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AP: 'Not So Clear' That Israel Is Democratic
NewsBusters ^ | March 25, 2015 | 10:50 PM EDT | Tom Blumer

Posted on 03/26/2015 7:45:21 AM PDT by Dave346

The pundit class in the U.S. and much of the rest of the world is still seething over Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's electoral triumph last week.

On Monday, Dan Perry at the Associated Press took that hysteria to a new level, in effect attempting to discredit Bibi's win by writing that, after all, it may not really be correct to call Israel a democracy. That's because "Palestinians" who are in the occupied territories — whose leaders, and more than likely a majority of its residents would vote to expel all Jews from Israel in a heartbeat if they could — can't vote (bolds are mine):

AP ANALYSIS: IS ISRAEL DEMOCRATIC? NOT SO CLEAR

Is Israel a democracy? The answer is not so straightforward, and it increasingly matters given the diplomatic fallout over hardliner Benjamin Netanyahu's reelection last week.

... (Israel's) its claim to be the only true democracy in the Middle East has been key to its branding and its vitally important claim on U.S. military, diplomatic and financial support. Israel's elections, from campaign rules to vote counts, are indeed not suspect.

But with the occupation of the West Bank grinding on toward the half-century mark, and with Netanyahu's election-day suggestion that no change is imminent, hard questions arise.

(Excerpt) Read more at newsbusters.org ...


TOPICS: Foreign Affairs; Israel; Politics/Elections; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: bomb; nuclear; terror; war
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To: mountainlion

If AP reported on world history, the way they report on Israel, here’s how it would look.
A Must Read.
http://blogs.timesofisrael.com/how-would-ap-report-history-howapwouldreport/


21 posted on 03/26/2015 8:09:04 AM PDT by BlueSky194
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To: Dave346

occupation of the West Bank


Phrase indicating the taking of sides in the conflict.


22 posted on 03/26/2015 8:10:00 AM PDT by MrB (The difference between a Humanist and a Satanist - the latter admits whom he's working for)
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To: Netz

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2014/10/23/bias-on-steroids-this-ap-headline-explains-why-so-many-complain-about-media-coverage-of-israel/
‘Bias on Steroids’: This AP Headline Explains Why So Many Complain About Media Coverage of Israel
Oct. 23, 2014

A 3-month-old baby girl was killed Wednesday when a car driven by a Palestinian man slammed into a group of bystanders at a Jerusalem light rail station, but the early headline of an Associated Press story on the incident drew criticism from pro-Israel media watchdogs who called it a perfect example of media bias against the Jewish state.

“Israeli police shoot man in east Jerusalem” was the initial headline of the AP story that ran on Yahoo and elsewhere, wording that ignored the killing of the baby, the Israeli police assessment that the attack was motivated by terrorism, and glossed over why police shot the man in the first place.

The Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America, a pro-Israel media watchdog, captured a screenshot of the headline, which was later edited. However, some Middle Eastern websites, including Lebanon’s Daily Star and Turkey’s Daily Sabah kept the original headline that obscured the context behind what really happened.

The AP headline was Israeli police shoot man in East Jerusalem.

Israeli police said eight other people were injured when the suspect rammed into the rail station crowd. He tried to flee the scene on foot before police shot him. Israel Army Radio reported Thursday morning that he died of his wounds.

An Israeli government spokesman identified the suspect as Abed Abdelrahman Shaludeh and said he was a member of Hamas who had served time in Israeli prison for terrorism.

“[T]here were clearly enough details available at the time, even with the news still in the hazy ‘breaking’ stage, that the inappropriate and misleading headline should never have appeared on the story,” CAMERA observed. “Nearly an hour after AP’s first report, it published a second one, containing virtually no new information, with the more appropriate headline, ‘Car slams into east Jerusalem train station.’”

Israeli police officers inspect a car at the scene of an attack in Jerusalem, Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2014. A Palestinian motorist with a history of anti-Israel violence slammed his car into a crowded train station in Jerusalem on Wednesday, killing a 3-month-old baby girl and wounding several people in what police called a terror attack. (AP Photo/Sebastian Scheiner)

But the second headline also drew criticism, because it made no mention of the driver, the apparent terrorism connection and the slain infant.

