Haaretz Deposes Hamas in Gaza
A prominent pull quote in Haaretz‘s print edition last week (“The slow death sentence of cancer patients in Gaza,” March 7, page six) states, in quotation marks:
“Gaza is controlled by the Israelis, the Egyptians and the Palestinian Authority, none of whom seem to care or take our condition seriously.”
Hang on a minute. Israel, Egypt and the Palestinian Authority control Gaza? What about Hamas, which has ruled since June 2007?
The quotation marks indicate these were the speaker’s direct words, and not a paraphrase. The purported speaker is Gaza cancer patient Hana (pseudonym), but the Haaretz editor who selected this pull quote did not accurately quote her. This is what Hana actually said, according to the article:
Cancer treatment is not available in Gaza and access to treatment outside of Gaza is controlled by the Israelis, Egyptians and the Palestinian Authority, none of whom seem to care, take our condition seriously or deal with us in urgency.
Hana’s statement — that access to the outside is controlled by Israel, Egypt and the PA — is more factually accurate than the erroneously rendered pull quote which ignores that it is Hamas which has primary control of the Gaza Strip.
Beyond the erroneous pull quote which overlooks Hamas’ control of the territory, the article itself also gives Hamas a pass. Writer Dr. Manal Massalha, who sets out to cover the difficult circumstances which Gaza cancer patients face, ignores the difficulty that Hamas creates for the highly vulnerable cancer patients: reportedly exploiting them, coercing them to smuggle funds or instructions to terrorists when they enter Israel for treatment.
Twice before, Haaretz‘s English edition had ignored Hamas’ exploitation of cancer patients, and only added the information (which had originally appeared in the paper’s Hebrew edition), after CAMERA objected.
More from SNAPSHOTS
Swarthmore Students Are Learning: It Was Never About Palestinian Rights
May 14, 2025
Students at Swarthmore College are so close to understanding the conflict. An article in the Swarthmore Phoenix details the frustrations of student activists with the college’s Students for Justice in Palestine. The gist of their criticism is [...]
AFP Arabic Stops Mislabeling Northern Israeli Communities ‘Settlements”
August 10, 2021
A view of Metulla, northern Israel (Photo by Hadar Sela)After failing to set the record straight last May when Agence France Presse's Arabic service repeatedly referred to Jewish communities in northern Israel as "settlements," the [...]
NY Times Praises Ilhan Omar’s Book While Glossing Over Her Antisemitism
August 19, 2020
A recent New York Times book review boosts Rep. Ilhan Omar’s (D-MN) autobiography while glossing over her antisemitism. In the paper’s Aug. 16, 2020 edition, NYT reporter Christina Cauterucci writes: The memoir offers breathing room [...]
When TV Interviews of Ilhan Omar Constitute Journalistic Malpractice
August 11, 2020
Rep. Ilhan Omar’s (D-MN) documented animosity toward Jews and Israel was ignored in recent interviews by MSNBC and C-SPAN. MSNBC’s The Beat for July 23, 2020 included host Ari Melber’s 10-minute conversation at 6:16 [...]
Boston TV Station WCVB Teamed Up With Terrorist Supporter CAIR
July 7, 2020
WCVB-TV (channel 5) (Boston’s ABC network affiliate) recently misled area viewers about a matter involving antisemitic propaganda. This occurred on its local Sunday show Cityline hosted by Karen Holmes Ward who is described by the [...]
Harper’s Magazine Echoed Palestinian Propaganda Condemning Israel And America
June 2, 2020
Writing in Harper's, Kevin Baker condemns the U.S. Middle East peace plan [“The Striking Gesture,” Easy Chair, May 2020], mischaracterizing it as, “Give up all your [Palestinian] hopes and your holiest places, embark on a [...]