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December 27th, 2020 
Awake Goy 
Across a U.S. media landscape that wields tremendous power to influence public opinion, Mondoweiss and a handful of other small nonprofit news organizations exist to bring balance to the overwhelmingly biased coverage of Palestinians’ struggle for freedom.
A 2018 study found that since the June 1967 war, mainstream U.S. media have given Israeli officials far greater access than they have Palestinians, “focusing on Israeli narratives both in terms of the quantity of coverage as well as the overall sentiment, as conveyed by headlines.”
This distinctive slant is what fuels unconditional support for Israel in the United States, which, researchers concluded, is “a key factor in prolonging the [Israeli-Palestinian] conflict.”
Two recent developments at major U.S. newspapers give me a glimmer of hope.
On Dec. 22, the Kansas City Star issued a remarkable apology for the way the paper has contributed to the oppression of Black residents for much of its history. In a front-page article, the Star admitted that it had “disenfranchised, ignored and scorned” generations of Black residents.
This comes after the Los Angeles Times made a similar apology in September, acknowledging the paper’s deep roots in white supremacy for at least eight decades.
I hope this signals the start of long-overdue introspection by U.S. media organizations about their power to perpetuate – and to repair – the systemic bias and racism that has repressed and deeply harmed black and brown communities throughout the history of this country.
Is it too much to ask that this reckoning extends to an honest examination of the pervasive anti-Palestinian bias that dominates U.S. newsrooms? This bias, too, is inflicting unspeakable tragedy on a community struggling to free itself from U.S.-backed colonialist oppression.
This year, the media finally paid attention to activists who rose up in powerful protest at the murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery and so many other people of color at the hands of police.
But other U.S.-funded forces – those in Israel – are not held to the same account. Ali Abu Alia. Eyad Hallaq, Ahmad Erakat. They were among the unarmed Palestinians killed by Israeli police and military in 2020 under remarkably similar circumstances.
Americans don’t know those names because the media spares us the brutal details of their deaths. So we have yet to hear an outcry to defund the billions of taxpayer dollars we send to Israel every year – money that enables these murders.
Until mainstream media finds the wherewithal to self-examine and self-correct, Mondoweiss and our colleagues at a few other small, nonprofit newsrooms must be the ballast. We rely on you to help us tell the whole story.
Your support shines a light on Israel’s racism and apartheid. You raise up the voices of advocates for Palestine. You fund truth-telling journalism in the service of justice. Your role is essential.
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