The NY Times Joins Israel in Whitewashing (Yet Another) Scandal

The NY Times Joins Israel in Whitewashing (Yet Another) Scandal

By Barbara Erickson | TimesWarp | April 4, 2016

A military scandal has rocked Israel, and The New York Times has been on hand to report developments: A soldier was arrested for killing a wounded and helpless Palestinian; the soldier was under investigation for murder, and some Israelis have protested, insisting that he is a hero.
These were the stories that made headlines in the Times after the murder was caught on video and spread through the Internet, provoking outrage worldwide. The newspaper, it seems, has been on this from the start.
But readers may not suspect that there is much more that the newspaper is withholding. After the early headlines, the Times has gone silent and has failed to report a number of developments connected with the story:

• The United Nations special rapporteur on summary executions said the video carried “all the signs of a clear case of an extrajudicial execution.”
• In spite of this assessment and the initial cries of outrage from the Israeli government and military, the charges against the soldier were reduced from murder to manslaughter.
• The accused man, Cpl. Elor Azarya, has been released from prison and allowed to move freely on base.
• Settlers have harassed and threatened to kill the Palestinian who videographed the killing.
• An Israeli rights organization has requested protection for the videographer.
• A survey of Israeli public opinion revealed that 57 percent opposed the arrest of the soldier and 68 percent thought the prime minister, defense minister and army chief of staff were wrong to condemn the killing.
• Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, after first denouncing the murder, spoke with the soldier’s father and reassured him of army support.
• Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and 10 other members of Congress have written to the state department, requesting an investigation into extrajudicial killings of Palestinians carried out by Israeli police and military.

All of these items appeared in media outlets, some of them disseminated widely, such as the downgrade from murder to manslaughter, which made headlines in Israel, the West and the Arab world. In the Times, however, this news became nothing but a whispered conjecture buried in an article last Thursday. Far into her piece, author Isabel Kershner briefly mentioned that prosecutors were “appearing to have backed off from the idea of a murder charge.”
Since then, the Times has had nothing more to say about the scandal, leaving readers with the impression that Israeli officials were swift and firm in their effort to bring justice to bear. As authorities backed off from the murder charge and let the soldier go free, the Times fell silent.
It seems that the newspaper has endeavored to whitewash Israeli actions—spotlighting the first cries of outrage when the video emerged, the arrest of the soldier and the talk of a murder investigation and ignoring news that might expose the reality: nearly unlimited impunity for crimes against Palestinians.
The paper had nothing to say, for instance, about Netanyahu’s change of tone. When the video first emerged, the prime minister said the killing “does not represent the values of the IDF.” Later he spoke to the accused man’s father, assuring him that he personally understood the man’s distress and saying that the family should trust the army to be “professional and fair in its investigation.”
This was reported extensively in Israel, as was the Leahy letter asking Secretary of State John Kerry to investigate a “disturbing number of reports of gross violations of human rights by security forces” in Israel and Egypt. The letter mentions several specific cases of alleged extrajudicial executions by Israeli forces.
Senator Leahy’s signature is of particular importance because his name is on a law that prohibits the United States from providing military aid to security forces that violate human rights with impunity.
Nevertheless, the Times has ignored the appeal by Leahy and 10 other members of Congress, even though the event is eminently newsworthy and the letter led to a sharp exchange between Netanyahu and Leahy.
The newspaper has also overlooked the effect of the incident on Palestinians: the threats against the videographer, the harassment of his family and initial refusals to allow Palestinian participation in conducting the autopsy.
It seems that much of the news touching on this latest Israeli scandal is unfit to print in the Times. Readers are not to see evidence that the first official reaction to the disturbing video was little more than damage control, an attempt to show the world that Israel does not condone such crimes. The Times, as usual, has fallen into line, a willing partner in the official effort to exonerate Israel of its crimes.