"To David comment I will add: IL always treated the Palestinians MUCH better than the Muslims. Suffice to see the Palestinian camps!"

Umm you seem to be ignoring the world's biggest open air concentration camp called Gaza.

steven l from US

There was ONE massacre in Hebron which followed the massive flood of Jewish refugees to Palestine. It was a disgraceful event, but hardly what one could describe as out of the blue. Since the time of Herzl, the Zionist founders spoke openly about their quest to conquer Palestine and drive out the existing population.

Just imagine how Israelis would react if the UN imposed floods of refugees into Israel, granting them citizenship (against the wishes of the Israeli government) and that those refugees declared their intention to take over the land? We have already witnesses lynchings of asylum seekers as it is.

And seriously, if you want to roll back history to the massacres of the Jews by Muhammad, why not go back to the massacres of the Philistine, Amalekites and Canaanites by the Hebrews?

Israel is n o light to the nations, it's a pariah who's popularity sits alongside that of North Korea's.

To David comment I will add: IL always treated the Palestinians MUCH better than the Muslims. Suffice to see the Palestinian camps!

Shingo, Terry McK, Namgeung, Sabina and a few other blissfully out of ignorance (Bless be they) forget that the massacres of Jews by the Muslims hordes started long before the so called partition. Amazingly for most of the world, the history of the Jews starts with the partition. The massacres of the Jews started with Muhammad! OH MY. They do not teach THAT anymore in the American schools. Specially not in the Hubs of disinformation: American Academia!
But in one way the Conflict is very symbolic of the role of Israel and the Jews and in that respect, it has a major role in the whole of not only the ME but the whole Muslim world and I would go one step further, the whole WORLD! Israel: a light to the nations!!!!!

The real JR from Texas
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The "Nakba" and the Israeli War of Independence were concurrent events. And contrary to your Hasbaa spin, the Jewish militias began expelling Palestinians and destroying villages 5 months before the British left and the Arab armies came to the aid of the Palestinians. Declassified Haganah records show that they and the Israeli terrorist militias expelled 300,000 Palestinians before a single Arab army set foot in Palestine.

As for the talking point that the Jews accepted it but Arabs didn't, that’s not entirely true. The Jewish Agency accepted the UN partition, they only accepted the part about the creation of a Jewish state, not the partition itself. Since 1937, Ben Gurion pointed out in a letter to his son that the partition was only going to be temporary and a stepping stone towards conquering Palestine in it’s entirety – that he would abolish the partition once the Jewish military was strong enough.

The fact that percent of the Israeli population was killed is beside the point –they killed a lot more Arabs, destroyed 500 Arab villages and expelled 750,000 Palestinians.

Benny Morris debunked the claim that Arabs were told to leave, in fact, they were ordered to remain by the Arab League.

Those who stayed lived under military rule, often in labor camps.

Yes, tens of thousands of civilians are dead in Syria and as it turns out, most have been killed by the so called rebels, backed by the West and with the blessing of Israel. Are you aware that Michael Oren stated that Israel would rather ISIS win that Assad?

When did the Brotherhood round up and killed thousands in Egypt? Yes, Sisi has and he is considered a hero of the Jewish people in Israel for doing so.

Yes, Saudi Arabia carries out biblical justice on its civilians and lo and behold, they are Israel news BFF in the region.

And it is a fact that Israeli leaders refer to the routine bombing of Gaza as “mowing the lawn”. Sorry of facts don’t sit well with your ideology.

AlNeuman, if it is true that the "intelligent fair-minded" people you know believe the media in the US is left-leaning media and distorts the "news" against Israel, then you must live in a commune. The US media has parroted the Israeli spin and narrative to the letter - often even adopting Israeli government slogans like "terror tunnels" and prefacing all references to Hamas as being a terrorist group. NEVER do they mention there is an occupation. NEVER do they mention that Israel broke the ceasefires in 2008, 2012 and 2014 and started the wars.

So yes, they do apply hypocritical double standards to Israel's actions - in Israel's favor.

