Kiwis for Balanced Reporting on the Middle East

Kiwis for Balanced Reporting On The Mideast New Zealand Media bias

January 11, 2009

SST cartoon falsely shows Israel killing ten ‘innocents’ for every Hamas agent

A cartoon by Bromhead in the Sunday Star-Times (http://www.cagle.com/politicalcartoons/PCcartoons/bromhead.asp) showed an Israeli soldier firing a machine-gun, saying ‘Ten innocents, one Hamas... twenty innocents, two Hamas...’ KBRM requested a correction:

Dear Editor,
I want to thank you again for correcting the error in your movie review of ‘Waltz with Bashir.’ Now KBRM must ask you to do the same in regard to a similar error that is even more serious, because it is more prominent.
The cartoon by Bromhead (Jan. 11, p. A11) shows an Israeli soldier firing a machine gun, saying ‘...TEN INNOCENTS, ONE HAMAS... TWENTY INNOCENTS, TWO HAMAS... THIRTY INNOCENTS...’. This is not only wrong, it is an inversion of the truth. For one thing, Israeli forces don't relish killing civilians; they try to hold civilian casualties to as low a level as possible, even to the point of alerting occupants of an upcoming attack so they can evacuate. But apart from motivation, there is the numerical error that cries for correction.
The actual number of civilians killed is hard to determine, but estimates range from around 35% (by Israel) to 50% (by Palestinian authority)* — a far cry from Bromhead's 10-to-1 ratio. (These are remarkable figures, given that Hamas operates in civilian areas and uses civilians as cover and support, and they indicate Israel's efforts to spare civilians.) Further, just because a casualty was unarmed doesn't mean he was an ‘innocent civilian’, and this applies to children and women as well, so even these estimates are probably high. In any case, the number of civilians killed is LESS than that of Hamas militants — not 10 times greater as Bromhead stated!
While the Press Council allows wide latitude to cartoonists and columnists to express their opinions, they are not allowed to tell lies, and saying that Israelis are killing ten civilians for every Hamas militant is a lie. Apart from the violation of journalistic ethics, think of the impact this false statement has on readers who will naturally assume that Israel is guilty of such wanton killing!
Therefore KBRM urgently requests an appropriate correction. Because the cartoon dominates the editorial page and ‘hits readers in the eyes’, we think the correction should be more than a small item at the bottom of p. 2 — perhaps it could be under your next cartoon.
Please be so kind as to acknowledge receipt of this letter and let us know how and when the correction will appear.

Rodney Brooks, Chairman
Kiwis for Balanced Reporting on the Mideast (www.kbrm.org.nz)

*See, e.g.,
2008-2009 Israel-Gaza conflict From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Star-Times refused to make a correction, replying:

Dear Mr Brooks.
Thank you for your email. Mitchell Murphy has asked me to come back to you.
The Sunday Star-Times will not be providing a ‘correction’ on the January 11 editorial cartoon.
Indeed, as you outline in your letter, cartoonists and columnists have wide latitude to express their opinions and that is what has happened in this case.
I am pleased that you saw the previous correction about the Waltz with Bashir movie review.
Best wishes for 2009.

Miriyana Alexander
Deputy editor.

KBRM then sent the following appeal to the NZ Press Council:

While cartoonists are usually given wide latitude, such as drawing a person in a distorted way — taller, shorter, wider, even evil-looking — they shouldn't be allowed to say he has committed crimes that he didn't commit. For example, if a cartoon showed Chris Kahui killing ten babies, that surely would not have been allowed (especially after he was acquitted). If a cartoon showed Clint Rickards raping 10 women, that would not have been allowed, or at the very least, a correction would have been made.

The same principle should apply to a nation. As the only Jewish nation in the world, Israel is seen by many as representative of the Jewish people, and false charges against Israel inevitably incite anti-Semitism. The statement that Israelis are killing ten innocents for every Hamas agent is simply not true. The actual ratio is in the opposite direction, despite Hamas’ modus operandi of using women and children as shields and cover - even as scouts and couriers. An Israeli report, based on name-by-name examination of 900 dead, found that three Hamas were killed for each innocent. A less accurate UN estimate also found more Hamas killed than innocents (Jerusalem Post, Jan. 15). The statement in the cartoon is grossly wrong - an inversion of the truth.

This statement is not a justifiable or harmless ‘exaggeration’; it is an out-and-out lie not any different from lies like ‘Jews kill Christian babies and drink their blood’ that anti-Semites have spouted through the centuries. It is similar to the tactics used by Josef Streicher in ‘Der Sturmer’ and by Goebbels. These tactics must not be permitted in New Zealand, not even in a cartoon.

When KBRM asked the SST to run a correction, to inform its readers of the truth, the editor refused. The charge of a (deliberate) 10-to-1 ratio thus remains uncorrected, screaming out from the editorial page. It is a serious charge, it is a false charge, and it is a damaging charge. We hope that the Press Council will rule that it should be corrected.

The following week ( January 18) the SST published the following letter:

I WAS disgusted by your January 11 cartoon. Israel's army, despite all the difficulties of fighting a terrorist organisation that uses human shields as defence, does not purposely target civilians. Thousands of injured have been treated in Israeli hospitals since the war begun. Your biased cartoon demands some deep soul-searching on your part.

When the editor received notice of the appeal, he phoned the KBRM chairman to accuse KBRM of appealing when we don't get our way, or words to that effect. He also made it clear that he is the one who will decide in the future which submissions to print, with the implication of retaliation. The chairman sent the following letter:

Dear Mr Murphy
I want to assure you in print as well as by voice that KBRM files appeals only in regard to egregious instances of bias or untruth, and when the editor has refused to take corrective action. There have been only two previous appeals in 2-1/2 years. We much prefer working with editors to help them meet the journalistic standards of truth and balance that we all believe in.
However the cartoon that showed Israeli soldiers killing 10 innocents for every Hamas, and in such a prominent position that no one could miss it, was such an egregious instance. Your refusal to inform your readers that this statement is erroneous, left us no choice. (If I were in your shoes, not only would I have made the correction, I would also have told Mr Bromhead that even cartoonists must be careful with the truth. It is no laughing matter to libel a nation, and by extension, an entire people.)