The battle between accurate reporting and propaganda intensified between news media conglomerates covering the Israel-Hamas War, only moments after a Gaza City hospital was hit by a failed rocket launch fired by terrorists inside Gaza Tuesday evening as stated by the Israel Defense Forces.
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The irony of the early New York Times’ headline, “Israelis and Palestinians Blame Each Other for Blast at Gaza Hospital That Killed Hundreds,” is that it exemplifies what those following reports about the war must determine – who is telling the truth?
The Times lead for the news of the day:
Hundreds of people were killed by an explosion at a hospital in Gaza City on Tuesday night where thousands of civilians had been sheltering, a loss of life that ignited protests across the Arab world on the same day President Biden left for Israel.
The Gazan health authorities said the blast had been caused by an Israeli airstrike; the Israel Defense Forces said it was caused by a rocket fired by a Palestinian armed group that malfunctioned after launching. Neither assertion could be immediately verified.
As Christians in the United States and around the world are praying for peace in Israel and the Middle East, a prayer that is often heard is one asking God for help in discerning what is true and what is not when it comes to the Israel-Hamas war.
“It looks like the Middle East is beginning to completely fall apart and so is the truth,” California pastor James Kaddis recently shared on his YouTube video, “The Media Is Lying About Jews And Palestinians!!!”
“The bottom line is this: We must pay attention to the things that are real. We must pay attention to the things that are true because not only does our life depend on it, so does our eternity,” Mr. Kaddis said. “I cannot emphasize enough that we are not only looking at things through the eyes of God’s Word but because God’s Word is truth.”
In his commentary, “Some in U.S. media still sympathize with Hamas over Israel,” Washington Times columnist, Tim Murtaugh, writes that there is still “plenty in the media portraying the attacks [by Hamas] as exactly what they were – outrageously brutal acts of terrorism. But it’s a terribly discouraging fact that there are too many who still subscribe to the “Israel had it coming” way of thinking and once again blame Jews for their own murders.”
In a Q & A exchange with The Washington Times’ Higher Ground, columnist Billy Hallowell, he shared about the media bias found in war coverage.
What is the most blatant thing you see in regard to secular or left-leaning coverage of the war in regards to bias?
Mr. Hallowell: It is often immediately framed as though Israel is the problem or has created the Middle Eastern conundrum we find before us. There’s often very little history or context, which, for a situation with so much depth, creates problematic narratives and assumptions. It’s certainly heartbreaking to hear of innocent people trapped or struggling, but the context of Hamas demanding Israel‘s obliteration and of, at moments, purportedly even blocking innocents from fleeing a coming Israeli response seems essential to comprehending what’s happening right now.
Is some of the coverage coming from those who simply have a worldview instead of a biblical worldview?
Mr. Hallowell: Christians understand the historic and spiritual issues at play. For 1,900 years, Israel was off the map; the nation returned in 1948 after the Holocaust, with Jews streaming in from all over the globe. Many see these as signs of biblical prophecy being fulfilled (see Ezekial 36-39). The reality is: most of the events in Revelation are tied to Jerusalem and Israel, so while it’s possible to look at things through a temporal and political lens, the failure to put on spiritual goggles to see what’s happening before us ends up being a failure to properly understand the context and reality of what Israel – and the world at large – faces.
Who should we follow for accurate news? Biblical worldview?
Mr. Hallowell: I’d encourage Christians to be reading and watching CBN News, Faithwire, Higher Ground, and Christian Post. Christian Headlines is also a wonderful outlet that provides context and also offers commentary and insight helping connect the spiritual and political.
Any thoughts you would like to add?
Mr. Hallowell: We need to be thinking deeper and looking at a variety of sources today to fully understand what’s unfolding before us.
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Alex Murashko is a journalist and the writing team leader for Think Eternity, a site for powerful faith content to help you live the fulfilled life in Jesus. Connect: @AlexMurashko.
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