To the Daily:
Coverage of Gaza vigil shows Daily bias
The outstanding bias present in The Michigan Daily when it comes to covering events concerning the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is reflective of the bias present in the mainstream American media on when it comes to coverage of the same issue.
Since last week, Gaza has faced a growing humanitarian crisis, because Israel cut off all exports to Gaza, one of the most densely populated places on earth. Gaza is under siege by Israel. The Gaza population of 1.5 million people is enduring collective punishment at the hands of Israel, with dwindling electricity, fuel or food supplies. The occasional incident when the Israeli government decides that Gazans deserve a little humanitarian aid is not enough to sustain the entire population for more than a couple of days at a time. Gazans are living in darkness and utter poverty, with their few hospitals practically running on empty.
Yet, where is the reporting of this large-scale humanitarian crisis in the mainstream news? Why aren’t the stories of people suffering in Gaza heard? By the tens of thousands, Gazans flooded into Egypt last week in order to buy supplies, because they were essentially starved. The breakdown of the border wall between Egypt and Gaza shows the kind of pressure cooker the Gazans were forced to live in, with the top finally coming off.
A vigil was held Thursday night on the Diag in which organizers counted up to 180 people attending. Students, community members, families and many more people attended the vigil that was held in solidarity with the people of Gaza. Yet the frontpage story that covered the event reported only 20 people showing up to the vigil – a gross mistake. Like the national media, it seems apparent that the Daily also shows bias when it comes to issues and events that concern the Palestinians.
Hena Ashraf
LSA senior
The letter writer is the co-chair of Students Allied for Freedom and Equality