Last November, a BBC stringer’s 11-month-old boy was killed by rocket fire. The news media rushed the story around the world, blaming an Israeli airstrike, even though the IDF denied any airstrike in that particular location. There is no shortage of high–profile placement of photos of the grieving father holding his dead child.
Only a few bloggers questioned whether or not Israel was responsible.
Turns out it was Hamas.
Don’t count on the same kind of coverage of the explanation. Do count on every news outlet reprinting the photo.
In the meantime, please note that the AP emphasizes the “maybe” aspect of the story, since it clears Israel of the charge of the baby’s death. It did no such thing when it blamed an Israeli airstrike for the death. The Washington Post ran the photo–very large–on its front page and ran an in-depth article blaming Israel.
A U.N. report indicates an errant Palestinian rocket, not an Israeli airstrike, likely killed the baby of a BBC reporter during fighting in the Hamas-ruled territory last November.
The death of Omar al-Masharawi, the 11-month-old son of BBC stringer Jihad al-Masharawi, became a symbol of what Palestinians see as Israeli aggression during eight days of fighting that killed more than 160 Palestinians and six Israelis. A woman was killed alongside the baby.
I see very little to be hopeful in this. Sure, Israel was cleared. But the damage was done six months ago, when the world media ran those photos and blamed Israel for the death of a baby. Israel always has to fight two wars for every one: The actual war, and the war in the media that is always against Israel.