The Daily Beast on the media's double standard against Israel

Early in August, at an Al Quds Day rally in Toronto, a speaker called for the murder of Jews. Elias Hazineh, the former president of an organization called Palestinian House, suggested that an ultimatum be given to Israelis. "You have to leave Jerusalem. You have to leave Palestine. We say get out or you're dead! We give them two minutes and then we start shooting. And that's the only way they'll understand." Hazineh spoke to an applauding crowd of around 400.

What was more disturbing than the inflammatory and hateful declarations was the way they were almost completely ignored by the mainstream press... I checked the website of every newspaper and broadcast outlet in Toronto. I found only one other reference to the rally in the local press...

You might think that calling for the killing of Jews before a large crowd might be more than a local story. Indeed, the story was picked up by the Jewish Telegraphic Agency... There were also stories on some Israeli websites such as the Times of Israel and the Jerusalem Post... I couldn't find any evidence that the general press had covered the story at all... 

Actually, what Hazineh said at the rally was really not out of step with statements that are made regularly by the leaders of the Palestinian Authority (PA). Organizations such as MEMRI and Palestinian Media Watch document what Palestinian politicians say and what the government-controlled media broadcasts. The results of their research and videos from Palestinian and Arab television are published on each group's website. Palestinian Media Watch claims, "The PA assigns the responsibility to the Jews for all of the problems of the world. Wars, conflicts and civil wars are all said to be triggered by the Jews. Indeed, the oppression suffered by the Jews throughout history is presented as the legitimate response of nations seeking revenge for the injury caused by the Jews living among them." In one video from Palestinian Television displayed on the PMW website in July, a schoolgirl read a poem calling Jews the "most evil among creations." The PA also continues to articulate euphemisms for the destruction of Israel. A MEMRI report released last March asserted that textbooks used in PA schools inculcate into children the hope for a return to their homes inside Israel.

The reasons for the widespread suppression of the official Palestinian demonization of Jews and Israel are easily discernible. According to the conventional wisdom of Middle East "experts," only Israel's occupation and settlements in the West Bank stand in the way of a "two-state solution" to the Arab-Israeli conflict. The Palestinian hostility toward Jews and Israel makes this myth a hard sell.