This afternoon, HuffPost provided more proof to validate our allegation that for more than three years, despite its repeated public claims that it is "nonpartisan" in its news coverage, and is dedicated to "ferret[ing] out the truth, consequences be damned," it is engaged in a "journalistic jihad" against Israel.
In today's case, HuffPost deliberately turned the facts on their heads in order to clearly insinuate, in an inflammatory headline, that Israel attacked Gaza, and that it did so in order to sabotage peace talks.
To place today's events into recent context:
- For two weeks now, HuffPost has been pathologically ignoring Hamas's savage terror attacks against Jewish civilians, and the heartbreaking stories of the victims of those attacks.
. - HuffPost recently published and heavily promoted a fawning interview its Middle East correspondent conducted with a top Hamas terrorist.
. - HuffPost downplayed, then ignored the fact that Lebanon (with suspected help from Hezbollah) assassinated a beloved IDF officer, and father of four.
This afternoon, our friends at Huffington Post Monitor first documented that HuffPost published the following story at the top of its World page (it was also published near the bottom of its front page):
Wow, you mean Israel just decided to pulverize Gaza, as "leaders" convene peace talks? Really, HuffPost?
Here's how Matt at HPM framed it (emphasis added):
Holy smokes! Israeli jets have attacked Gaza for no reason?! While the leaders are meeting for peace talks at that very moment?!?! This is an outrage! Israel clearly has no interest in peace! They'll do anything to destroy these fragile talks, those bastards! That is, until you actually read the article (something most HPers do not do). Let's see what it says, shall we?"Militants launched mortar shells into Israel and Israeli jets bombed targets in Gaza on Wednesday, just as Israeli and Palestinian leaders held peace talks in Jerusalem with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton.Oh, there has been firing back and forth between Israel and the Gaza Strip today. The Gazans fired nine missiles into Israel, and Israel bombed a smuggling tunnel. How fascinating, that seems like the kind of information that should make it into the headline, it seems important.
Gaza militants opposed to peace with Israel have threatened to derail the fledgling negotiations, and the Israeli military said eight mortars and one rocket hit Israel by mid-afternoon on the day of the talks – the highest daily total since March 2009. There were no injuries."
Indeed, Matt. But HuffPost wasn't quite done inciting hatred against Israel on false grounds, for the day.
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HuffPost's new headline reverses the sequence of events in its own story, to falsely insinuate Israel was the aggressor, and Hamas the defender
At 6:00pm, we found this new headline:
Think about that one for a moment. "Israeli jets strike Gaza, militants launch shells..." According to HuffPost --- now a top ten American "news" site --- Israel struck Gaza for no reason, and then (unnamed) "militants" tried to defend themselves by firing shells.
Except, as HuffPost's own story makes clear, the sequence of events is exactly the opposite of what its headline claims:
Israeli warplanes responded [to the mortar and rocket attacks by Hamas] by bombing a smuggling tunnel along the Gaza-Egypt border, the military said.
[George Mitchell, the U.S. envoy for Mideast peace efforts] made no mention of the mortar shells fired into Israel by Palestinian militants in Gaza or of Israel's retaliatory air strike on Gaza [...]
So Israel was responding to these "militants'" (translation: Hamas's) rocket and mortar attacks with a retaliatory air strike. Got it.
But wait, there's more: Why would Israel respond by hitting the smuggling tunnels? Perhaps it have something to do with all these news stories that HuffPost has been pathologically neglecting to cover in recent weeks:
8/8/10: Hamas acquires a vast arsenal of advanced weaponry in preparation for new war against Israel
9/13/10: Steep increase in Hamas rocket attacks against Israel in last 24 hours
8/6/10: Gazans: Blast that hurt 50 Hamas's fault; Refugee camp residents begged Islamists to move weapons store
Gee, do you think Hamas might be ramping up to instigate yet another war against Israel?
Well, if one only relied on the self-proclaimed "Internet Newspaper" for enlightenment, one would think that if war breaks out, it will only be because Israel started it.
Note also that this isn't the first time HuffPost has pulled a stunt like this. Far from it:
- As documented here, in April 2010, HuffPost ran a front-page story entitled
"Israeli warplanes reportedly bomb Gaza Strip." In reality, the IDF was responding to Hamas rocket attacks, and using precision guided missiles, took out several weapons factories in densely-populated residential area in Gaza, without killing a single civilian. - As documented here, in April 2007, HuffPost did the same thing, with a story it entitled, "Israel fires missiles into Gaza." HuffPost's own story shows that it was responding to rockets being launched against its civilian areas --- but the way it played the story led to user comments such as, "Is there a Nation out there that will STOP the JEWS from killing innocent woman and children once and for all ? I just cant wait for the next Hollocaust, it will be faster and cleaner now that Seimens built a 500 seater Microwave Oven."
