"These Are Not 'Clashes'": Media Slammed for Coverage Amid Deadly IDF Attacks on Gaza
A U.S. State Department spokesperson also faced criticism for refusing to condemn the reported killing of Palestinian children.
A wounded Palestinian child was brought to Indonesian Hospital to receive medical treatment after Israeli airstrikes in the Gaza Strip on May 10, 2021 in Beit Lahia, Gaza. At least 20 Palestinians, including nine children, were killed, according to local health authorities. (Photo: Ali Jadallah/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
Amid reporting that Israeli airstrikes on the Gaza Strip killed at least 20 Palestinians, including nine children, rights activists and journalists on Monday called out some members of the media for covering the latest developments with language that misrepresents the power dynamics of the region.
After Israeli forces injured hundreds of Palestinians with rubber bullets, stun grenades, and tear gas at the Al-Aqsa Mosque—and refused to stand down—Hamas fired rockets at Jerusalem. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) responded with the deadly airstrikes, claiming to strike "Hamas terror targets."
As Jack Mirkinson of Discourse Blog and many other critics pointed out, outlets including the Associated Press, BBC, New York Times, Reuters, and the Washington Post used "clash" or "clashes" to describe the attack on the mosque, which is a holy site for Muslims and Jews. As Mirkinson wrote Monday:
This is not a "clash" between two equal sides. This is a straightforward attack by Israel on Palestinians. For days, the Israeli government has been systematically assaulting Palestinians worshipping at one of the holiest sites in Islam, during Ramadan, all while enforcing a move to ethnically cleanse a Jerusalem neighborhood of its Palestinian residents. Israeli forces have fired rubber bullets and stun grenades, injuring hundreds of people. The deputy mayor of Jerusalem has been filmed lamenting that Palestinian activists weren't shot in the head.
Israel is one of the most militarily advanced countries in the world, thanks to the United States. It is the government in charge. It is the occupying power. It is the one taking active steps to displace Palestinians, to attack worshipers at a mosque. The asymmetry at play is beyond overwhelming.
Some reports "are completely bewildering," he wrote, while others "are clearly so nervous about veering from the script that even when they start strong, they descend into near-gibberish."
I received zero email alerts from the New York Times about what Israel has been doing in recent days. But now that Hamas has fired a rocket, and Israel (not Palestine) is “on edge," it’s a different story. https://t.co/ssQDeZXx94 pic.twitter.com/p9jtSBQXpa
— Jack Mirkinson (@jackmirkinson) May 10, 2021
Mirkinson was far from alone. In a statement Monday night, Linda Sarsour, executive director and co-founder of MPower Change, the largest Muslim-led digital advocacy organization in the United States, said, "These are not 'clashes.'"
"They are attacks," Sarsour continued. "They are violent assaults by an occupying force. They are acts of ethnic cleansing, carried out by Israeli forces, on Palestinians, for worshipping at the Al-Aqsa Mosque during the holy month of Ramadan, or for merely existing in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah."
As Common Dreams has reported in recent days, attempts by Israeli settlers and security forces to drive Palestinians out of the Al-Bustan and Sheikh Jarrah neighborhoods in occupied East Jerusalem have sparked global condemnation—including from some progressive U.S. lawmakers.
"One word you hear a lot when you cover Israel-Palestine is the word 'clashes'. 'There are clashes between Israelis and Palestinians in Jerusalem tonight!' It's a word, personally, I cannot stand."
Let @mehdirhasan explain why: pic.twitter.com/5cJxj5ZV52
— The Mehdi Hasan Show (@MehdiHasanShow) May 10, 2021
"What we're seeing aren't 'clashes,'" Sarsour emphasized. "What we're seeing is the oppression of an apartheid state, against people engaged in peaceful worship during the holiest nights of the year for Muslims around the world."
"The Palestinians are a resilient people," she added. "They want freedom and liberation. They want to live with dignity. They want justice—all universal values, rights, and principles we all deserve. Let's stop the whitewashing of their systemic, violent oppression."
"Clashes" isn't the only word choice that has "stoked controversy," Alex MacDonald reported Monday for Middle East Eye. Others include "conflict," "property dispute," and the terms used when referring to structures at "the Old City complex which houses Al-Aqsa Mosque, the Dome of the Rock, and the Western Wall."
Terms such as "clashes", "conflict" and "property dispute" have been criticised for distorting the narrative coming out of Jerusalem.
