Rudyard Kipling once wrote : “OH, East is East, and West is West, and never the twain shall meet”. Now when the British writer, poet and author penned that line in his poem “The Ballad of East and West“, he was referring to the immense cultural, political and social differences between the two regions.
The Tundra Tabloids however, sees an opportunity in using it to describe the relation between the Helsingin Sanomat’s style of news reporting … and that of the honest factual news reporting that we all look for and demand in a newspaper.
Alas, the HS finds it necessary to once again, skip over the important contexual parts to a story and spoon feed the readers with its own ideologically charged views of the Israeli/Palestinian conflict.
In the view of the Helsingin Sanomat, it’s just one of those “tit for tat” conflicts with the Israelis doing the major portion of the TIT, while the Palestinians respond with the TAT. Hey, it’s all really that simple, really!
In the online (subscription only) version of the paper, they resort to using once again the al-AP and al-Reuters news wire services for the basis of the story, concerning the Arabs’ breach of the farcical truce engineered between the Israelis and Hamas.
Israelin armeija surmasi kaksi palestiinalaista Länsirannalla
JERUSALEM. Israelin armeijan sotilaat surmasivat kaksi palestiinalaista tiistaina Nablusin kaupungissa Länsirannalla. Äärijärjestö Jihad vastasi ampumalla Gazasta kaksi rakettia eteläiseen Israeliin.
Translation: Israeli army kills two Palestinians in the West Bank
JERUSALEM. Israeli army soldiers killed two Palestinians on Tuesday in the city of Nablus in the WB. The extremist group Jihad answered with the firing of two rockets from Gaza into southern Israel.
In this online subscription version of the paper, there was no mention of the rocket attack that slightly wounded two people, or that the WB was not a part in the ceasefire agreement. The HS also went on to further promote a “good image” of the Hamas terrorists, by reminding everyone that:
“Hamas vakuutti väkivaltaisuuksista huolimatta pitävänsä edelleen kiinni tulitauosta. Israelin pääministeri Ehud Olmert tuomitsi iskun, mutta ei ottanut kantaa, miten siihen vastataan.”
Translation: Hamas assured that in spite of the violence they would still cling to the ceasefire. Israel’s PM Ehud Olmert condemned the attack, but wouldn’t say how they would respond.”
See how it works? In spite of the fact that the Hamas allowed a rocket attack on Israeli soil that hurt Israeli civilians, they are the “good guys” for keeping the truce. While the Israelis who have to keep doing the PA’s job because it refuses to do so, (apprehending those who are actively supporting terror) get into a fire fight with terrorist leaders and manages to kill a couple of them…so that makes the Israelis the “bad guys”.
But there were however news reports available that supplied the full details, it’s just that the HS is not interested in what they have to tell. The HS has absolutely no excuse whatsoever for not supplying the reader with all of the details, and in the proper context, especially since they managed to do so in some degree in their free online edition of the paper:
Gazan tulitauko rakoili
“Jerusalem. Israelin ja Hamasin tuore tulitauko rakoili tiistaina. Palestiinalaistaistelijat ampuivat ainakin kaksi kranaattia Gazasta Israelin puolelle. Kukaan ei loukkaantunut iskussa, jonka tekijäksi ilmoittautui Islamilainen jihad -järjestö. Kyseessä oli ilmeisesti kostoisku. Aikaisemmin tiistaina Israelin joukot olivat surmanneet kaksi palestiinalaista tulitaistelussa Nablusin kaupungissa. Islamilaisen jihadin mukaan toinen kuolleista oli yksi järjestön komentajista.”
Gaza’s truce cracks
Translation: “Jerusalem. Israel’s and Hamas’ fresh truce cracked on Tuesday. Palestinian fighters shot at least two grenades from Gaza into the Israeli side. No one was hurt in the attack, of which the Islamic-Jihad claimed responsibility. What’s in question is obviously an attack of revenge. Earlier on Tuesday Israeli troops had killed two Palestinians in a gunfight in tte city of Nablus. According to the Islamic Jihad one of the dead was one of the organizations commanders.”
But even here in the more factual of the two stories, the HS still pimps the “cycle of violence” meme as well as not mentioning the Israelis hurt by the Kassem rockets, as well as having the symapthetic photo op of the dead terrorist. Then there is the HS’s usage of the highly dubious term of “Palestinian fighters“.
Come on! These are terrorists shooting rockets into Israel who couldn’t have been happier if their rockets hit a busload of children or a house full of wedding guests. The HS is simply propagandizing for Hamas, and if there is such a thing as justice, they would be brought up on charges for openly aiding and abetting a terrorist organization. *L* KGS
