Israel is sending residents of the rocket besieged city of Sderot to Europe to describe their plight, an Israeli official said on Tuesday.Now I think this could be a pretty smart move, even if it is laying it on a bit thick. IMHO, however, Europeans are slightly more sophisticated consumers of media output than Americans -- many will immediately perceive and recoil at the implied accusations of anti-Semitism. We Americans for the most part tripped over each other to believe Colin Powell's little vial of white powder, and the "Saddam's tossin' babies out the incubators" stories, but Europeans will doubtless act a little more coolly towards an obvious attempt to tug at their heartstrings -- even one centered around real victims of violence.
Indeed, for this to work, it would have to be true that there really is an anti-Israeli bias among European news agencies, and I doubt there is. What I've seen (granted, via satellite television) is condemnation of the violence of both sides, but with a little more disapprobation of Israel -- mainly because Europeans view Israel as a highly Westernized country, and thus such nations as France and Germany tend to judge Israel more by the standards to which they'd like to think they hold themselves...
Anyway, this appearance by Israeli victims of Palestinian violence might carry a little more weight were it not possible for Palestinians to do the exact same thing with wounded survivors of Israeli air strikes.
I call this one a wash for both sides on their respective propaganda fronts.
Labels: Middle Easter Bunnies, random, war on tair