We take a look at the words and phrases which have sparked controversy: https://t.co/PgeM7i5MBX
— Middle East Eye (@MiddleEastEye) May 10, 2021
Reporters, rights advocates, and progressive lawmakers also called out U.S. State Department spokesperson Ned Price for how he handled questions from journalists on Monday, including his refusal to explicitly condemn the IDF's reported killing of Palestinian children in the airstrikes.
"Washington is increasingly twisting its tongue in knots trying to square what they say is their support for human rights with support for Israel as it commits war crimes and crimes against humanity," tweeted Yousef Munayyer, a Palestinian-American writer and political analyst, with a video clip.
U.S. Rep Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), the first Palestinian-American woman elected to Congress, also weighed in, tagging Price's official Twitter account:
Is @StateDeptSpox really refusing to condemn the killing of Palestinian children? https://t.co/h3tXqaxqXp
— Rashida Tlaib (@RashidaTlaib) May 10, 2021
Jeremy Scahill of The Intercept—which last month published a thorough examination of U.S. President Joe Biden's record on foreign and military issues, including "what would become a career-spanning defense of Israeli militarism"—pointed out that Price's responses were not surprising.
"The questions from reporters here are solid. And the answers from the State Department spokesperson are, unfortunately, not shocking," Scahill said. "This is a bipartisan horror and Joe Biden has a very long history of defending Israel's gratuitous violence and killings."
U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.)—who, along with Tlaib, was the first Muslim woman elected to Congress—took to Twitter Monday to address an issue Price was questioned about: the right to self-defense.
Many will tell you Israel has a right to defend itself, to safety and security, but are silent on whether Palestinians have those rights too.
Until we can defend the rights of Palestinians just as we do Israelis, we have no leg to stand on when it comes to justice or peace.
— Ilhan Omar (@IlhanMN) May 10, 2021
Meanwhile, some Israeli Jews took to the streets chanting "Yimach Shemam," a Hebrew phrase that means "may their names be erased," which was denounced as "sick," "shocking," and "revolting."
I am sharing this, reluctantly, to point to the song they're singing. It's a Kahanist revenge song, words from the biblical story of Samson:
"O God, that I may be at once avenged of the Philistines for my two eyes"
(Yimach Shemam, may their name be effaced, the youths chant) https://t.co/OZCYNpdjUF
— Yair Wallach (@YairWallach) May 10, 2021
"Hard to capture how deeply horrifying this video is. Thousands of Israeli Jews singing about revenge... dancing as a fire burns on the Temple Mount," said Simone Zimmerman, director of B'Tselem USA and co-founder of IfNotNow. "This is genocidal animus towards Palestinians—emboldened and unfiltered."
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
A U.S. State Department spokesperson also faced criticism for refusing to condemn the reported killing of Palestinian children.
A wounded Palestinian child was brought to Indonesian Hospital to receive medical treatment after Israeli airstrikes in the Gaza Strip on May 10, 2021 in Beit Lahia, Gaza. At least 20 Palestinians, including nine children, were killed, according to local health authorities. (Photo: Ali Jadallah/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
Amid reporting that Israeli airstrikes on the Gaza Strip killed at least 20 Palestinians, including nine children, rights activists and journalists on Monday called out some members of the media for covering the latest developments with language that misrepresents the power dynamics of the region.
After Israeli forces injured hundreds of Palestinians with rubber bullets, stun grenades, and tear gas at the Al-Aqsa Mosque—and refused to stand down—Hamas fired rockets at Jerusalem. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) responded with the deadly airstrikes, claiming to strike "Hamas terror targets."
As Jack Mirkinson of Discourse Blog and many other critics pointed out, outlets including the Associated Press, BBC, New York Times, Reuters, and the Washington Post used "clash" or "clashes" to describe the attack on the mosque, which is a holy site for Muslims and Jews. As Mirkinson wrote Monday:
This is not a "clash" between two equal sides. This is a straightforward attack by Israel on Palestinians. For days, the Israeli government has been systematically assaulting Palestinians worshipping at one of the holiest sites in Islam, during Ramadan, all while enforcing a move to ethnically cleanse a Jerusalem neighborhood of its Palestinian residents. Israeli forces have fired rubber bullets and stun grenades, injuring hundreds of people. The deputy mayor of Jerusalem has been filmed lamenting that Palestinian activists weren't shot in the head.
