Tuesday, May 23, 2006
Injuries of concern
I hate to belabor the point, since Mariyah Amin is just one of thousands of Palestinian casualties of Israeli state terrorism, albeit a particularly tragic one. But considering that her injury came on the same day (more or less) as an injury to the race horse Barbaro, it is interesting to note that the story of Mariyeh's paralysis has appeared in just a single mainstream news source (BBC), while a search for Barbaro turns up more than 10,000 hits, and you can follow his progress in every TV newscast as well.
The relationship of the U.S., Israel, and Palestine was an important story in the news today thanks to the visit of Ehud Olmert. The inability of the American people to understand the full scope of that relationship, and its consequences for Mariyah Amin and so many like her, is based in part on the kind of media coverage discussed above. And the fact that Mariyah's story is so poignant, and yet is unheard, tells you that the nature of American media coverage is no mere accident.
