I Know They're Wrong, prt 2

Glasgow Media Group's second of their major findings was that people were not informed by the news [media] about the history underlying Israel and the Palestinians. They seem to think this is bad for the Palestinians, and in their book quote people saying they'd like to support the Palestinians if they only understood them better.

Norm expresses the problem with this very modestly and nicely:

'Are we to suppose that the same viewers afflicted by these informational gaps all have an excellent knowledge of various circumstances not mentioned here: the establishment of the State of Israel on the basis of a UN resolution; this in the aftermath of the genocide against the Jews of Europe; the immediate declaration of war on Israel by the surrounding Arab nations, and their continuing hostility after that? I'm disinclined to believe that knowledge-gapped viewers somehow only have gaps in their knowledge that disfavour the Palestinian case, but are thoroughly on top of all the facts which might be placed on the other side of the balance.'

I'll defer to Norm as to the definitiveness of this list, but points I've also heard raised (which I note randomly, as befits my sketchy knowledge) are A)The treatment of Jews in Muslim lands during the holocaust; B)The reality of continuous occupation of the land of Israel by Jews for millenia to the present day; C)The ambiguous nature of the people group defined 'Palestinian'- as opposed to Jordanian; D)The previous 'occupation' of 'Palestinian' lands by Jordan and Egypt; E)The inception of the current 'occupation' as part of a war of self-defence.

- and there are probably many others I haven't mentioned. Of course they could be part of a smokescreen, and there are two sides to every story, but no-one can expect to have the story the way they want it every time, which is what the 'Palestinians' appear to want.

What the Glasgow Media Group are articulating here is not, it seems to me, a belief that by informing people properly through the news the Palestinians would get more support, but the desire to simplify the history sufficiently that we might have a clear sense that the Palestinians deserve our sympathy. Their chosen historical narrative leaves its own trail of ambiguities, which they ignore. They are then left lamenting the patchiness of their desired set of simplifications in media like the BBC.

It seems to me that the cry of 'simplification' is actually the heart of the problems with the media coverage of Israel today- a cry that the BBC would love to respond to but daren't do consistently. I'm of the opinion the issue of Israel and Palestine is neither simple nor fiendishly complex. It's not the preserve of academics but it's not for the casual observer either. I am fairly certain a real sense of history (and I might add, ethnicity, religion and geography) would mean the reverse of what G.M.G. intends would happen: we would staunchly support democratic Israel.