I had thought that I

I had thought that I was completely familiar with the phenomenon of the phony “Jenin massacre.” Rocket Man and I discussed it daily as it transpired and as it was almost instantaneously deconstructed in the blogosphere. I have just come across David Rosenberg’s review of the “Jenin massacre” affair in the weekly Forward, “How Jenin Coverage Massacred the Truth.” I have found that I have much to learn.
Rosenberg’s review highlights several absurdities retailed by reporters in the elite media of which I was not aware. For example, Rosenberg summarizes Richard Boudreaux’s April 12 article in the Los Angeles Times: “Near the top of his story he warns the reader that the accounts ‘couldn’t be independently verified.’ But by that point Boudreaux has already related the story of Khadra Samara’s ’17 terrifying hours’ huddled with 30 neighbors as Israeli soldiers destroyed their homes. The article continues with Israelis executing 7-8 disarmed Palestinians; the shooting death of a 16-year-old boy; a 52-year-old woman bleeding to death; a 70-year-old dying as he tried to stop an Israeli bulldozer from destroying his home, and on and on. In fact, Boudreaux found witnesses to 10 civilian deaths, a remarkable success rate given that human rights groups could later document only 23.”
Rosenberg also correctly notes that the media coverage of the war against Israel is trying “to preserve a narrative”–a narrative of oppressive Israelis and victimized Palestinians. His conclusion is clearly on the mark: “The coverage of the Jenin massacre and its aftermath is unusual only in that the facts were established decisively and early.”