"CNN is facing a backlash from its own staff over editorial policies they say have led to a regurgitation of Israeli propaganda and the censoring of Palestinians perspectives in the network’s coverage of the war in Gaza.

Journalists in CNN newsrooms in the US and overseas say broadcasts have been skewed by management edicts and a story-approval process that has resulted in highly partial coverage of the Hamas massacre on 7 October and Israel’s retaliatory attack on Gaza.

“The majority of news since the war began, regardless of how accurate the initial reporting, has been skewed by a systemic and institutional bias within the network toward Israel,” said one CNN staffer. “Ultimately, CNN’s coverage of the Israel-Gaza war amounts to journalistic malpractice.”

According to accounts from six CNN staffers in multiple newsrooms, and more than a dozen internal memos and emails obtained by the Guardian, daily news decisions are shaped by a flow of directives from the CNN headquarters in Atlanta that have set strict guidelines on coverage.

They include tight restrictions on quoting Hamas and reporting other Palestinian perspectives while Israel government statements are taken at face value. In addition, every story on the conflict must be cleared by the Jerusalem bureau before broadcast or publication."

https://www.theguardian.com/media/2024/feb/04/cnn-staff-pro-israel-bias

Traditionally, the image of a figleaf was used by artists to cover the body parts (think Adam and Eve) that they were not supposed to show in their paintings. As I use the term, a figleaf is a communicative device that provides just a bit of cover for something that one isn’t supposed to show in public – like racism.

To see how this works, let’s first take a closer look at Trump’s call for a Muslim ban. Here is a statement, cast in the third person, that he read aloud in December 2015:

Donald J Trump is calling for a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States until our country’s representatives can figure out what the hell is going on.

The anti-Muslim message is loud and clear, and not hidden at all. But the end of the statement is the bit that I want to focus on: ‘until our country’s representatives can figure out what the hell is going on’. For some people, this phrase provided reassurance that Trump isn’t racist – because a real racist would want to ban Muslims period, not just while we figure out what’s going on. This is a figleaf: it provides just enough cover for the racism that isn’t acceptable to show in public.

One reason that figleaves like this work is that many white people accept what the sociolinguist Jane Hill called ‘the folk theory of racism’. This view sets a very high bar for what counts as racist: a racist has to consciously believe in the biological inferiority of people of colour, and intend to be racist. Somebody like this would want to ban Muslims forever, not just temporarily. Similarly, they wouldn’t suggest that ‘some’ Mexican immigrants are good people, as Trump did. Nor would they have a Black friend, or declare themself to be non-racist, this line of thinking goes.

A view such as this one makes it very easy for utterances to serve as figleaves for racism. These figleaves allow a voter to continue supporting a candidate who has made a comment that might have worried them. They don’t need to become fully convinced that the candidate is non-racist; it’s enough in many cases to be uncertain about whether the utterance indicates racism. When I examined discussions among Trump supporters online, I found people who worried about Trump’s views on Mexicans being reassured by those who pointed out that he also said some of them are good. ‘I didn’t hear him say anything racist against any race,’ one person posted. ‘What I did hear him say is, “Illegal Mexicans bring drugs, crime, and are rapists, but I’m sure some are good people.” Seriously, whats racist about that?’ Another Tweeted: ‘Trump is not racist … Trump is not against all mexicans just the illegals.’

Another classic form of figleaf involves reporting the words of others, either specifically (‘John Smith says…’) or in a vague, handwavy way (‘Lots of people are saying…’) This is a great way to avoid responsibility for what one is inserting into the discourse.

We see this technique in the British politician Enoch Powell’s infamous ‘Rivers of Blood’ speech in 1968, in which he described a constituent (a ‘quite ordinary working man’) as saying: ‘In this country in 15 or 20 years’ time the black man will have the whip hand over the white man.’ Reports like these help to normalise the sentiments expressed, while distancing the speaker from them.