As we often hear, what country in the world (besides Israel) would tolerate literally years of thousands of rockets pouring in on its civilians from an adjacent country? NEVER do we hear the question asked, what country would tolerate 66 years of occupation, land theft, ethnic cleansing, expulsion, and home demolitions.

Would the U.S. accept siege or occupation from Mexico or Canada? The answer is laughably obvious.

There is nothing reluctantly about Israel's aggression, it is deliberately planned ahead of time and always started by Israel. In the case of the recent war, Netenyahu deliberately incited the conflict after the Fatah/Hamas unity agreement that he vowed to sabotage. Israel's aggression was not defensive in any way. It was not until Israel bombed Gaza on June 31 - under the phoney pretext that they were punishing Hamas or the disappearance of the 3 youths. Note that until that point, Hamas had not fired a rocket into Gaza since November 2012.

But the so called "left" leaning media, as you put it, never question the narrative, even when it changes without 24 hours and were happy to parrot Israel's government claim that they were suddenly defending themselves against rockets.

The only military experts to describe this attack "the most careful in history" are hacks. There is nothing careful about 120mm and 150mm shells which have a kill radius of 50 meters.

Of course Matti Friedman who has written a timely, honest, and very perceptive article, is exactly right. Every intelligent fairp-minded person i know, both Jews and non-Jews, agree that the generally Left-leaning media often distorts the "news" against Israel and applies hypocritical double standards to them and the government's actions.

The recent war in Gaza is just another example. What country in the world (besides Israel) would tolerate literally years of thousands of rockets pouring in on its civilians from an adjacent country? Would the U.S. accept such rocket attacks from say, Mexico or Canada? The answer is laughably obvious. Yet when Israel finally and reluctantly engages in a defensive war to stop such attacks, and their army is described by military experts as "the most careful in history", much of the media opinion is out there bashing Israel's "aggression"!

And the "disproportionality" accusation against Israel is just so much more hypocritical nonsense. Have you heard ANYTHING for example about collateral civilian casualties from the U.S,' recent bombings in Iraq and Syria? Or from years of U.S. bombings in Afghanistan? No, i didn't think so.
Nor was anyone counting German and Japanese civilian casualties after the Allies WWII bombings of those countries, and holding them up against the U.S. civilian casualties and expecting them to be "proportionate".
When any country is attacked and decides to respond it does so by legitimately trying to destroy its attacker, and uses all its force to do so. ONLY Israel is criticized for doing so, and the "disproportionality" canard is a clear example of this absurd hypocrisy by many in the "mainstream" media--as well as the antiSemitic trolls who populate any article about Israel like here.

Why are there two versions of this story on the web site??

http://www.onthemedia.org/story/two-journalists-debate-coverage-israel-palestine/

One of the principal reasons for America's media fascination about Israel was completely overlooked by Matti and Ethan. The rising anti-Western tide in Muslim societies is directly linked to the West's (i.e. America's) support of Israel. You cannot pull the threads of al Qaeda, ISIS, or Iranian nuclear program without it connecting straight back to US support of Israel. Now portrayals of this relationship are certainly unfair, uneven and dramatized, but they exist, and are used to justify actions --everything from nuclear programs to planes flying into the World Trade Center. So, this thread now includes American blood and money, and that is why we care about how Israel treats Palestinians.

gureumi, you are either an arab or at least an arab dupe. One thing is for sure, your ignorance is astounding.

The "Nakba" as the arabs call it was the Israeli War of Independence. When the UN partitioned Palestine , the Jews accepted it but Arabs didn't. The Arabs started a war immediately after the Brits left. Israel fought 5 Arab nations for over a year and prevailed. One percent of the Israeli population was killed. The Arabs who lived in Palestine were told to leave by those countries who lost with the promise they would soon be able to go back.

Those people became the "Palestinians". Those who stayed became Israeli citizens. Twenty percent of Israel is Arab. You do know that right?

As for the wholesale slaughter, I don't mean ISIS. You only care about them because they execute Westerners on TV. Tens of thousands of civilians dead in Syria. Not a peep from dupes like you. Muslim Brotherhood rounded up and killed thousands in Egypt. Sisi has since done the same. Hamas does public executions. Saudi Arabia carries out biblical justice on its civilians. Women are suppressed, gays are killed. So many things and you and your ilk harp on Israel.

