Debunking the "human shields" propaganda

international | arts and media | other press Friday August 04, 2006 16:09 by Phuq Hedd

Counterpunch examines the media war waged against Hizbullah

In Counterpunch, Aug 4th 2006, Jonathan Cook reports on Human Rights Watch's analysis of civilian casualties inflicted by Hizbullah and the IDF and concludes that indiscriminate media reporting is perpetuating at least two inaccuracies: that IDF strikes are "targetted" with Lebanese civilian deaths being a result of Hizbullah using them as human shields; and that Hizbullah attacks are deliberately targetting civilians.

The former point is arrived at by analysis of specific case studies covering an estimated low of 500 Lebanese deaths. The latter examines several of the known locations of Hizbullah rocket attacks and concludes that at least some of those rocket attacks are specifically aimed at Israeli military installations.

Worth reading for anyone that wants to think about the relative moralities of the situation and doesn't want to blindly accept the passive Western media's retailing of spin from highly-censored Israel.

Jonathan Cook: War of Media Deception, Counterpunch Aug 4th 2006