Israel is one of the most militarily advanced countries in the world, thanks to the United States. It is the government in charge. It is the occupying power. It is the one taking active steps to displace Palestinians, to attack worshipers at a mosque. The asymmetry at play is beyond overwhelming.
Some reports "are completely bewildering," he wrote, while others "are clearly so nervous about veering from the script that even when they start strong, they descend into near-gibberish."
I received zero email alerts from the New York Times about what Israel has been doing in recent days. But now that Hamas has fired a rocket, and Israel (not Palestine) is “on edge," it’s a different story. https://t.co/ssQDeZXx94 pic.twitter.com/p9jtSBQXpa
— Jack Mirkinson (@jackmirkinson) May 10, 2021
Mirkinson was far from alone. In a statement Monday night, Linda Sarsour, executive director and co-founder of MPower Change, the largest Muslim-led digital advocacy organization in the United States, said, "These are not 'clashes.'"
"They are attacks," Sarsour continued. "They are violent assaults by an occupying force. They are acts of ethnic cleansing, carried out by Israeli forces, on Palestinians, for worshipping at the Al-Aqsa Mosque during the holy month of Ramadan, or for merely existing in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah."
As Common Dreams has reported in recent days, attempts by Israeli settlers and security forces to drive Palestinians out of the Al-Bustan and Sheikh Jarrah neighborhoods in occupied East Jerusalem have sparked global condemnation—including from some progressive U.S. lawmakers.
"One word you hear a lot when you cover Israel-Palestine is the word 'clashes'. 'There are clashes between Israelis and Palestinians in Jerusalem tonight!' It's a word, personally, I cannot stand."
Let @mehdirhasan explain why: pic.twitter.com/5cJxj5ZV52
— The Mehdi Hasan Show (@MehdiHasanShow) May 10, 2021
"What we're seeing aren't 'clashes,'" Sarsour emphasized. "What we're seeing is the oppression of an apartheid state, against people engaged in peaceful worship during the holiest nights of the year for Muslims around the world."
"The Palestinians are a resilient people," she added. "They want freedom and liberation. They want to live with dignity. They want justice—all universal values, rights, and principles we all deserve. Let's stop the whitewashing of their systemic, violent oppression."
"Clashes" isn't the only word choice that has "stoked controversy," Alex MacDonald reported Monday for Middle East Eye. Others include "conflict," "property dispute," and the terms used when referring to structures at "the Old City complex which houses Al-Aqsa Mosque, the Dome of the Rock, and the Western Wall."
Terms such as "clashes", "conflict" and "property dispute" have been criticised for distorting the narrative coming out of Jerusalem.
We take a look at the words and phrases which have sparked controversy: https://t.co/PgeM7i5MBX
— Middle East Eye (@MiddleEastEye) May 10, 2021
Reporters, rights advocates, and progressive lawmakers also called out U.S. State Department spokesperson Ned Price for how he handled questions from journalists on Monday, including his refusal to explicitly condemn the IDF's reported killing of Palestinian children in the airstrikes.
"Washington is increasingly twisting its tongue in knots trying to square what they say is their support for human rights with support for Israel as it commits war crimes and crimes against humanity," tweeted Yousef Munayyer, a Palestinian-American writer and political analyst, with a video clip.
U.S. Rep Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), the first Palestinian-American woman elected to Congress, also weighed in, tagging Price's official Twitter account:
Is @StateDeptSpox really refusing to condemn the killing of Palestinian children? https://t.co/h3tXqaxqXp
— Rashida Tlaib (@RashidaTlaib) May 10, 2021
Jeremy Scahill of The Intercept—which last month published a thorough examination of U.S. President Joe Biden's record on foreign and military issues, including "what would become a career-spanning defense of Israeli militarism"—pointed out that Price's responses were not surprising.
"The questions from reporters here are solid. And the answers from the State Department spokesperson are, unfortunately, not shocking," Scahill said. "This is a bipartisan horror and Joe Biden has a very long history of defending Israel's gratuitous violence and killings."
U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.)—who, along with Tlaib, was the first Muslim woman elected to Congress—took to Twitter Monday to address an issue Price was questioned about: the right to self-defense.
Many will tell you Israel has a right to defend itself, to safety and security, but are silent on whether Palestinians have those rights too.
Until we can defend the rights of Palestinians just as we do Israelis, we have no leg to stand on when it comes to justice or peace.
