There is a reason why the Israeli are continuing to massacre Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. The United States, the Bush administration and the mainstream American media permit it.

The truth has been shoved aside. Although Hamas is blamed for starting the conflict by firing missiles into Israel, Israel started this round of fighting on Nov. 4, 2008 with their attack against Palestinians at a border tunnel used to smuggle goods to the Gaza's black market.

Knowing that changes the dynamics of the conflict and undermines Israel's lie that Hamas started the conflict. But, unless you address the lie strategically, the Israeli lie becomes the reality. And it IS the reality in terms of how Americans view the conflict. And how Americans view the conflict determines whether or not the conflict continues and israel is given free reign to continue its war crimes in the Gaza Strip.

What do you do?

First, you need to understand the problems. The first problem is that the media is manipulated and controlled by Israel. Yes. In this case, israel IS CONTROLLING the media coverage. Here is how:

Israel has banned foreign correspondents from entering the Gaza Strip. What that means is that the conflict is being reported on almost entirely by journalists WORKING IN ISRAEL and UNDER ISRAELI INFLUENCE. Journalists are being manipulated in this manner. They do not see the fighting fromt he standpoint of the Palestinians, but from the standpoint of the israelis. The mainstream media working out of Israel are driven not by honest journalism, but by prejudiced journalism. Many are Jewish and Israeli and they have a direct interest in Israel's future. Others work for media and live in Israel and must deal with Israelies on a daily basis. So they have to watch their step. They can't be too critical of Israel, and expect to operate freely and successfully in Israel in covering the war. Their careers are at stake and if they don't play along, they will be removed.

Their contact with Hamas leaders is indirect. The coverage from Gaza is coming mainly through the Arab World media, much of which is also politically controlled and driven also by political rather than journalistic principles. The Arab media, for the most part, is also biased and the reporting is filled with rhetoric and sloganism and chants, rather than professional reporting.

Yet, while the biased Israeli controlled media is being projected to the American audience, the biased Arab media is not fully projected. It is selectively projected. That means the West picks and choses from the Arab media coverage what it feels with advance its already pro-Israel agenda.

How do you change this? The Palestinians have to be strategic. They NEED to put a human face on the destruction. They need to connect the deaths in Gaza with families in the United States. They need to turn off the screaming and protests and put all their action into devising strategies to convey the tragedy of the civilians in the Gaza Strip againstt he brutality of the Israeli military response.

But, it is easier to go out and protest and scream and call Israel a terrorist state than it is to actually work hard to successfully champion the rights of the Palestinians. Screaming only takes a big mouth. Strategy requires a brain. And a brain consumed with emotion is not a brain at all.

The protests, as successful as they are in terms of turnout and numbers, are unsuccessful in terms of making a difference. The protests are not making Americans more sympathetic to the Palestinian cause. They are only helping the Israelis by reinforcing th estrategic Israeli message: We are a small country surrounded by emotional and vicious Arabs who wnt to destroy us and who chant "death to Israel." The Palestinian and Arabs protesting on behalf of the Palestinians in Gaza are actually HELPING ISRAEL ACHIEVE ITS GOALS.

Many Palestinians don't want to believe that, of course. When you refuse to work hard and chose the easy route, you will always justify that failed strategy.

There are many journalists and bloggers int he Gaza Strip whose writings ARE NOT REACHING mainstream American audiences.

If you want to protest, PROTEST WITH A STRATEGIC GOAL. Don't just protest in a city hoping the local media will cover you. Protest AGAINST THE MEDIA. TARGET the news media in your city. Protest their coverage. Put pressure on the newspapers and TV stations to report the facts. Tell them:

1 -- it is unacceptable to report the war second hand. They either put a reporte rin the Gaza Strip or admit they are shills for Israel war crimes.

2 -- Be accurate. In Chciago, 4,000 people turned out for a protest and the Chicago media is divided on how many people showed up. Some reported "several hundred."

3 -- Demand that the media accurately define the issues. Hamas DID NOT BREAK the cease-fire. israel broke the cease-fire on Nov. 4, 2008.

4 -- Demand that the local media include ARAB JOURNALISTS AND BLOGGERS, not just pro-Israel writers who are dominating the Op-Ed pages and even the coverage of the conflict's reporting.

5 -- Boycott cable TV statiosn that REFUSE to broadcast al-Jazeera English. There are some Arab TV programs in the US, but they are useless compared to the power fo al-Jazeera Englsih, which is why al-Jazeera English has been banned from broadcast in this country. al-Jazeera English IS the media we NEED in this country and the mainstream media has excluded them. Protest THAT! Demand that Comcast Cable, for example, offer al-Jazeera English in their options packages. (The fact is Comcast offers "SHALOM TV" in its free cable TV offering which provides not only Israeli and Jewish culture, but also NEWS reporting that is one-sided and so anti-Arab it is pathetic.)

You want to help the people of Gaza? Instead of protesting, how about doing something significant? Put your power together and make a difference where you have the power to make the difference. You can't go to Gaza and fight. But you can take the fight to the biased American media. You can take the fight to the biased pro-Israel messages in the media and conveyed by the elected officials in this country that are factually wrong.

You can help Americans see the truth. Focus on helping educate Americans. Do it professionally. Pressure the local media. Force the media to offer al-Jazeera English as a media option in this country.

-- Ray Hanania
www.TheMediaOasis.com