The perils of getting news from corporate media

by Omid Safi

If you ever wanted to know why getting your news from corporate media is hazardous to your health, here’s is CNN’s headline after the bloody Israeli assault on the Palestinian town of Shujaiya.

BIG bold letters: Hamas captures an Israeli solider.

Tiny tiny print below: oh, by the way 87 Palestinians “died.” Not that they were killed, most of them civilians, by the Israeli Defense Force invading an urban neighborhood. Nope. They just upped and died.

But of course (the unconfirmed claim) about Hamas capturing one Israeli soldier deserves much more attention than Israel killing 87 people in one day, injuring over 400. And that’s just what we know so far. God knows how many are buried under rubbles of buildings.

I’ve said it before and I’ve said it again: There is an absolute assumption of differential value attached to human life. The government policy, the military onslaught, and the corporate media all need each other to dehumanize, occupy, dispossess, and murder a group of humanity.

Cleanse your mind of corporate media.

Always, always, question government propaganda, especially in times of war. Especially when there is an asymmetric war with one of the two sides being solidly supported by your government.

If you want to know what’s going on, go to independent media like Democracy Now (http://www.democracynow.org/). And supplement it massively with other sources like Aljazeera, etc.

Especially on this issue.

#FreePalestine #Gaza

SOURCE: Omid Safi’s Facebook page.