Ben's Place

Apparently, when Israel is making a bad move, it is being criticized unprecedentedly through media networks around the globe. The negative coverage would sometimes last even more than a few days before it would be removed from the news desk. The various media networks also compete each other who would be the first one to report, and with as many details as possible, without a thorough check of the facts, without any proportions to the scope of the incident and without checking the real intentions (after all, it’s the intention that counts). To show us, the viewers, that the media networks are objective, they would bring defenders for both sides. While this is a little comforting, we – the Israelis, are always left with the taste that they take the other side’s position. Arguable, but difficult to prove.

A few days ago, on January 12th, a powerful earthquake rocked Haiti, killing dozens of thousands, wounding millions and damaging their infrastructure in a catastrophic way.

Israel has done a very impressive gesture to the people of Haiti who have gone through hell and deserve much help and support. Israel sent about 250 people as part of a rescue team and built a field hospital which the United States has yet to build. In addition, Israel has brought advanced equipment coming from the other side of the world to save lives. The United States, which is a neighbor to Haiti, sent a team of 2000 people which is by far the largest one to operate in the area in absolute terms and its efforts are blessed, but Israel relative to its size is by far the largest rescue team to operate in the area.

Why isn’t Israel getting the favorable coverage when deserved? Can Israel do something that will be conceived as positive by the media? Here is a chance for the foreign media networks to show that they are somehow objective in their reports regarding Israel. While the United States efforts are massively being broadcasted proving with no doubt that the topic is very interesting and draws a lot of public attention, the Israeli effort is almost completely left unrecognized. The foreign media simply turns a blind eye on the Israeli effort. Although it may be unsurprising, it clearly unveils the foreign media’s hypocrisy, their non-objective reporting, and the fact that they are being hostile to Israel.

Here’s a short video from CNN, I was able to find after a long search; this video speaks for itself. Nevertheless, note the reporter’s name.

Obama – Celeb or President?

Following a comprehensive and quite convincing campaign (taking advantage of Bush’s stumbles and the recent financial crisis), Obama certainly won the jackpot, leading to historic US victory. Obama is an inspirational speaker and this is appreciated by many. Now he is the president of the “United States of America” (as he likes to emphasize). Now is the time to walk the walk and not just talk the talk. So far he seems like a very successful celeb. The campaign for presidency, however, is over. Whether Obama and his administration will be able to step up to the challenges the world is facing both politically and economically, remains to be seen. We are all full of hope they will. “Yes we can”.

Like the recent 2009 Israeli elections where, in my opinion, between the three prime ministerial candidates, there was no clear choice, yet one had to be elected, the US elections seemed no different. It appeared that the US citizens did not vote for their favorite candidate, but rahter voted against the candidate they liked the least.

Personally, I am not against going the diplomatic way, as long as the dialog is productive. We have to agree rather than disagree, at least on the very basics. I think we are all in agreement that it’s getting late and time is running out. There are others who take advantage of this mess and confusion. Starting the talks that should have been concluded years ago does not seem like the best choice right now. Actions must be taken immediately. Although, Obama’s speech about North Korea seems like was written by the Bush administration, Obama needs to start to deliver. He is still … just talking. The time to act is now.

Watch Obama in action, and judge by yourself.