Sometimes, one finds almost pathological bias in the media. Today brings an article that clearly demonstrates this. Before explaining the article, however, let me first provide a bit of background.
The Gaza Strip is a Palestinian enclave on the shores of the Mediterranean; it is bordered by Isreal and Egypt. The area was controlled by Israel from 1967 until 2005, at which time Israel withdrew in a move towards peace and left control to the Palestinian Authority. Within two years, the Hamas terror staged a coup in Gaza where it has ruled ever since. Under Hamas, Gaza has become an armed camp filled with rockets and missiles which are launched periodically at Israel. The rockets/missiles are inaccurate, so they do little military damage, but they can and do kill and injure civilians in Israeli territory. Because of the constant attacks from Hamas, Israel closed the border with Gaza to all commodities that have military value. Egypt also banned the transfer of weapons into Gaza through Egyptian territory. Nevertheless, in order to smuggle weapons and other goods into Gaza without being seen, the Gazans built a great many tunnels deep underground that ran from Gaza to Egyptian territory.
In the last week, Egypt has conducted a crack down on the illegal smuggling efforts through the Gaza tunnel. The Egyptians have not found each tunnel, but instead have used water from artesian wells to flood certain areas. The surface water (which is uncommon in the area) has caused many of the tunnels to collapse.
In summary, then, Egypt acted to enforce Egyptian law by stopping illegal smuggling through the underground tunnels.
Now we get to the Reuters story. In an article entitled "Egyptian Flooding Washes Away Gaza Tunnel Business", the Reuters reporter presents as "news" a tirade against the actions of the Egyptians. His reason: by closing the smuggling tunnels, the Egyptians put many folks in Gaza out of work. Remember, what the Gazans were doing was illegal, but Reuters laments that they have lost their jobs. It is as if Reuters wrote a "news" story about how drug raids that stop heroin supplies are bad because it puts pushers out of work. Maybe next week Reuters can tell us how efforts to stop the international sex slave trade are bad because it puts the underage prostitutes out of work.
Reuters should be ashamed of itself.
The Gaza Strip is a Palestinian enclave on the shores of the Mediterranean; it is bordered by Isreal and Egypt. The area was controlled by Israel from 1967 until 2005, at which time Israel withdrew in a move towards peace and left control to the Palestinian Authority. Within two years, the Hamas terror staged a coup in Gaza where it has ruled ever since. Under Hamas, Gaza has become an armed camp filled with rockets and missiles which are launched periodically at Israel. The rockets/missiles are inaccurate, so they do little military damage, but they can and do kill and injure civilians in Israeli territory. Because of the constant attacks from Hamas, Israel closed the border with Gaza to all commodities that have military value. Egypt also banned the transfer of weapons into Gaza through Egyptian territory. Nevertheless, in order to smuggle weapons and other goods into Gaza without being seen, the Gazans built a great many tunnels deep underground that ran from Gaza to Egyptian territory.
In the last week, Egypt has conducted a crack down on the illegal smuggling efforts through the Gaza tunnel. The Egyptians have not found each tunnel, but instead have used water from artesian wells to flood certain areas. The surface water (which is uncommon in the area) has caused many of the tunnels to collapse.
In summary, then, Egypt acted to enforce Egyptian law by stopping illegal smuggling through the underground tunnels.
Now we get to the Reuters story. In an article entitled "Egyptian Flooding Washes Away Gaza Tunnel Business", the Reuters reporter presents as "news" a tirade against the actions of the Egyptians. His reason: by closing the smuggling tunnels, the Egyptians put many folks in Gaza out of work. Remember, what the Gazans were doing was illegal, but Reuters laments that they have lost their jobs. It is as if Reuters wrote a "news" story about how drug raids that stop heroin supplies are bad because it puts pushers out of work. Maybe next week Reuters can tell us how efforts to stop the international sex slave trade are bad because it puts the underage prostitutes out of work.
Reuters should be ashamed of itself.
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