PrintDecember 21, 2010
WaPo puts Gaza's construction needs above Israel's life-and-death security needs
The Dec. 21 headline in the Washington Post is another reminder of the paper's unbalanced coverage of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict -- "Aid groups decry Israel's Gaza constraints -- Building Goods Hard to Come By -- Critics say restrictions hurt relief work, not Hamas."
The article, by Jerusalem correspondent Janine Zacharia, goes to great lengths to document complaints by UN relief workers and private aid organizations that Israel is not allowing entry of a sufficient volume of construction materials to meet Gaza's infrastructure needs. There are long waiting lists for new schools, for modernization of sewage treatment facilities, etc.
That's all very nice and well. And, standing alone, such a report accurately reflects one side of the picture. But only one side. The other side unfortunately is sorely missing.
For example, there's not one word in Zacharia's article that at the very time she was filing her dispatch, southern Israel again was under a mortar barrage fired by terrorists from Hamas-ruled Gaza. Nor does Zacharia point out that hundreds of rockets and mortar shells have been launched from Gaza against civilian communities in Israel since the start of the year. And some of these attacks actually were aimed at border crossings used to supply Gaza with more goods and materials.
What is missing from the Post is a companion piece that also would give readers an up-close and personal picture of the security threats still experienced by hundreds of thousands of Israelis in Sderot, Ashdod, Ashkelon and any number of kibutzim in the Negev.
The Post would have some credibility if, having outlined in minute detail remaining supply shortages in Gaza, it also provided the same intensive and extensive coverage of the terrorization of residents in southern Israel when alert sirens sound and they only have seconds to hurry to seek cover and protect their children from imminent harm.
Gaza is ruled by an Islamist terror organization that, in the name of Allah, is sworn to Israel's destruction. It poses a daily clear and present danger to Israel. It's all very well for UN and aid agencies to focus entirely on Gaza's needs -- without any worries about Israel's security needs. The Post, however, should do equal justice to both concerns.
