Friday, March 27, 2009

THE AGE REPEATS ITSELF AGAIN - # 28

Another day, another shonky Age expose on Israel's alleged illegal use of white phosphorous in its recent Gaza campaign.

Remember those earlier allegations?

The ones that the Age has reproduced on at least half a dozen occasions over the past two months? The same identical claims that have been made by the usual suspects and refuted by bodies like the Red Cross. The ones that made by people holding partisan pro Palestinian/Hamas viewpoints, reported on by people holding partisan pro Palestinian/Hamas views and published by newspaper editors carrying out pro Palestinian/Hamas agendas.

It's like Groundhog Day again today!

In accordance with Wilbur's law, the truthful part of today's Age effort (lifted from the Guardian no less) comes near the end -

The Israel Defence Forces yesterday said its investigation into the use of white phosphorous was still under way, but insisted its use of what it called 155-millimetre "smoke shells" was legal.

"Based on the findings at this stage, it is already possible to conclude that the IDF's use of smoke shells was in accordance with international law," it said.

"These shells were used for specific operational needs only and in accord with international humanitarian law. The claim that smoke shells were used indiscriminately, or to threaten the civilian population, is baseless."
Which leads to the question, how many times can a newspaper present the same story as news before its readers realise the newspaper is nothing more than a pithy propaganda sheet running a sinister agenda, namely to demonise one country and one people ahead of next month's Durban 2 hatefest which just happens to co-incide with Adolph Hitler's 120th birthday?

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