Fateful Triangle

Peace for Galilee489obviously an intolerable act, more evidence of a “double standard” and a“pro-PLO bias,” if not outright anti-Semitism, in the eyes of the editor ofthis leading journal of American liberalism—a fact that passes withoutcomment here, again yielding some insight into the American culturalscene.Another major critique of the media was produced by the Anti-Defamation League of B’nai Brith (ADL) in October. This time TV wasthe villain. The report consists of a documentary record of TV broadcastswith critical observations, and an analysis by the ADL. Subsequently,this was referred to by supporters of Israel as an indictment of themedia, but a review of the documentation presented leads to no suchconclusion. In fact, the study has its comic aspects. The primarycriticism of the early evening news programs to which the study isrestricted is that they gave reports with sources the ADL regards asinadequate. Thus on June 14, ABC and NBC cited casualty figures,attributing them respectively to the “Lebanese police” and “the Lebanesegovernment.” “Who are ‘Lebanese police’,” “Who is the ‘Lebanesegovernment’,” the ADL analysts ask? Apparently, their concept is that inreporting the crimes of their Holy State in a TV clip one must provide anextensive scholarly apparatus. Similarly, CBS cited “international reliefofficials” in Beirut who reported casualty figures from Sidon. The ADLasks: “Who are these ‘international relief officials,’ and if they are inBeirut, how could they be reporting on casualties in Sidon?” (could theyhave received a message from Sidon?). If such standards were appliedgenerally to TV reporting, the 6PM news would last until midnight if itcould appear at all; someone who proposed that such standards shouldbe met in any other connection would be regarded as quite mad. TheADL also criticizes the figures cited from Sidon because “this figure waslater proven to be a gross exaggeration, yet no retraction wasforthcoming.” They do not provide the “proof,” but it appears to beClassics in Politics: The Fateful TriangleNoam Chomsky