Stupid mistakes are often innocent and even oftener overlooked. But in this instance, I think it's safe to say that they're evidence of the broad contempt for the truth that permeated CNN's Tuesday night broadcast. So they deserve attention. Many of them have already been exposed. As far as I can tell, this one has not.
From CNN's transcript of "God's (Jewish) Warriors":
AMANPOUR: Israel banned Kahane's political movement as a terrorist organization, after one of his followers murdered at least 29 Muslim worshipers in Hebron.
Kahane himself was later gunned down in New York by a Muslim extremist. But his heated mix of right-wing politics and religious fundamentalism lived on. During the Second Intifada, as Israeli buses, restaurants and markets were being attacked, a poll showed 25 percent of Israelis saying Meir Kahane could be a good leader for the Jewish people.
Which poll would that be, I wonder. Conducted by whom using what methods and among what segment of the population? And when, exactly, "during the Second Intifada [sic]"? The day after the Passover massacre at the Park Hotel perhaps? Or in the immediate aftermath of some other horrific attack? Or, contrary to all evidence, such as elections, is this alleged poll supposed to "show" how "Israelis" (I take it she means Israeli Jews) feel in general? Was there ever any such poll at all?
And how much effort do you suppose it would have taken Ms. Amanpour or CNN's crack research team to discover that Meir Kahane was gunned down in New York by a Muslim extremist more than three years before Baruch Goldstein murdered 29 worshipers (why "at least?" -- the number is known) at the Machpela in Hebron? Not "later," implying that Goldstein was acting under Kahane's direct influence or orders at the time, but more than three years before.
Finally, this question. Should and can America's first cable news network be held accountable for spreading provably false and misleading propaganda over the airwaves that defames countless American and Israeli Jews? Or is this supposed to be some sort of object lesson in the dangers of extrapolating from a small minority of extremist zealots to the sentiments of the majority? Is CNN trying to cleverly turn the tables on those who would tar all Muslims with the jihadi brush?
Unlikely. And, if so, they've done a piss poor job. Lacking any actual evidence that would support their thesis, they've cobbled together footage of a few rare and almost univerally condemned incidents, overlaid them with bits of dialogue completely removed from any context, and created a "reality" that doesn't exist. Ah! In other words, they've taken a page (or a whole chapter) from Michael Moore's Manual of Deceptive Documentary Practices. Perhaps he'll sue.
