Israel Is Forever: Special feature to the Calling Out Community, Posted November 25, 2015.

The Media Party. Big Media. The “news media”. Network news. We all have a  favorite moniker for these bastions of global information, these titans of “journalistic excellence”, these… quacks at times who couldn’t tell the truth or get the story right if there was a gun to their collective heads.

No matter whether you are Left or Right wing politically – or one of those rare breed who have successfully clipped those wings in favor of true independent thought – you have likely noted either with joy or frustration one simple fact. Almost down to a station-by-station confirmation…

Nearly all of them despise Israel.

There are notable exceptions of course – Fox News Network in the United States and The Rebel Media in Canada tend to have a more balanced and dare I say even progressive view of Israel.

As for the remaining motley crew of media hacks, they aren’t actually going to tell you that they can’t stand Israel, as they still have to show a measure of political correctness (though even PC thought favours Antisemitism hands-down).  Often they speak with passive-aggressive finger-shaking disdain for Israel and the Jews.  And sometimes, they show their disgust as much by what they don’t say as what they do.

Media bias toward Israel

An excellent article on this subject was published in the November 30, 2014 issue of The Atlantic, entitled “What the Media Gets Wrong About Israel“.  I strongly encourage every thinking person, and every supporter of Israel, to read this article.  In it, journalist Matti Friedman opens with a powerful observation:

During the Gaza war this summer, it became clear that one of the most important aspects of the media-saturated conflict between Jews and Arabs is also the least covered: the press itself. The Western press has become less an observer of this conflict than an actor in it, a role with consequences for the millions of people trying to comprehend current events, including policymakers who depend on journalistic accounts to understand a region where they consistently seek, and fail, to productively intervene.

One dictionary states that “journalism” is:

The activity or profession of writing for newspapers or magazines or of broadcasting news on radio or television.

Perhaps journalists have gone astray by the definition of what constitutes “news”.  Walter Cronkite would not have done a piece about Beyoncé and Jay-Z’s baby – it just wouldn’t have happened.  And when reporting the news from the battlefront, his calibre of reporter would not have felt it necessary to tell us how his vehicle was shot at by armed militants in the conflict, when nothing was further from the truth.  The story itself was captivating enough – we don’t need our journalists to actually be actors on the stage.  Thanks for that punch in our trust gut, Brian Williams.

There are times, however, when Big Media steps so over the line into the Twilight Zone that everyone, no matter their political persuasion, is left saying “what the _____?”

Such is the case with mighty CNN, the self-described on their current advertising sales sheet “World’s News Leader”, who this week visibly and legibly manifested proof of a deep-seated hostility toward Israel.  Quite simply, in a nutshell – they removed Israel from the map (above).  Literally.

In a recent article about airstrikes being carried out over Syria today in the conflict there, a map of the region was published, showing the major cities the area.  All of the other nations in the region show the name of a city and it’s capital (Beirut, Lebanon; Amman, Jordan, etc.) and Jerusalem is shown representing Israel (though Tel Aviv is the capital).  No problem – many of us believe Jerusalem is the true capital of Israel.

But wait, what’s this?  The nation of modern Israel, now nearly 7 decades old with further 3,000 years of continuous Jewish presence in the region, is not mentioned on the map.  What does appear, however, is some place called “Palestina” – a Spanish or Portuguese variation of “Palestine”.

That is the only name on the map that doesn’t seem to be in English, so it completely out of place – not to mention the fact that “Palestine” hasn’t actually appeared on a map in, oh…..67 years.  Last time I checked, Palestina was real as Narnia, Mordor and Neverland.

Cair Paravel, the royal palace of Narnia – which like Palestina is also imaginary

Now, this was not just some printing error or a mistaken use of an old map.  THERE ARE NO DIGITAL MAPS that would have the name of a fictional country named Palestina on them.  Like ZERO out there.  And let’s not forget, this is the world’s news leader, according to their own press – with 45 news bureaus around the world.

Their self-hosted Inside CNN webpage, designed for teachers and students, has a very revealing FAQ:

Q: What kinds of checks and balances does CNN use to make sure the stories are accurate? 

A: An average story is said to go through nine sets of eyes before making air. It is also the job of copy editors to proofread stories for grammatical and factual errors. News is verified three times from three different sources before it is broadcast on our air. (Emphasis mine)

So one must therefore conclude that Israel was deleted and Palestina was added in its place – on purpose?

Outrageous right?  Well, HonestReporting reporters contacted CNN about the error, as did likely thousands of people.  Their response?  No “oops sorry”.  They just removed the map and put up a photo of airstrikes in Syria in its place – which is actually what the story was about in the first place.

In relation to the story on the Syrian Civil War, no political spin about Israel was necessary – they are not even militarily present in Syria in the battle against ISIS.

This is just bizarre.  It reminds me of three things:

Disney really wants you to remember who makes this movie, and get that logo embedded in your mind as much as possible.

Advertisers have used images for years that subliminally catch your mind but not necessarily consciously – the message might be received, but you wouldn’t even realize it at the time

Perhaps you’ve played a video game or DVD that had a hidden bit of information that could only be accessed if you did certain things with the remote control or played a certain level a certain way.  Usually it was the signature of the game designer – like video graffiti – called an Easter eggs?  Was that what this was?

I watched a documentary recently about Adolf Hitler and his architect Albert Speer who had grand plans for a world empire with its headquarters in the old city of Berlin, which would be redeveloped and renamed Germania.  Their plans were both genius and insane (and even architecturally impossible), but they definitely thought that a new can of paint and a new name would somehow take away the international disdain for Berlin as a world capital.  They were pretty much dead wrong.  Now they’re just dead, and their plans along with them.

Some ideas, like blatant Antisemitism and the groups propagating it, just never die.