Press Action ::: NPR Sides with Israeli Propagandists

Friday, November 14, 2003

NPR Sides with Israeli Propagandists

To: Jeffrey Drovkin, NPR Ombudsman

Dear Mr. Drovkin:

I am disappointed to find that in your recent column, “‘Framing’ Terrorism,” that you have uncritically adopted the framework of two Israeli authors, Tamar Libes and Anat First. A more balanced analysis would require one to also consult studies produced by a number of organizations, like Palestine Media Watch, Electronic Intifada, and FAIR. Rather, you unquestionably take the sole case where a Palestinian victim of Israeli terrorism is sympathetically treated to concur with Israeli propagandists’ false claim that the media “give a consistent emotive narrative to the Palestinian boy’s death that could be given to the killing of the Israelis [occupation soldiers] in Ramallah.”

This claim is quite spurious since National Public Radio itself gives a considerably much more sympathetic rendition of the account of Israeli suffering than Palestinian suffering. If one seriously takes Pippa Norris et al.’s definition of terrorism as “the systematic use of coercive intimidation against civilians for political goals,” then most of the actions of the Israeli occupation army must be described as terrorist. The Israel army’s use of helicopters to attack refugee camps, assassinate suspects, torture political prisoners, bulldoze homes, uproot olive trees, and slaughter activists of international solidarity movements (such as Rachel Corrie) are all acts of grotesque terrorism. Moreover, the Israeli occupation army refuses to abide by the Fourth Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons. How often do correspondents of National Public Radio mention that to the listeners and readers?

Please let me know if you a can find a single instance of NPR correspondents referring to Israel’s refusal to comply with the Fourth Geneva Convention.

Rather than only reading works by Israeli polemicists, I urge to you have a look at the Alexander George-edited book, “Western State Terrorism” (Blackwell Publishers, December 1991). It would be very useful to provide a balanced perspective in your columns, including analysis from both Israelis and Palestinians, as well as others, instead of relying only on Israeli commentators. Surely NPR could be better by providing a balanced and fair coverage of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Sincerely,

Tanweer Akram

Tanweer Akram is an economist and a columnist for Press Action.

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