Prof. James F. Tracy: When Propaganda Masquarades as News

The week long Israeli onslaught against largely defenseless Palestinians in Gaza that began on November 14 provides a basis for assessing how Western corporate media whitewash the war crimes of America's foremost ally in the Middle East. There are three often intertwined techniques consciously applied to such news coverage historical context, sourcing, and objectification of the enemy to be targeted. Such practices can readily transform journalism into propaganda that acts to abet such crimes, while at the same time allowing journalistic institutions to still claim the mantle of objectivity. Such methods are on full display in the reportage of Israel's most recent operation in Gaza. The use of such propaganda fits within a broader campaign of media disinformation that subdues potential outrage, particularly in the US over Israel's overwhelming use of force against an oppressed and vulnerable people, most of whom are civilians. Meaningful historical context for understanding Israel's aggression is almost entirely absent from most Western news coverage of the event. If present, such context would illuminate Israeli government officials true motivations for a military venture that involved 750 airstrikes in four days alone. Operation Pillar of Defense, Nile Bowie observes. Launched just months away from Israel's elections, is a calculated component of the Netanyahu governments strategy to topple Hamas and continue absorbing Palestinian territory. Decades of occupation and apartheid have shaped the current scenario. Israel has dehumanized an entire people by seizing their land, and forcing them into prison like ghettoe's. Adherents to political Zionism have shown contempt for a genuine political solution to the Palestinian conflict, and the Netanyahu administration is poised to crush all opposition to the Jewish state. Major Western media focused instead on the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) November 14 assassination of Hamas leader and Palestinian hero Ahmed al Jabari, while blatantly omitting the fact that he was also a major figure in negotiations for a long term truce between Hamas and Israel, freshly brokered by Egypt.