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Media Watch

SBS doesn’t tell the whole story

Jmedia Manager
Media Watch
507

SBS has run a news item that completely fails to provide any context for why the Israeli government has decided to close the Kerem Shalom crossing to commercial traffic. Listening to the SBS news clip one might construe that Israel is just wanting to be nasty and make life more difficult for the people living in Gaza. The malevolent view is expressed that Israel is committing a ‘crime against humanity’.

Although Israel has decided to block the flow of commercial goods in and out of Gaza, the IDF has said that humanitarian aid — including food and medicine — is still being allowed through, albeit with case-by-case approval of the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT).

Israel has very good reason to close this crossing to punish Hamas for the millions of dollars of damage that were caused by the protesters that attacked it. Israel should have publicly demanded that Hamas  pay the repair bill, which one can assume Hamas would have refused.  Then Israel could have announced that the crossing would be closed because Hamas operatives had seriously damaged it.
The way this is being reported in our media like SBS is dishonest because it fails to provide any context. Even the media in Israel don’t seem to have made it abundantly clear why Israel is totally justified in enforcing this measure.