Playing Into Hezbollah's Hands

Has anyone noticed that (besides the hard left and those that seek western civilization's destruction) there is little being said about what was said to be a horrendous massacre in Qana, last weekend? Last weekend, the Qana story saturated the headlines. Today, it's back off of the front page and very few news outlets are giving it much attention.

Journalists Fail To Explain Qana by David Warren, helps us understand the reasoning behind this.

My reader may be wondering what happened to all the coverage from Qana. As usual, when the "liberal" media begin to realize they've been had, the story disappears. But it is never properly corrected. We get a few days of blazing headlines, and round-the-dial TV coverage of an "Israeli massacre", laden with innuendos, and then --the fade-out. This will not do.

What happened at Qana was, almost certainly, what happened at Jenin in 2002, what happened on a beach in Gaza a few weeks ago, and what has happened on innumerable other occasions. The Israelis are instantaneously accused and convicted of a monstrous and perhaps intentional act of butchery, by people quite incurious about the facts. Their pathological hatred of "Zionism" is all the proof they need. These are people who seldom bother to shed even crocodile tears when Jews are blown to pieces by suicide bombers, or rockets are fired indiscriminately into their homes; but become tremendously excited when the news breaks that some Israeli retaliation may have gone wrong.

Hezbollah's Psych-Ops by Clifford May, helps shed even more light on the subject.

Hezbollah and its foreign sponsors deserve credit: They understand the perverse psychology of the Middle East. They knew they could launch a war against Israel and then have Israel get the blame for the devastation that inevitably would follow.

They knew also that if Israel failed to respond forcefully to their ground and missile attacks, they could say Israel was cowardly. And if Israel did respond forcefully, they could say Israel was a bully, its response “disproportionate” – even while insisting that Israel was doing them no serious damage.

They knew they could target Israeli civilians and hide combatants and weapons behind Lebanese civilians -- in homes, hospitals, schools and mosques. Even so, whenever Lebanese women and children were killed, they could accuse Israel of “war crimes.”

Give Hezbollah, Syria and Iran credit for this, too: They understand the equally perverse psychology of Europe,
the U.N. and the “international community.” Two years ago, U.N. Security Council Resolution 1559 demanded that Hezbollah disarm. Hezbollah refused to comply. In response, the international community shrugged its collective shoulders.

All this I understand. And I suppose that some of you that read PYY, do too. But what I do not understand is how educated journalists (some with advanced degrees) can allow themselves to be fooled by the calculated deceptions that Hezbollah, al Qaida, Iran, and other radical jihadist entities are bent on promoting, as facts.

Like any other degree program, a typical journalism degree does require some electives in social sciences. History being considered a social science, you'd think that some of them would have taken a class or two. Frankly, it amazes me that more journalists cannot put two and two together and recognize some things that are plain to so many people. Take the Soviet Union for example. They were masters at propaganda, they staged many things over the course of that empire's existence. The picture painted of Soviet life was that of law and order and the successes of communism, worldwide. We now know that it was anything but, successful or orderly.

Hezbollah has learned well from that model and is using the media to advance their lies and deception, today. Yet many in the MSM can barely recognize that they are being had. And when they do, they change the subject by changing the lead story. They re-focus the attention on something new, something more outrageous, or they just downplay it quietly, hoping that no one will notice.

So give Hezbollah and the entire jihadist movement some credit. They have done what many at one point in time, would never have believed could happen. They fused elements of Soviet ideology with Nazi ideology and have become masters of manipulation, through their staged scenes. They have developed an intense hatred of Jews, so much that they seek their annihilation from the planet; and have used old communist propaganda techniques to get their message out.

And until this past week, it was working pretty well. Until the stories about Pallywood surfaced, many people have been content to eat up whatever has been served to them. But now there's a wrench that has been thrown into all of this. But instead of dealing with the allegations, the MSM is more than content to move forward without offering any explanation.

In fact, it can be seem here at PYY, as well.

If I post an essay on why I think France is wrong in a specific instance, I have French readers pounding me for what they perceive is wrong information and flawed opinion. If I have posted the slightest error as far as the media is concerned, Mean Gene hammers me. But in this case I have noticed, the critics are silent. Opposing view comments have been sparse through all of this. I guess that means some of my critics just might agree with me on this.

(Hat Tip to RCP for both articles.)