Weir accuses U.S. media of pro-Israeli bias

Updates on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in the Middle East are an almost daily part of national print and television news, but there are some who believe there is a pro-Israeli bias in the mainstream media that causes the stories to never be completely covered.

Freelance journalist Alison Weir, founder and executive director of "If Americans Knew," an organization dedicated to "providing Americans the disturbing facts we're not receiving from our news media," is one such doubter of American journalism.

In a presentation Friday night to a near-capacity crowd of UB students, professors and community members at the Classics V Banquet Center in Amherst, Weir shared her point of view and personal experiences from traveling through Gaza and the West Bank. The event was sponsored by the Muslim Student Association and the Organization of Arab Students. Proceeds went to the Palestine Children's Relief Fund.

Students said they attended the lecture for a variety of reasons. Miriam Atkin, a senior English major, said she came primarily as an act of charity.

"I wanted to donate to a good cause," Atkin said.

For others, like Amineh Sallaj, a junior business administration major, the speaker hit closer to home.

"I'm Palestinian myself, so I wanted to come and explore," Sallaj said.

She said she also wanted to see what Weir's insight was on American support and involvement in the conflict.

Weir began her lecture with her personal account as a freelance reporter-a woman, traveling "haphazardly and randomly" through Gaza and the West Bank alone-and her motivation to do so. She said until she started researching into the news reports she saw in the United States she knew almost nothing about Israel and the Palestinians except that it was distant, confusing and irrelevant to her life.

Her account continued with stories of being welcomed into the "Swiss cheese" homes of Palestinians, a reference to bullet holes throughout the walls of buildings she stayed in. Photos she took while traveling accompanied the lecture.

Weir said that she felt unexpectedly welcomed by native Palestinians because of what she had perceived as their treatment of outsiders, both Americans and women in general, from the American media.

To support her belief that the American media downplayed devastation and death of Palestinians and, in some cases, over-reported on Israeli casualties, Weir also provided statistics and research from her organization, which culled from ABC, NBC, CBS and The New York Times.

"I saw an ethnicity and a community being ruined," Weir said.

The issue of how the media handles the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, much like the conflict itself, is two-sided. Because the lecture was an off-campus event, UB administrators at Hillel of Buffalo declined to comment. Daniel Kantor, executive director of the Jewish Federation of Greater Buffalo, Inc., said people should be concerned with the validity of the facts Weir and her organization presented.

"How fortunate we are to live in America, where everyone can speak on any subject regardless of the correctness of their facts," Kantor said. "A visit to the 'If Americans Knew' Web site will indicate the distorted, one-sided half-truths and fabrications that will be the essence of the Alison Weir lecture."

Although Kantor did not attend the lecture, he said, "I do believe in her right to free speech."

According to Weir, global news sources, such as the BBC, are considerably better than the American media, but still not always great. Although there is a fine distinction given the context of the lecture and the work she does, Weir said she does not see herself as pro-Palestinian but rather "pro-information."

"I don't believe in sides-it's not a football game," Weir said. "A democracy can only function when it has informed citizens."

Weir focuses mainly on the news of the Middle East because she believes that it contains the most "pervasive distortions" in American news. When not lecturing, Weir works with her organization in Los Angeles, creating print materials and continuing statistical research.

Organization of Arab Students Treasurer Farah Agha, a senior marketing and finance major, emceed the event.

"For all of these people to come out and show their support, especially with the weather this bad, I don't think I could ask for more," Agha said. "It doesn't get much more successful than this."

Between ticket sales, sponsors, a post-lecture auction and donations, Agha estimates over $12,000 was raised for the Palestine Children's Relief Fund.

"Ms. Weir's lecture was extremely enlightening and educational," Agha said. "Let us all view the conflict correctly, so that others will view the conflict correctly."