The
Palestinians declared a
three-day-long "rage" spree over US President Donald Trump's
announcement recognizing Jerusalem as Israel's capital. Thus far, however, it
seems that the real anger is showing up in the international media, not on the
Palestinian street.
Question:
How many foreign journalists does it take to cover the Palestinian reaction to
Trump's announcement? Answer: As many as the
Israel-Palestinian-conflict-obsessed-West can manage to send.
The
massive presence of the international media in Jerusalem and the West Bank has
taken even the Palestinians by surprise. Since Trump's announcement on December
6, dozens of additional journalists and camera crews have converged on Israel
to cover "the big story."
Some of
these reporters, including those working for American networks, have been flown
in from their working posts in London, Paris, Cairo and New York to cover what
many of them are already calling the "New Palestinian Intifada." But
is it really a new intifada, or is it simply wishful thinking on the part of
the swarm of Palestinian and foreign reporters?
In the
past few days, we have seen wild exaggeration in the media as to what is really
happening in and around the Old City of Jerusalem. What is evident, however, is
that the number of journalists and photographers covering the protests in the
city has thus far exceeded the number of Palestinian protesters.
Let us
start with Friday, December 8, the final day of the announced Palestinian
"rage." The Palestinian Authority, Hamas and other Palestinian groups
told us to expect mass rallies and protests after Friday prayers at the Al-Aqsa
mosque compound. So did the reporters.
By early
morning, at least six television production trucks were stationed in the small
parking lot outside the Damascus Gate, the main entrance to the Old City of
Jerusalem. The trucks belonged to various television stations were presumably
brought there to film live broadcasts of the anticipated mass protests. Another
70-80 journalists and photographers were waiting, some impatiently, for the
Muslim worshippers to finish their prayers and start their protests against
President Trump's announcement.
What we
got in the end was a small and peaceful protest of some 40 Palestinians, who
chanted slogans against Israel, the US and Arab leaders -- including
Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas, who was dubbed a
"traitor" and "Israeli spy."
Björn Stritzel,
an honest and brave German journalist, tweeted from
the scene: "More journalists than protesters after Friday prayers."
The
media frenzy was echoed by several other reporters. "Three days of 'rage'
have passed since Trump's Jerusalem declaration and Armageddon hasn't
arrived," remarked journalist Oren Kessler.
"One is loath to make predictions of continued calm in the region, but
thus far the doomsday prophecies have not materialized."
French
journalist Piotr Smolar, who also waited for the "big" protest, wrote: "Dozens and dozens of
journalists at Damascus gate, where nothing has happened until now."
Joe
Dyke, a reporter with Agence France Press (AFP), tweeted a photo showing
more journalists than protesters at Damascus Gate. He wrote: "Small
Palestinian protest at Damascus Gate in Jerusalem broken up by the Israeli
police. They seemed to object to a picture of Trump as a toilet."
Dyke
later reported that he had "just walked
through Jerusalem's Old City and the situation is very calm. More police on
streets but no issues as yet. Tourists milling about."
Here is
how the journalist Seth Frantzman of The Jerusalem Post, who was at
the scene, described the
situation: "There are more people with cameras here than anyone clashing
(with police) at the moment."
Frantzman
later had this to say about the
"clash": "There are as many media and onlookers taking photos
here as there are youth and police waiting for the clashes."
Protests
against Israel and the US are not uncommon on the streets of Ramallah, Hebron
and Bethlehem. But for the "war correspondents," there is nothing
more exciting than standing behind burning tires and stone throwers and
reporting from the heart of the "clashes." Such scenes make the
journalists look as if they are in the middle of a battlefield and are risking
their lives to bring the story home to their viewers. They might even receive
an award for their "courageous" reporting from danger zones!
That is
what happens when you are afraid to go to Yemen, Libya, Syria or Iraq to cover
the real bloodshed.
Newsflash
for the journalists: There's nothing new on the Palestinian street. Palestinian
threats of violence and walking out of any "peace process" is old,
old news. Jerusalem is not on fire. Jerusalem is tense, and has long been so,
because the Palestinians have not yet managed to come to terms with Israel's
right to exist. That is the real story. The Palestinians rage and rage and rage
for only one reason: because Israel exists. Put that in a story and publish it.
Bassam Tawil is a Muslim based in the Middle East.
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