See this archive for many more examples of HuffPost's incitement of hatred towards Israel through false or decontextualized headlines.
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If you're as outraged as we are at HuffPost's persistent incitement and tolerance of hatred against Israel, and would like to make your voice known to its senior management (politely, please), here's how.
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So what kind of user comments to you HuffPost reviewed, approved and decided to publish, in response to its incitement?
Keep in mind that HuffPost's "Comment Policy" claims that it prohibits, and will not publish user comments anti-Semitic slurs or conspiracy theories. Right.
As you review the following user comments, which HuffPost admits only appeared after it reviewed, approved, and decided to publish them, ask yourself: Are you looking at an American-owned and operated website --- or one that caters to radical Islamist propagandists engaged in the cyber-jihad? (Note: An estimated 135,000 of HuffPost's monthly visitors originate from Iran and Pakistan; see Section 4.3 here.)
Note also that users with more than 20 "fans" are bolded, indicating that (a) they have been users for some time, and (b) they are not the hit-and-run "trolls" that Ms. Huffington likes to blame for "offensive comments" that "accidentally slipped through":
Macready
401 Fans
[...] the US has to pull the plug big time on israel . . . but our congress is controlled by the aipac/israel . . . so the israeli's get billions, a hot line to the pentagon . . not even the UK gets that .. . all the weapons and planes they want . . . all at the expense of the US taxpayers and peace in the Middle East
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nomoredead
157 Fans
Un-fu***ing believable ! Well the world is seeing who the real terrorist are in that region. What other country in that area is going around bombing other countries at will..
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jollyelle
58 Fans
[...] The moment President Obama stipulates that Israel must withdraw it's occupation and the IDF protection from Palestinian territories, is the same moment that a social and economic solution/revolution will begin. [...] Historically, Israel has never alone, it will always follow the regulations of the USA, that's if the administration has the audacity to make the demands at all.
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[Ed.: President Obama can order Israel to do things? Can he also order Hamas and Hezbollah to stop murdering and terrorizing Jews? To stop threatening to exterminate them? Or is it just Israel that an American president should be able to boss around? Just wondering.]soitgoes12
nomoredead
157 Fans
Same old Israeli MO...bulldoze houses, provoke, provoke, provoke then when the militants are so mad they send a few rockets over that usually land in fields with no injuries..send in the fighter jets and get out the press releases of how they are picked on.
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678 Fans
[...] Israel has way too much control over US policy. Read a little bit into AIPAC
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Last Gasp
5 Fans
I think that Israel was actually the one guilty of striking first. The israeli military always lies [...]
PermalinkHUFFPOST SUPER USER
LucidPanther
103 Fans
[...] regarding dual citizenship, why does any American need another homeland? Isn't America enough? How can one be equally loyal to two nations when their interests will invariably conflict at times? This kind of "dual loyalties" is what gave us Jonathon Pollard.
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baba2nde
80 Fans
You must not be posting AIPAC-approved comments [...]
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Jolicoeur180 Fans
I have been made to understand that Jew and Israel are not synonymous For some reason I can't find "Jew" in AIPAC.
PermalinkRandyRagoonanan
62 Fans
[...] its a fact that Mossad has infiltrated the American government, thats not a conspiracy. A conspiracy is 19 arabs hijacked american planes and somehow expertly flew them into buildings and made the planes disappear yet a passport made of paper survived
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If you have any doubt as to whether these comments constitute anti-Semitism, please see: Anti-Semitism 101 (and the Zionist canard)
Previously, related:
8/31/10: HuffPost spits in eyes of murdered Israelis (again), shills for Hamas (again); cyber-jihadis unleash hate-fest (HuffPost: "Approved!!!").
8/23/10: HuffPost spits in the eye of a murdered IDF officer, Israel and Jews everywhere --- while deep-kissing Lebanon and Hezbollah
7/31/10: Is HuffPost even more anti-Israel than Al-Jazeera? Yes
3/29/09: MSM starts backpedaling on IDF "atrocities." Will HuffPost?
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