THEY SHOOT ISRAELIS DON'T THEY?

Elements with our ABC have it in for Israel and kudos go to the Australian for doing a number on them in today's CUT AND PASTE (and don't expect this to come up on Media Watch any time soon!).

Here's my cut and paste of today's Oz:

Anonymous sources launch an attack on Israel's army, backed by Leigh Sales on ABC1's Lateline on Wednesday
SHOOT first and ask questions later. According to a new report that was the Israeli army's policy in January's invasion of Gaza. The report contradicts the country's official version of events and is based on the testimonies of soldiers who were on the battle front.

An SBS news report also assumes the allegations are made by Israeli soldiers:

A GROUP of Israeli soldiers has spoken out about the recent war in the Gaza Strip, claiming they were told to shoot first and ask questions later. They also say Palestinian civilians were used as human shields. The accounts of more than 20 soldiers contradict the official Israeli version of events that everything possible was done to avoid civilian casualties.

Israeli army spokeswoman Avital Leibovich tells ABC radio's PM what a cub reporter should know. Confirm your sources:

HOW do you know they're soldiers? How do you know these people that are speaking are soldiers? According to what? I don't know who they are, I have no idea in which way they were questioned. I don't have any clue to whether they're really soldiers or not.

The Israeli Defence Force spokeswoman spells out the ethical problems with the Breaking the Silence report:

YET another human rights organisation is presenting a report based on anonymous testimonies, without investigating their details or credibility. To ensure that the claims made in these testimonies are dealt with in an appropriate manner, the organisation should urge those who made these claims to really break their silence and to present specific complaints to the IDF. Most of the testimonies lack any identifying details that would allow the IDF to investigate, confirm or refute them.

Lateline has form on its anti-Israel line. The Australian Jewish News on February 12:

How would most Australians feel if a mainstream television station overseas interviewed far left-wing Australian journalist John Pilger as its only commentator on an Australian election? ABC's Lateline effectively did the equivalent on February 5. To comment on the Israeli election, the program's sole interviewee was Akiva Eldar, chief political columnist of Haaretz. Eldar, an opinion columnist, is one of the more extreme, as well as most vituperative, voices at that left-leaning Israeli paper. It may be pertinent that Tim Palmer, a controversial former ABC Middle East correspondent who was frequently criticised for anti-Israel bias, is currently executive producer of Lateline.

And, taking the cake - an insight into the corrupt depths to which an already jaundiced Human Rights Watch have plummeted. This is what happens when organisations are taken oven by the insidious Palestine lobby which is already exerting control over media outlets like Al Age, the ABC and SBS.

David Bernstein, in The Wall Street Journal, on the antics of another human rights group:

A DELEGATION from Human Rights Watch was recently in Saudi Arabia. To investigate the mistreatment of women under Saudi law? To campaign for the rights of homosexuals, subject to the death penalty in Saudi Arabia? To protest (against) the lack of religious freedom in the Saudi kingdom? To issue a report on Saudi political prisoners? No, no, no, and no. The delegation arrived to raise money from wealthy Saudis by highlighting HRW's demonisation of Israel. An HRW spokesperson, Sarah Leah Whitson, highlighted HRW's battles with "pro-Israel pressure groups in the US, the European Union and the United Nations". (Was Whitson required to wear a burka or are exceptions made for visiting anti-Israel "human rights activists"? .)