I have recently stumbled across two simply wonderful short essays - available online. I strongly encourage anyone interested on Middle East politics or foreign US policies to read them.
I hope you don`t have problems with the first essay - in any case, if you can`t reach it, just click www.ifamericansknew.org and surf the site. It is worth the effort!
The essay deals with cover-up in American press concerning the Israel-Palestine conflict.

http://www.ifamericansknew.org/media/sides.html

The second one is almost as good, only that deals with a recent problem while the last one talks of something that has been going on for decades.
Baghdad Year Zero is an account of the last year in Irak, from a close perspective. Really, it is totally different from news on TV!

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article6930.htm

Ummm, I ahve only read the first section of the first article, but I am quite surprised.

What is shown in american press?

I assume you see one part of the history: Frequent bomb (usually suicide) attacks in Israel's territory committed by one of the dozen pro-palestinian terrorist bands.

Do you see the other side?

For example:

- Israel's soldiers using a kid as a human shield (keeping him on a jeep's front for hours)

- A peace activist being killed by an Israel's tank passing over her.

- Whole blocks of apartments being bulldozed by Israel's tanks and bulldozers because a terrorist family lived in one of the apartments.

- A handful of palestinian kids throwing stones at Israel's tanks and then Israel's soldiers shooting at one or two and killing them.

- A "selective" helicopter attack in which Israel troops shoot at a car with a missile which kills the car occupants and everyone who passes in the nearby.

- Palestinian police department being destroyed and a dozen palestinian policemen killed in response to a suicide bombing in Israel's territory.

- Croplands destroyed (scientific projects included) in response to an attack to a colony.

- etc...

Note that I'm not positioning myself on this issue (I believe that both sides are to blame for the violence) and that I'm not talking about jews and moslems but Israel and Palestine (which are both formed by moslems, jews, catholics, copts, ortodoxs, and a pletora of religions).

I just wanted to know if all this we see everyday is known by the average american.

Fernando

Yes Fernando,of course we do,this is a FREE country BELIEVE IT OR NOT,and also some media confront this situation to some political leaders in this country, FIDEL.

Christobo Carrin,
Congratulations! In less than four months your command of the English language has improved so much that you write like a native now!!!!

Fernando,

As a librarian, I can professionally state that what that organization purports, that Americans do not have access to the so called "truth", is incorrect. Americans willing to inform themselves have enormous opportunities to do so. The Internet has done more to democratize society than any other medium of communication. Look at the Pew " American Life Project."

For those without access to the Internet, our government prints the text of all accounts in Congress and that is available daily in Libraries, the Congressional Record, this lists all appropriations and the amounts paid to each country by the U. S. Taxpayers. From the Executive Branch of the government, there is the Annual Budget a mammoth document, also available at your public library, as well as online, this lists where the money appropiated is disbursed. There is so much out there that I cannot list it all. Our public libraries are free and accessible to all residents.

Regarding this group's article. It has long been a well known fact that the U.S. has consistently been assisting Israel. Most Americans know that. Since the administration of President Eisenhower, Democratic and Republican congresses and Presidents have done so because it was and is in our best interest to do so. First due to the Cold War and now due to the War on Terror. President Carter, arguably one of the most knowledgeable statesmen in the U.S. today, has focussed on this very same issue, which he disseminates often in the press.

Is our media biased against the Palestinians? I would say the opposite is the case, if there is bias, they are biased towards the Israelis. A couple of years ago CNN was stongly criticized because of their biased coverage in favor of the Palestinians.

Is our media biased in general? Yes! As is the media of every country in the world, including Spain and all of Europe! If you want to get closer to the truth you have to actively look at the primary documents!!!

The fact is that the two articles that Cristobo brought us are presenting biased opinions. They do not provide the fullness of the arguments: just the part that is against the State of Israel.

Saludos,
Carmen

Ok Booklady, that is what I thought just that Cristobo´s articles made me thought

The conflict between Israel and Palestine is an issue I don't like to discuss because I don't have enough knowledge to support my opinions.

Fernando

What an utter revelation. Israelis committing atrocities against Palestians.....who would have thought. And our government supporting our only ally in the Middle East....outrageous.

How bout a reality check. Sometime, more and more, I don't know what planet some people live on.

Did you ever hear about our allies, Iraelis, spying on us a few years ago? How did that ever make it through our government controlled press? Give me a break.

Gazpacho, three things:
1-Jordania, Egypt, most of the Gulf monarchies and even Saudi Arabia are good supporters of US strategic interests in the area, let alone Turkey which is one of your key allies between the Middle East and Europe
2-If Israel is an ally, who needs enemies? What good has the US got from Israel in the last 60 years?
2- If you don`t enjoy much simpathy between Middle Easterners, that is mainly because you support Israel. If you gave up that relation, soon you would have more than one friend in the area

Booklady
You are being unfair. The first article I enclosed doesn`t suggest at any point that there is any kind of government-sponsored censorship. In fact, the first point of the author is self-criticism, since she admits that much part of responsability for disinformation lies on citizens, as she herself was at first, who don`t bother to make a research on their own. Having said that, it is not possible today to simply dismiss the influence of the media on public opinion and therefore, on the very development of history.
The following goes also for Gazpacho: yeah, news reluctantly admit now and them that, well, at times some terrorist or under-aged would-be terrorists (that is, children) die in Israel shot by a cruise missile. I know they report it. But the point is not if the talk about it at all, but rather HOW MUCH they do. "If Americans Knew" is totally right on that: you can easily measure how biased is a paper or a TV channel, just counting how many casualties they mention on each side.
As to the Israeli spies, please, don`t make laugh. When the media want to blow a scandal, they don`t make a couple of mentions a month on it: they insist on it for months and years until "something" happens, just as they did with Monica Lewinsky or the bore about who served in Vietnam and for how long.
Imagine what, if all TV channels had insisted on the Israeli spies case as stubbornly as they did with Miss Lewinsky scandal! Might it be that someone, even in whispers, dared to suggest that well, perhaps it is time to review the alliances in the Middle East? Imagine, if they had kept ENRON a hot topic for half as long as Lewinsky¡ Would they have started a new impeachment, then?
There is not any censorship at all, it is more simple than that: the media are just private companies, and the main shareholders decide the bias of the news. I can`t even disagree on that, those people have a right on their company, don`t they?
TODAY, 2004, a new nest of spies has been uncovered in Washington, and again the AIPAC is involved. The FBI investigation has been going on for two years.
The second article doesn`t even mention Israel! Booklady admits at least that it reports facts. Being it so, I think these facts are simply shocking and can`t be ignored to anyone that is trying to understand the current war in Irak. And I think also that anyone who reads it will admit that the author made a great research. Certainly you can`t get such a deep, thorough picture of the situation through TV.

Way to go Carmen! -

Humor is a very good thing!