Think you can rely on the mainstream media for balanced and common sense reporting on the conflict Middle East? If you're a progressive, you'll have no problem finding reporters and experts who want to negotiate with terrorists and claim that Israel is committing war crimes and human rights violations. Don't expect to see too much coverage of Hamas terrorists dragging bodies through the streets or using civilians as human shields, though. No, the media wants you to think Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood are legitimate, peaceful political groups who just want peace in the Middle East. Of course, peace for them means the end of Israel and "death to the Jews"!
ON MSNBC, NBC's report in Gaza Ayman Mohyeldin said:
Well the United States can definitely play a pivotal role. I don’t think people in this part of the world feel it has played the role it should be playing. And that really comes down to two very important factors: One, the United States does not have any direct contact with the Palestinian factions which it, and Israel, and others label as terrorist organizations. Despite the fact Hamas did win democratic elections here, despite the fact that it is a part of the fabric of Palestinian politics. That simply cannot be ignored or isolated or marginalized. They have instead focused on the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank, and this hasn’t necessarily produced tangible results. So, there’s a lot of problems in terms of getting everyone on the same table. Not everyone sits at the same table. So, people would first, and U.S. officials in the past, including President Jimmy Carter and others, they’ve argued that that dynamic in itself has to change; there has to be a bigger, wider table for negotiations in order for this problem to be solved. The other issue has to be able to rein in Israel in terms of the actions it takes on the ground. We referenced this yesterday, one of the biggest issues, and because Israel is such a dependent recipient of U.S. military aid, and money, that when it comes to Israeli settlement expansion in the West Bank, it hasn’t stopped, despite the fact that the U.S. opposes this policy. People in this part of the world will say, very simply, well, how can the U.S., which gives so much money to Israel, not stop it from doing something against the U.S. interest, which is a two-state solution.
WATCH:
"We shouldn't sit at the same table. Not everybody ‑‑ look. Everybody sitting at the same table at Thanksgiving? No. There's a kiddie's table, okay? There's a kids' table. Hamas you go sit at the kids table. You don't belong with the adults. You're putting your fingers up your nose and blowing your friends up. You don't belong at the big, big people's table. Sorry. We don't ‑‑ what are you talking about?" Glenn said in disbelief.
"You know what else this is doing? This is allowing the Muslim Brotherhood to look like peace brokers. They're coming in, they're arming. I'm telling you, when congress gets back in session, we have got to get on the phone and get the House to say cut the funding off for Egypt. Cut the funding off for Egypt."
MSNBC wasn't the only network Glenn took issue with. He was also critical of CNN contributors claiming that Israel had committed just as many atrocities in the region as Hamas.
"You know what CNN did this morning? CNN, I was watching the news and I'm seeing that they're reporting now the bus bombing and somebody's like, 'This is really going to be bad for the peace process,' and one of the anchors actually butted in and said, 'You know, but we can't look at this just as a ‑‑ just as an isolated incident. We can't look at this just at today. Atrocities have been happening on both sides for a very long time and so you can't just look at this one incident and try to figure out what to do based on this one incident.' Are you kidding me?"
"Are you talking about retaliating for rocket attacks, 8,000 of them?" Pat asked.
"I mean, Hamas puts their rockets in the middle of schoolyards," Stu said. "And then it's Israel's fault. I mean, is that an atrocity? It's a tragedy. I mean, I don't ‑‑ Israel's not trying to kill families of nine."
"People die in war. When you fire rockets at someone, people are going to die. And unfortunately that happens," Stu added. "I think Israel does a pretty good job at trying to make sure those things don't happen. They are not trying to kill innocent people. But they also have to protect their own innocent people."