— Ilhan Omar (@IlhanMN) May 10, 2021
Meanwhile, some Israeli Jews took to the streets chanting "Yimach Shemam," a Hebrew phrase that means "may their names be erased," which was denounced as "sick," "shocking," and "revolting."
I am sharing this, reluctantly, to point to the song they're singing. It's a Kahanist revenge song, words from the biblical story of Samson:
"O God, that I may be at once avenged of the Philistines for my two eyes"
(Yimach Shemam, may their name be effaced, the youths chant) https://t.co/OZCYNpdjUF
— Yair Wallach (@YairWallach) May 10, 2021
"Hard to capture how deeply horrifying this video is. Thousands of Israeli Jews singing about revenge... dancing as a fire burns on the Temple Mount," said Simone Zimmerman, director of B'Tselem USA and co-founder of IfNotNow. "This is genocidal animus towards Palestinians—emboldened and unfiltered."
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
Refusal to Condemn Israel's Killing of Children in Gaza
"This unsurprising response is devoid of empathy and concern for human suffering," said Rep. Ilhan Omar. "He can't even condemn the killing of children."
U.S. State Department spokesman Ned Price listens to questions from reporters during a press briefing at the State Department in Washington, D.C. on March 31, 2021. (Photo: Carolyn Kaster/Pool/AFP via Getty Images)
Pressed repeatedly by reporters during a briefing on Monday, U.S. State Department spokesperson Ned Price refused to condemn Israel's killing of children with airstrikes on Gaza, offering evasive and mealy-mouthed responses that members of Congress slammed as unacceptable.
"We cannot just condemn rockets fired by Hamas and ignore Israel's state-sanctioned police violence against Palestinians—including unlawful evictions, violent attacks on protestors, and the murder of Palestinian children."
—Rep. Mark Pocan
Asked straightforwardly whether he condemns the killing of Palestinian children, Price replied that the Biden administration does not "have independent confirmation of facts on the ground yet" and is "hesitant to get into reports that are just emerging."
"Obviously, the deaths of civilians, be they Israeli or Palestinians, are something we would take very seriously," added Price.
Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), whip for the Congressional Progressive Caucus, tweeted late Monday that "this unsurprising response is devoid of empathy and concern for human suffering."
"He can't even condemn the killing of children," Omar added.
Yousef Munayyer, a Palestinian-American writer and political analyst, called Price's remarks "spineless."
Reporters press US State Department on Palestinian right to self-defence #EastJerusalem#AlAqsa pic.twitter.com/U3cmK54TRM
— The National (@TheNationalNews) May 10, 2021
According to the Palestinian Health Ministry, Israel's airstrikes in Gaza on Monday killed 24 people, including nine children. Israel claimed it was targeting "Hamas operatives" and said the airstrikes were retaliation for rockets fired into Israel from Gaza, which reportedly caused several injuries.
Hamas claimed responsibility for a rocket attack in Jerusalem, where Israeli security forces injured more than 300 Palestinians earlier Monday in an assault on the Al-Aqsa mosque compound, Islam's third-holiest site.
At the start of Monday's briefing, Price stressed "Israel's legitimate right to defend itself and to defend its people and its territory." But asked whether Palestinians have the same right, Price quickly reverted to defending the broad principle of self-defense while refusing to answer the question.
"It is long past time we finally take action to protect Palestinian human rights and save lives."
—Reps. Ilhan Omar, Rashida Tlaib, and André Carson
"We believe in the concept of self-defense," said Price. "We believe it applies to any state."
Given that Palestinians are a stateless people living under Israeli military occupation, they would not have a right to self-defense under Price's standard, as Associated Press reporter Matt Lee pointed out.
"Are you saying the Palestinians don't have a right to self-defense?" Lee asked, to which Price replied, "I was making a broader point not attached to Israel or the Palestinians in that case... I'm not in a position to debate the legalities from up here."
Following the State Department press briefing, Rep. Mark Pocan (D-Wis.) tweeted that "we cannot just condemn rockets fired by Hamas and ignore Israel's state-sanctioned police violence against Palestinians—including unlawful evictions, violent attacks on protestors, and the murder of Palestinian children."
"U.S. aid should not be funding this violence," Pocan added.
Omar, Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), and Rep. André Carson (D-Ind.) sent a similar message in a joint statement issued Monday, declaring, "We are horrified by the violent assault by Israeli forces on the Al-Aqsa mosque, and the continued violent attacks on the Palestinian people during the holy month of Ramadan.
