The Los Angeles Times and the Chicago Tribune Caught in Collusion to Aid Israel's Propaganda War

To the Editors of the Los Angeles Times and the Chicago Tribune:

In the story, "Israeli Military Says Gaza Pullout Complete," the Los Angeles Times printed that U.N Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon "called rocket attacks against Israel 'appalling and unacceptable.'" This is not only misleading, it is completely false. The Los Angeles Times further attempted to mislead its readers on the front page article, "UN Chief Tours Gaza Strip, Israeli Town," by repeating Ban's alleged statement. Of course, this goes further, as a story in the Chicago Tribune parrots the UN Chief misquote. A more reliable source has fully quoted Ban as saying:


"Ladies and gentlemen, I have seen only a fraction of the damage. This is shocking and alarming. This is heartbreaking scenes which I have seen, and I am deeply grieved by what I have seen today. I’m just appalled. I’m not able to describe how I’m feeling, having seen this site of the bombing of the United Nations compound. Everyone is now smelling this burning still. It is still burning. This, an outrageous and totally unacceptable attack against the United Nations."


Ban was referring to the destruction of the United Nations headquarters last week, set ablaze when Israel attacked it, destroying hundreds of tons of food and aid, badly needed by the refugees caught between Hamas and Israel. In fact, Ban has called for the attack on the UN headquarters to be investigated as a possible war crime.

But it seems likely that both organizations already knew this.

It is one thing to be Pro-Israel. It is another to omit facts and distort the words of a UN leader to help propagate the notion that Israel has been fully justified in its assault on Gaza. In referring to the New York Times and the London Times, it is clear that the Los Angeles Times and its parent company, the Chicago Tribune, are quite alone in their foray into fiction. The fact that two different writers for two different papers owned by the same company, have misquoted the UN Secretary identically, suggests that the Chigaco Tribune, et. al is not reporting the news as it happens, but rather, is acting on an agenda. All speculation aside, I demand that the Los Angeles Times and the Chicago Tribune each print a retraction to include Ban's full statement, as well as an apology to your readers, to UN Secretary General Ban and to the victims of the Gaza massacre, a massacre for which your organizations have offered tacit support through the publication of such misleading stories.

Update: The Los Angeles Times and Chicago Tribune might have been following an AP feed when they printed their stories. The Associated Press also misrepresented Ban Ki-moon's statement as a condemnation of Hamas' attacks on Israel:


"Ban later visited the rocket-scarred Israeli town of Sderot, where he called the Hamas' attacks over the last eight years against Israeli residents 'appalling and unacceptable.'"


This would be the third time in as many months that the AP has been exposed for mis-stating facts in pursuit of an agenda.