Why is this important? In a conflict with massive human rights violations, U.S. readers of the Times need a clear sense of just how U.S.-funded arms to Israel are likely to be used. The appalling human rights records of Israel, Hamas and Palestinian armed groups are precisely what led Amnesty International to call for an arms embargo on all parties to the conflict. I previously flagged our concerns regarding the Times‘ misleading charts via social media to Jerusalem Bureau Chief Jodi Rudoren and reporter Fares Akram. Unfortunately, the Times did not respond or alter its approach to its coverage. So how could the Times fix its flawed statistical comparison? One step would be to compare missiles, bombs, and mortars fired by Israel with rockets fired by Hamas and Palestinian armed groups. If this comparison were made, it would likely be obvious that the Israeli military has fired vastly more missiles, mortars and bombs at Gaza targets than the rockets that Hamas and Palestinian armed groups have fired towards Israel. This is in part because many targets hit by Israeli forces in Gaza have been struck multiple times, such as the “knock on the roof” procedure, and because each target or strike may include multiple missiles or other munitions, including the multiple reported shellings of a hospital. Another possibility would be to compare the estimated tonnage of munitions fired by all parties to the conflict. Israeli missiles, bombs and mortars can be of significantly greater weight than the smaller rockets fired by Hamas. The New York Times’ current approach to its data obscures these facts. This deprives readers of the opportunity to place the U.S.-armed Israeli military’s actions in proper context. It’s important to point out that no party to this conflict is excused from international humanitarian and human rights law, no matter what the size or shape of their arsenal.
Posted on: Wed, 13 Aug 2014 18:33:56 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015