"We continue to provide the Israeli government with over $3 billion in military aid every year—with no conditions or accountability for wanton human rights abuses and continuing illegal seizures of Palestinian land," the lawmakers continued. "For decades, we have paid lip service to a Palestinian state, while land seizures, settlement expansion, and forced displacement continue, making a future home for Palestinians more and more out of reach."
"It is long past time we finally take action to protect Palestinian human rights and save lives," the trio said.
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
"This unsurprising response is devoid of empathy and concern for human suffering," said Rep. Ilhan Omar. "He can't even condemn the killing of children."
U.S. State Department spokesman Ned Price listens to questions from reporters during a press briefing at the State Department in Washington, D.C. on March 31, 2021. (Photo: Carolyn Kaster/Pool/AFP via Getty Images)
Pressed repeatedly by reporters during a briefing on Monday, U.S. State Department spokesperson Ned Price refused to condemn Israel's killing of children with airstrikes on Gaza, offering evasive and mealy-mouthed responses that members of Congress slammed as unacceptable.
"We cannot just condemn rockets fired by Hamas and ignore Israel's state-sanctioned police violence against Palestinians—including unlawful evictions, violent attacks on protestors, and the murder of Palestinian children."
—Rep. Mark Pocan
Asked straightforwardly whether he condemns the killing of Palestinian children, Price replied that the Biden administration does not "have independent confirmation of facts on the ground yet" and is "hesitant to get into reports that are just emerging."
"Obviously, the deaths of civilians, be they Israeli or Palestinians, are something we would take very seriously," added Price.
Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), whip for the Congressional Progressive Caucus, tweeted late Monday that "this unsurprising response is devoid of empathy and concern for human suffering."
"He can't even condemn the killing of children," Omar added.
Yousef Munayyer, a Palestinian-American writer and political analyst, called Price's remarks "spineless."
Reporters press US State Department on Palestinian right to self-defence #EastJerusalem#AlAqsa pic.twitter.com/U3cmK54TRM
— The National (@TheNationalNews) May 10, 2021
According to the Palestinian Health Ministry, Israel's airstrikes in Gaza on Monday killed 24 people, including nine children. Israel claimed it was targeting "Hamas operatives" and said the airstrikes were retaliation for rockets fired into Israel from Gaza, which reportedly caused several injuries.
Hamas claimed responsibility for a rocket attack in Jerusalem, where Israeli security forces injured more than 300 Palestinians earlier Monday in an assault on the Al-Aqsa mosque compound, Islam's third-holiest site.
At the start of Monday's briefing, Price stressed "Israel's legitimate right to defend itself and to defend its people and its territory." But asked whether Palestinians have the same right, Price quickly reverted to defending the broad principle of self-defense while refusing to answer the question.
"It is long past time we finally take action to protect Palestinian human rights and save lives."
—Reps. Ilhan Omar, Rashida Tlaib, and André Carson
"We believe in the concept of self-defense," said Price. "We believe it applies to any state."
Given that Palestinians are a stateless people living under Israeli military occupation, they would not have a right to self-defense under Price's standard, as Associated Press reporter Matt Lee pointed out.
"Are you saying the Palestinians don't have a right to self-defense?" Lee asked, to which Price replied, "I was making a broader point not attached to Israel or the Palestinians in that case... I'm not in a position to debate the legalities from up here."
Following the State Department press briefing, Rep. Mark Pocan (D-Wis.) tweeted that "we cannot just condemn rockets fired by Hamas and ignore Israel's state-sanctioned police violence against Palestinians—including unlawful evictions, violent attacks on protestors, and the murder of Palestinian children."
"U.S. aid should not be funding this violence," Pocan added.
Omar, Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), and Rep. André Carson (D-Ind.) sent a similar message in a joint statement issued Monday, declaring, "We are horrified by the violent assault by Israeli forces on the Al-Aqsa mosque, and the continued violent attacks on the Palestinian people during the holy month of Ramadan.
"We continue to provide the Israeli government with over $3 billion in military aid every year—with no conditions or accountability for wanton human rights abuses and continuing illegal seizures of Palestinian land," the lawmakers continued. "For decades, we have paid lip service to a Palestinian state, while land seizures, settlement expansion, and forced displacement continue, making a future home for Palestinians more and more out of reach."
"It is long past time we finally take action to protect Palestinian human rights and save lives," the trio said.
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
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