Nidra Poller from Pajamas Media, offers an American perspective as she watches anti-Israeli bias in France erupt. Read her full acount in this Jerusalem Centre for Public Affairs brief here.
Choice quotes include:
Loving Anti-Israeli Israelis: "The French elite and the media love Israelis and Jews who strongly criticize Israel… Many French media present these people, who are on the margins, as mainstream Israelis."
Highly Selective Reporting: "French television could not show the happy ending, couldn’t show the man now living in his home. Because most likely he isn’t. Probably terrorists were using it as a base to shoot rockets at Israel. When Islamic Jihad and Hamas do this, or when Al Qaeda establishes a base in Gaza, it does not get media attention. Hamas and Fatah fighting each other is also not television news, even if there are deaths. But the beach incident brought Gaza back onto the screen."
Little Independent International Newsgathering: "Much of the foreign news comes from Agence France Presse, a news agency that is partly owned by the French government and is biased against Israel."
Is Change Possible?: "Poller says that any future switch in the French attitude toward Israel will not be impelled by the media but will have to come from other directions."