“You’ll notice that this, too, is repellant behavior by the AP,” Seth Mandel of the conservative Commentary magazine wrote. “To say getting the truth from the AP on Israel is like pulling teeth would be an understatement.”

“The media’s reaction to the murder was stomach turning–and, unfortunately, not atypical,” Mandel added, calling the coverage “bias on steroids.”

The AP changed the headline again, where it currently reads: “Palestinian kills baby at Jerusalem station.”

Paul Colford, director of media relations for the Associated Press, declined to respond directly to criticism of the headline, but said it was written when confirmed facts were still scarce.

“The headline in question was short-lived, written when confirmed details of what happened were scarce,” Colford said in an email to TheBlaze. “The headline was replaced in just over a half-hour as AP continued to publish updates about the incident, the driver and the victim. The final version of the story, and its headline, made clear what had happened.”

Nevertheless, the original first sentence of the AP story read: “Israeli police say they have shot a man whose car slammed into a crowded stop in east Jerusalem, in what they suspect was an intentional attack.” It also included information attributed to a police spokeswoman that “nine people were wounded, some seriously.”

A headline from the BBC was also disparaged on social media for glossing over key details.

You know @BBCBreaking “cars” don’t just magically drive themselves…is it possible someone was driving that car? pic.twitter.com/KNvYqG8TQW

— Gidon Shaviv (@GidonShaviv) October 22, 2014

“Later in the day, after executives at the BBC located a shred of integrity hidden somewhere in the sofa cushions, that was changed as well,” Mandel wrote. “It now reads: ‘Jerusalem car “attack” kills baby at rail station.’ I say ‘a shred of integrity’ because the BBC still saw fit to wrap ‘attack’ in scare quotes. What are the options, here? Was it a car ‘love tap’? It was a terrorist attack, perpetrated by a member of a terrorist organization.” The new BBC headline can be seen here.

Israeli media reported that the baby killed, Chaya Zissel Braun, was an American citizen.

Her grandfather, Shimshon Halperin, told reporters outside the Jerusalem hospital where she was transported that the impact of the vehicle threw her from her stroller, sending her more than 10 yards in the air before she landed headfirst on the sidewalk, the Jerusalem Post reported.

Halperin said her parents had tried unsuccessfully for years to have a baby until Chaya was born.

“They had just returned from the Kotel [Western Wall]. It was the first time in her life that the girl was at the Kotel. They [her parents] took pictures, they held her up to face the Temple Mount, and they told her this is the holy place, this is the Temple Mount,” Halperin said.

“We express our deepest condolences to the family of the baby, reportedly an American citizen, who was killed in this despicable attack,” State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said in a statement. “We urge all sides to maintain calm and avoid escalating tensions in the wake of this incident.”


23 posted on 03/26/2015 8:10:06 AM PDT by BlueSky194
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To: econjack

Those two points are my wish list. Exactly.


24 posted on 03/26/2015 8:10:21 AM PDT by cuban leaf (The US will not survive the obama presidency. The world may not either.)
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To: BlueSky194

AP now looks like Al Jazeera with their anti Israel reporting.
Look at this from AP from last July.

https://twitter.com/ap/status/494059784199761920
@AP
As much of world watches Gaza war in horror, members of Congress fall over each other to support Israel:


25 posted on 03/26/2015 8:10:40 AM PDT by BlueSky194
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To: cuban leaf

AP has a boycott on Gerald Steinberg cause AP only interviews anti Israel people
http://www.jewishpress.com/news/breaking-news/ap-disses-whistleblower-but-a-new-whistle-blows/2014/12/03/


26 posted on 03/26/2015 8:11:10 AM PDT by BlueSky194
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To: cuban leaf

AP has a boycott on Gerald Steinberg cause AP only interviews anti Israel people
http://www.jewishpress.com/news/breaking-news/ap-disses-whistleblower-but-a-new-whistle-blows/2014/12/03/


27 posted on 03/26/2015 8:11:11 AM PDT by BlueSky194
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To: Dave346
The AP setting up the meme for the rest of the MSM to follow to champion the embargo of Israel as an Apartheid state?
28 posted on 03/26/2015 8:11:30 AM PDT by buckalfa (First time listener, long time caller.)
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To: BlueSky194

http://observer.com/2015/03/how-the-ap-botched-its-investigation-of-civilian-deaths-in-the-israel-hamas-war/#ixzz3URnl0ZT3
How the AP Botched Its Investigation of Civilian Deaths in the Israel-Hamas War
Posed photographs. Intentional miscategorizations. Buried corrections. One-sided sourcing. Cherry-picked quotes. And a just-plain-wrong conclusion about “most” Gaza casualties being civilians.
By Richard Behar and Gary Weiss
3/10/15


