a moment-to-moment basis.
In other words, it's anti-Semitic business-as-usual at HuffPost, as is documented in this extensive archive.
Also, don't miss this special report on Arianna Huffington's egregious hypocrisy, in accusing Fox News Channel of "inciting" hate, and of "inflammatory claims, heated exaggeration, suspiciousness, and conspiratorial fantasy, prey[ing] on fear, political instability, and economic suffering":
Beyond hypocrisy: Arianna Huffington accuses Fox of "inciting" hate
===============
CONCLUSION
The documentation in this special report demonstrates three key points:
1) There was no shortage of readily-available, professionally-produced media concerning Israel's heroic accomplishments in Haiti, from sources that HuffPost routinely relies upon.
2) HuffPost made a clear, conscious decision to not use any of this media, and to instead continue its blackout of any news that vindicates Israel, or shows it in anything approaching a positive light.
3) During this time, HuffPost decided to continue to run stories concerning Israel that present it in only a negative light --- and "news" of no consequence, in place of what could have been a token gesture to balancing its coverage of the Jewish state.
Taken in total, we contend this is a particularly malevolent incident in HuffPost's long history of anti-Semitic, anti-Israel bias.
If you share our concerns and would like to express your views directly to HuffPost, here's how.
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