Recommended: The Media's Role in Hamas' War Strategy

Another very good recent piece from The National Interest, this one by Richard Landes: The Media's Role in Hamas' War Strategy. I would have put it more bluntly: the world media are killing the children in Gaza.

How?  Simple. Hamas' rockets aren't at all effective at killing Israelis. What they are effective at is inviting retaliatory air strikes against the launching sites, and since these are deliberately placed among civilians, they cause the civilian deaths. Now the civilian deaths only work if the world press follows Hamas' script and makes a big deal about how Israel is killing innocent civilians.  If the press didn't follow that script (but instead, for example, made a big deal about how Hamas deliberately uses civilians), the tactic wouldn't be worth following.

It's like paying ransom to kidnappers.  Kidnapping is a great business if people will pay ransom, and in the parts of the world where they pay ransom regularly, kidnapping thrives.  Where people refuse to pay ransom, kidnapping (at least for profit) dies out because it simply doesn't work.

Just the same with Hamas.  If the world press didn't fall for the bait and make a big fuss about women and children begin killed, then Hamas wouldn't find it attractive to pursue a strategy that gets them killed. That's why I would say it is the world press that is partly responsible for these deaths.

Press people aren't stupid. One would think they could see how they are being used. Either they are too blinded by their prejudices (and anti-Sematism), or they know perfectly well what they are doing and are doing it anyway because it sells news and brings in advertising revenue.   Either way, the press doesn't look very good in this.