29 posted on 03/26/2015 8:11:37 AM PDT by BlueSky194
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To: buckalfa

Best poster ever.
Israeli vs. Arab concessions for peace, 1993-2014 (poster)
http://elderofziyon.blogspot.com/2014/05/israeli-vs-arab-concessions-for-peace.html#.VQ7Cq_nF_ls


30 posted on 03/26/2015 8:13:10 AM PDT by BlueSky194
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To: BlueSky194

http://www.timesofisrael.com/how-american-taxpayers-are-funding-palestinian-terrorism/
How American taxpayers are funding Palestinian terrorism
An investigative journalist details the Palestinian Authority’s routine diversion of financial aid to pay generous salaries to murderers
BY EDWIN BLACK
November 10, 2013,


31 posted on 03/26/2015 8:13:44 AM PDT by BlueSky194
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To: BlueSky194

http://www.timesofisrael.com/how-american-taxpayers-are-funding-palestinian-terrorism/
How American taxpayers are funding Palestinian terrorism
An investigative journalist details the Palestinian Authority’s routine diversion of financial aid to pay generous salaries to murderers
BY EDWIN BLACK
November 10, 2013,


32 posted on 03/26/2015 8:13:45 AM PDT by BlueSky194
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To: BlueSky194

http://www.algemeiner.com/2015/02/08/palestinian-authority-rewards-terrorists-for-number-of-jews-they-kill/
Palestinian Authority Rewards Terrorists for Number of Jews They Kill
FEBRUARY 8, 2015


33 posted on 03/26/2015 8:14:26 AM PDT by BlueSky194
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To: BlueSky194

Pallywood writer Dan Perry’s article is totally inaccurate on so many levels. The whole conflict is cause by the intolerance of the Arabs with 22 countries who refuse to accept that Jews can have state in their historical homeland


34 posted on 03/26/2015 8:15:19 AM PDT by BlueSky194
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To: BlueSky194

Palestinians are the biggest terrorist supporters in the world.
Palestinians support terrorism even more then the Taliban.
And this idiot Dan Perry expects Israel to let these barbarians vote in their election.

http://elderofziyon.blogspot.com/2013/09/once-again-palestinian-arab-support-for.html
Once again, Palestinian Arab support for terrorism is the highest in the world
Wednesday, September 11, 2013


35 posted on 03/26/2015 8:17:33 AM PDT by BlueSky194
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To: BlueSky194

Dan Perry expects Israel to let Islamo Nazis like the Palestinians vote in their election.

http://elderofziyon.blogspot.com/2014/12/4-out-of-5-palestinians-support.html
4 out of 5 Palestinians support stabbing random Jews in Israel.
December 09, 2014


36 posted on 03/26/2015 8:19:12 AM PDT by BlueSky194
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To: Dave346

Hmm, I wonder how many Jews live in Gaza or are allowed to vote or participate in the government of Gaza or the West Bank??? Oh, that’s right, the Palestinians hate the Jews!!!


37 posted on 03/26/2015 8:20:45 AM PDT by jda ("Righteousness exalts a nation . . .")
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To: BlueSky194

http://www.jpost.com/Opinion/Op-Ed-Contributors/Palestinian-revisionism-is-the-only-obstacle-to-peace
Palestinian revisionism is the only obstacle to peace
DANNY AYALON
11/27/2010


38 posted on 03/26/2015 8:24:00 AM PDT by BlueSky194
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To: Borges

No the West Bank Palestinians don’t get to vote in Israeli elections - they aren’t Israeli citizens. Is there a country allows non-citizens to vote in their elections?

Uh, unfortunately, the one you’re probably in.


39 posted on 03/26/2015 8:36:30 AM PDT by gnickgnack2 (QUESTION obama's AUTHORITY)
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To: mountainlion

With the propaganda machine media, the US every day is less democratic.


40 posted on 03/26/2015 8:41:21 AM PDT by The_Media_never_lie (The media must be defeated any way it can be done.)
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