Commentator Aharon Dov Halperin, speaking on his weekly Arutz-7 program yesterday morning, made the following observation:
"I was listening to a call-in radio show yesterday, and heard a listener ask why it is that the media are scaring the public with all the possible scenarios that Israel could suffer if the U.S. attacks Iraq - for after all, he said, every child knows how dangerous it is for the enemy to cause it to panic and fear even before firing one shot. The question may be right or wrong, but the announcer's answer was as follows: 'The press is simply fulfilling its obligation of allowing the public to actualize its right to know.' When I heard this answer, I simply began to laugh. Why? First of all, because that's always my reaction whenever I hear the two phrases "Israeli media" and "the public's right to know" in the same breath.
"But beyond that, the announcer's answer took me back to the not-so-distant past, during the early days of Oslo, when many of us begged the media to tell us all the facts. We pleaded with them for an analysis of all the harm and dangers that could arise from the fact that we were giving Arafat guns - which are more dangerous than the unlikely possibility of Saddam's rockets. Benny Begin, for instance, begged the media to publicize all the speeches in which Arafat called for Jihad so that the public could know the true situation and its dangers, and could know exactly what kind of peace Arafat was preparing for us. Benny Begin even took the time to send Voice of Israel tapes of all these speeches in which Arafat called for jihad. But our media were very "public-spirited." They decided that their job was not to scare the nation, but rather to "prepare the hearts" for peace. The same press that decided then, with thousands of guns delivered into the hands of terrorists right at our very doorstep, to instill the nation with serenity, today feels that it must educate the public about every possible danger emanating from Iraq, no matter how far-fetched it may be… And this situation is continuing today, with the media refusing to 'let the public know' about the terrible dangers of the Palestinian state that appears to be on the way…"
"I was listening to a call-in radio show yesterday, and heard a listener ask why it is that the media are scaring the public with all the possible scenarios that Israel could suffer if the U.S. attacks Iraq - for after all, he said, every child knows how dangerous it is for the enemy to cause it to panic and fear even before firing one shot. The question may be right or wrong, but the announcer's answer was as follows: 'The press is simply fulfilling its obligation of allowing the public to actualize its right to know.' When I heard this answer, I simply began to laugh. Why? First of all, because that's always my reaction whenever I hear the two phrases "Israeli media" and "the public's right to know" in the same breath.
"But beyond that, the announcer's answer took me back to the not-so-distant past, during the early days of Oslo, when many of us begged the media to tell us all the facts. We pleaded with them for an analysis of all the harm and dangers that could arise from the fact that we were giving Arafat guns - which are more dangerous than the unlikely possibility of Saddam's rockets. Benny Begin, for instance, begged the media to publicize all the speeches in which Arafat called for Jihad so that the public could know the true situation and its dangers, and could know exactly what kind of peace Arafat was preparing for us. Benny Begin even took the time to send Voice of Israel tapes of all these speeches in which Arafat called for jihad. But our media were very "public-spirited." They decided that their job was not to scare the nation, but rather to "prepare the hearts" for peace. The same press that decided then, with thousands of guns delivered into the hands of terrorists right at our very doorstep, to instill the nation with serenity, today feels that it must educate the public about every possible danger emanating from Iraq, no matter how far-fetched it may be… And this situation is continuing today, with the media refusing to 'let the public know' about the terrible dangers of the Palestinian state that appears to be on the way…"