Reuters chooses spin over facts

Luke Baker at Reuters wrote a highly biased article about Israel that nicely illustrates how journalists play games with the facts in order to push an agenda rather than report objectively.

Let's fisk it a bit:

A cartoon in Israel's left-leaning Haaretz newspaper showed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu studying a poster made by his publicity team of Mahmoud Abbas, the mild-mannered, soft-featured Palestinian president.

The poster depicted Abbas looking fierce, with menacing eyes and bloodied fangs. A disappointed-looking Netanyahu turns to his aide and asks: "Can you lengthen his fangs a tad?"

Spot the bias! Abbas is represented in the most positive way even though his speeches are every bit as fiery as any politician's.

The prime minister has lost no time in casting Abbas as the devil in recent months, accusing him of inciting violence in Jerusalem that has lead to the death of 11 Israelis, including four rabbis stabbed and shot by Palestinians in a synagogue. Around a dozen Palestinians have also been killed, including several of those who carried out the attacks.

While the head of Israel's security service says Abbas is not inciting unrest, and centrist politicians have warned Netanyahu against alienating the only partner Israel has in stalled peace negotiations, the prime minister shows no sign of letting up in his criticism of the 79-year-old Palestinian.

The reason, in large part, is politics.

Baker ignores the direct incitement that Abbas has been directing, not to mention the much more disgusting incitement in the media that is under his direct control and in the statements of leaders of his political movement.

Abbas has said that he wants Arabs to defend Al aqsa Mosque 'by all means," which would naturally include killing Jews who are perceived as wanting to visit. Officials have called for religious war against Jews on PA-run TV. PA newspapers call murderers of rabbis "martyrs." Fatah social media is filled with antisemitic articles and cartoons.

That is incitement. And it is not reported by Reuters.

As well as demonizing Abbas, he has pushed a highly contentious bill that would establish Israel as the Jewish nation state, legislation critics say puts religion ahead of democracy and marginalizes the Arab minority.

Can Reuters quote the part of the draft bill passed by the cabinet that puts religion ahead of democracy? No, because it isn't there.

...[T]he upshot is the most hardline government analysts can recall.

"This is the most right-wing government in Israeli history, much further to the right than the Menachem Begin or Ariel Sharon governments," said Menachem Klein, a professor of Israeli politics at Bar-Ilan University near Tel Aviv.

Ah, the old trick of finding "experts" that agree with the reporter's bias. As we have shown, Netanyahu's positions are well to the left of Yitzhak Rabin's, the Nobel Prize winner who never uttered the words "two state solution."

But why look at facts when you can find an "expert" to contradict them?

Combined with the nation-state bill, which would enshrine certain rights for Jews only...

Really? Can you name one? Of course not! Baker is just assuming that what he reads in Haaretz must be true, because he likes its politics.

Most of these aren't direct lies. Reuters editors can self-righteously say that they are merely quoting what some Israelis themselves are saying. But that is sophistry, not reporting. They knew what they wanted to report before a word was written and there was no objectivity - the exact opposite of how reporters are supposed to act.