In a lecture organized by Global Perspectives Radio Program on September 18, 2007, in cooperation with An-Najah National University Journalism & Public Relations Departments, American journalist Alison Weir spoke about US Media Coverage of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and the biases that are associated with it.
As the Executive Director of the If Americans Knew Institute Weir conducted extensive research on how the American media is covering the conflict in the Palestinian Occupied Territories (OPT) highlighting the Israeli-centric nature of reporting. She gave examples on how the different American news agencies and networks covered the tragic events of the current Palestinian Uprising. One of the stark examples she gave was how the American media covered Palestinian and Israeli deaths. She showed how Israeli deaths were reported at rates much higher than Palestinian deaths, reaching to a level of 14 times higher in the case of children killed in the conflict. She stressed that this kind of coverage is misleading the American public and makes it easier for the US government to continue its economic, military, and political support for Israel without any serious objection. She said that US aid to Israel amounts to 8 million dollars per day but this fact is hardly mentioned in the American media. She said that “not many Americans know this fact and whenever I reveal this fact to any of them they become shocked".
During the question-answer-period of the lecture Weir encouraged An-Najah University journalism students who attended the lecture to collect information and stories about current events and make it available on the internet. This, she stressed, is extremely important to counter balance the Israeli-centric reporting in the media. She said that the website of her institution can be used as one of the outlets for the gathered information. She added that Palestinians should give as much support as possible to foreign journalist visiting the OPT in order to facilitate the production of more accurate and balanced news report.
Commenting on the importance of lecture delivered by journalist Weir, Mr. Saed Abu Hijleh, the organizer of the event and the host of Global Perspectives Radio Program, said: “Alison Weir is contributing greatly to rectifying the distortion of the image of Palestinians in the American Media. Her work should be commended and supported. Her courageous voice, and the voices of other people like her, is revealing the truth and dispelling myths about the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and the Israeli military occupation of Palestine.”
If Americans Knew is an independent researches and information-dissemination institute, with particular focus on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, U.S. foreign policy regarding the Middle East, and media coverage of this issue. Specifically the organization's objective is to provide information that is to a large degree missing from Americans press coverage of this critical region.