Figleaves are not for everyone. Some people don’t need them: fully committed racists are happy with blatantly racist comments, no figleaves required. Many people won’t be convinced by them: antiracist activists, for example, will see right through the attempted reassurance. For others, though, they provide just what is needed – a licence to go on supporting the person they feel drawn to.

https://psyche.co/ideas/beyond-dogwhistles-racists-have-a-new-rhetorical-trick

The roots of Cop City can be traced back to the Israeli Urban Warfare Training Center (UWTC), nicknamed “Mini Gaza”. The UWTC, built with $45 million in U.S. aid, was designed to simulate “the modern battle-field” and features replicas of public and residential buildings in Palestinian cities, including mosques and schools. Frequent Israeli incursions and violent raids of the Al-Aqsa Mosque by Israeli forces escalated after the facility’s establishment in 2005. The UWTC serves as a platform for passing on military lessons learned from Israeli incursions into Palestinian cities and refugee camps, and provides training to both Israeli forces and law enforcement from allied nations like the United States. This close relationship is sustained through a shared security apparatus among settler colonies like the U.S., Israel, and the UK. It involves collaboration and mutual expertise in urban warfare and repression which further strengthen colonial occupation and imperialism.

https://mronline.org/2024/02/15/cop-citys-ivory-tower/

Eventi mondani e barbecue, un fiume di soldi privati scorre dagli Stati Uniti verso le tasche dei coloni
LE DONAZIONI DELLA RETE PRO-ISRAELE. Come investire in case e terreni in Giudea e Samaria affinché siano «ebree per sempre». Il caso del villaggio di Beit El, beneficiario di un flusso ininterrotto di dollari utilizzati anche per i droni

Gli stanziamenti militari americani per le guerre globali (Ucraina, Israele, potenziale teatro Indo-pacifico) rimangono ostaggio delle manovre elettorali nel Congresso. In particolare, del presidente integralista della Camera, Mike Johnson, che pur di impedire l’approvazione dei fondi ha mandato in vacanza i deputati per due settimane. Johnson è la mano di Trump in parlamento e le sue tattiche sono frutto, più ancora che di un presunto neoisolazionismo, della narrazione secondo cui gli Stati uniti non possono assistere chicchessia fin quando debbono far fronte all’invasione delle orde di immigrati clandestini all’assalto del confine meridionale, lasciato sguarnito da Joe Biden.
La sceneggiata sovranista è talmente efficace nel compattare la base neo-GOP che perfino un decano dei falchi neoliberisti come il senatore Lindsey Graham, che l’anno scorso a Kiev abbracciava Zelensky giurando eterna disponibilità dell’arsenale della democrazia, questo mese ha ripetutamente votato contro il pacchetto pro-Ucraina e disertato la conferenza di Monaco sulla sicurezza per andare a farsi l’obbligatorio selfie sul confine messicano in Texas.
Nel paradosso populista inveterati combattenti della guerra fredda si contorcono per conciliare le boutade anti-Nato e filo putiniste di Trump coi decenni passati ad assalire «l’impero del male».
Ancora più paradossale, da questo punto di vista, è il blocco collaterale degli aiuti ad Israele, il cui sostegno è praticamente un dogma inamovibile per entrambi i partiti. Ma gli armamenti e munizioni spedite al governo autore dell’eccidio di Gaza non sono l’unico canale di assistenza.
La rete pro-Israele in America è capillare e straordinariamente efficiente grazie a lobby come AIPAC (American Israeli public affairs committee) che da un lato organizza campagne di opinione e veicola fondi a politici “amici” per assicurare il sostegno nel Congresso e dall’altro intraprende campagne punitive contro chi critica l’operato di Israele. L’associazione ha di recente annunciato uno stanziamento di 100 milioni di dollari per assicurare la sconfitta di parlamentari progressisti come Alexandria Ocasio Cortez, che hanno chiesto un cessate il fuoco a Gaza.
Molti altri soldi americani raggiungono Israele attraverso canali privati. Una inchiesta del periodico online New Lines Magazine, a firma di Matthew Petti, esamina come la campagna di sostituzione etnica portata avanti dai coloni nei territori palestinesi sia in gran parte finanziata da cene sociali e ricevimenti di charity organizzati da bravi cittadini nelle tranquille periferie americane. Solo i barbecue e le degustazioni di vini organizzati dalla One Israel Fund raccolgono attorno ai tre milioni di dollari l’anno per la sicurezza degli insediamenti in Giudea e Samaria – il nome con cui i sionisti designano i territori occupati. In particolare New Lines esamina il caso di Beit El, un insediamento di 7000 coloni che sorge su terre sequestrate, nei pressi del campo profughi palestinese di Jalazone, dove oltre il doppio di abitanti vivono in un’area grande la metà.
Il villaggio ebreo comprende la base della 887ma divisone della Giudea e Samaria, unità dell’esercito di stanza in Cisgiordania ed è abitato da molti coloni affiliati a movimenti di estrema destra. Da anni Beit El è beneficiario di un flusso ininterrotto di donazioni di beneficienza provenienti in gran parte dai sobborghi di Long Island, NY, noti come Five Towns, comunità con una densa popolazione ebraica nella Nassau County.