Prompted by Israel’s announced July withdrawal from southern Lebanon, CBS‘ 60 Minutes II aired a March 27 story, “The Killing Zone,” looking back at the 22-year occupation. But the story focused almost entirely on the hardship and suffering of occupying Israeli soldiers, their families and their Lebanese supporters. In the hands of 60 Minutes II the story of Israel’s illegal 22-year occupation of Lebanon was framed as an unsuccessful attempt to increase Israeli security, with almost no mention of the pain and destruction inflicted on the occupied Lebanese.
Reporter Bob Simon set the tone for the entire segment at the top of the story with this description of occupied Lebanese territory: “They call it their security zone, but it has become a killing zone, where Israel’s own boys get trapped and bloodied in a place which was designed to be a buffer.” The report makes no mention of numerous UN Security Council resolutions condemning the occupation, beginning in 1978 with Resolution 425 which ordered a defiant Israel to withdraw from Lebanon “forthwith.”
Of two Lebanese citizens quoted in the segment, one, Dolly Haddad, is a supporter of the Southern Lebanese Army (SLA), a militia financed and commanded by the Israelis; the other, Sheik Hassan Nasserallah, is the spiritual leader of the anti-Israel Hezbollah militia. His two brief comments threatening prosecution of Israeli allies are the only voice given by 60 Minutes II to Lebanese citizens opposed to the occupation.
In interviews with Israeli citizens, soldiers and their family members, Simon puts a human face on Israelis caught up in the occupation of southern Lebanon. He describes what the occupation has cost Israel: “A steady stream of dead and wounded Israeli soldiers has been flowing out of Lebanon for years now….”
While it is worthwhile to present Israeli perspectives, a story about the occupation of southern Lebanon that overlooks or minimizes the plight of the occupied–the thousands killed, the tens of thousands displaced, and the dozens of destroyed villages–is more propaganda than journalism.
In a March 28 letter of protest to CBS News President Andrew Heyward, the American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) described the segment as “one of the most shameless pieces of propaganda broadcast on American network television in recent years.”
You can read the full transcript of the 60 Minutes II story at:http://cbsnews.cbs.com/now/story/0,1597,176844-412,00.shtml
You can read the full text of ADC’s letter to CBS News President Andrew Heyward at:www.adc.org/action/2000/28march2000.htm
ACTION: If you agree that the 60 Minutes II segment was one-sided, please contact the show. Ask them to report on the Lebanese inhabitants of southern Lebanon who have suffered the most under Israel’s military occupation.
CONTACT: Jeffrey Fager, Executive Producer, 60 Minutes II 60II@cbsnews.com
