Going back to your comments about why the media might be biased against Israel, here’s a great post (http://simplyjews.blogspot.com/2009/01/so-who-broke-ceasefire.html)and another great example. CNN interviews an “independent Palestinian Legislator” he says Israel broke the cease fire. That is not true, but he’s the one CNN chose to interview. This is an example of media bias. It’s not just what is reported, but who is chosen as the “expert” to be interviewed on any particular subject.

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In terms of how you negotiate with people who believe it’s a religious directive to murder other human beings, the answer is simple, you don’t. Hamas was elected by the Palestinians as their governing/ruling body, but new elections are coming up and after the destruction in Gaza, Hamas may not be elected again. You hope and you encourage the Palestinian people to elect different leadership that is pro-peace and not militant.

But should Hamas be elected again, then you try and follow the course of action touched on in this article. You try and use diplomacy with our friends in the region. They all fear Iran. So if we can offer them anything to help secure them from threats from Iran in exchange for their willingness to cut off support for Hamas or pressure them into signing peace agreements, that may be a workable avenue. Hamas and any other militant organization only has power when other nations support their cause. Cut off that support, and options for peace begin to present themselves.

In terms of your other question as to how you can have a rational discussion with those willing to martyr themselves to inflict harm on others, well, you just can’t. That is why, as stated before, you need to have the cooperation with the rest of the Arab countries in the Middle East.

In terms of why does the media have a bias against Israel? I don’t think it’s necessarily a bias against Israel. I think it’s just shoddy reporting. There was a feature on the news last night that said most news organizations are cutting back their investigative news staffs. The economy is rough on every organization and company. Good news, steady news doesn’t sell newspapers or ad time. Shock value sells ad time and newspapers. So what happens is you get incomplete reporting, which is in effect, a bias. If I can get a picture of a grieving child on the front page of the newspaper or television, I’ll sell ad time and newspapers. I might even win a Pulitzer. All the casualties in the latest Conflict were on the Palestinian side, so naturally, that’s what will be reported, and the Palestinians organized themselves in protests which also got television coverage. Of course, television “news” soundbites only last a few seconds, so naturally all they’re going to focus on is the latest number of civilians killed. They don’t have the time to mention that these civilians were put in harms way by the Hamas Militants who were using them as human shields. It’s the lack of journalistic integrity and complete reporting that results in the biased media coverage. And unfortunately, very few people are inclined to dig below the surface, even a little bit, to get the complete story.

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