"For a fact, Israeli-state terrorists have killed thousands of Palestinian people periodically. I heard that some Israelis call it "mowing lawns"."
Who's fact is that? It's a LIE!!! Arab propaganda. You should be ashamed of yourself giving it any kind of credibility.

You should go there, like I did. See Jerusalem, Tel Aviv and even Ramallah. Then cross the border to Egypt and Jordan. See what it's really like before you believe the Arab lies.

The real JR - you are talking about Nakbar, 'During the 1948 Palestine War, an estimated 700,000 Palestinians fled or were expelled, and hundreds of Palestinian towns and villages were depopulated and destroyed'. "How about the wholesale slaughter of innocents which the Muslims are famous for." It's outright racist when you portray a minority extremest group's actions as the whole Muslims' doing. I do have problems with all slaughters. I don't know about Texas, People over here don't really disagree much on how horrible ISIS and their actions are. That's pretty much why we don't argue much about it.
This particular forum's topic is about western media's coverage on Israel-Palestine. How many innocent people Hamas has slaughtered? Thousands? For a fact, Israeli-state terrorists have killed thousands of Palestinian people periodically. I heard that some Israelis call it "mowing lawns".

Namgeun Jeong - an ignorant person talking nonsense. You do know that there was a war over there, right? You do know what happened in 1948, yes? I don't think so, otherwise you wouldn't be spouting your garbage about "Purging the indigenous people". Ignorance. Yet I'm sure you had no problem when the Arab countries either threw out or outright executed their Jewish communities. Let's not keep it just to Jews, eh? How about the wholesale slaughter of innocents which the Muslims are famous for. It's going on right now. Tens of thousands dying but you have no problem with that, right, Namgeun? Hypocrite.

3 jewish people talking nonsense. The world is paying close attention to what is going on in Palestine/Israel because the so called democratic two countries(Israel and US) decided to do whatever they wanted in Palestine. Obama was so outraged at the Israel's military actions. Because US gave Israel high precision missiles and etc so that Israel can target (presumably) Hamas militants. But no journalist explained why Israel decided instead to use heavy artillery weapons to kill large number civilian casualties. Israel has a lot to say about Obama(or US)'s response. Mexican war (and a lot of other wars initiated by US including Vietnam war) happened because some (North) American soldiers were killed some where around the border between Mexico and Territory of Texas. Freshman congressman Abraham Lincoln was dragged out of the floor when he protested and asked "Show me the line on the map". Purging the indigenous people and colonizing the land is well-known MO of these two countries. How dare you, U.S., to blame Israel!

Matti does not take Americans seriously. I suggest, don’t worry, most of us assume that the Palestinian fighters are hiding. But so what. It does not change the ultimate story which is not of an island of democracy amid 300 million arabs, but of a plantation colony, originally of European Jews in the midst of arabs. It may be too late to change history, but the tensions ARE between Jews and Arabs and not simply another demonstration of bad behavior by Arab savages. The conflict started because even 100 years ago, the arabs did not like the new colony.

Edward Said is rolling over in his grave. Where is the Palestinian representative here? OTM, which is supposed to cover media bias and mistakes, has three Jewish voices covering alleged over-coverage of the Israeli/Palestinian conflict, with predictable results. Very disappointing. (Not that Jewish people cannot sometimes understand the plight of the Palestinians, but it is not happening here, for the most part.)

How can anyone believe Ethan Bronner, who lied and hid the fact that his son was serving in the IDF all the time he was covering Israel/Palestine? This man is a known liar and a propagandist and now suddenly we are supposed to believe he is speaking the truth???

Ethan Bronner, David Brooks--both with sons in IDF, and pretending to be high-minded commentators on I/P, Isabel Kershner with a husband in Israeli propaganda machine, Judi Rudoren, who lives in a Jewish/Israeli bubble--this is what the great NYT offers us, and this is the pool from which NPR picks and chooses.

Have None of you ever heard of any Palestinian voices--do they never get to be on US mainstream media??

Jeez!! At this time, does anybody buys into your horrible propaganda!!??