Israel Closes Holy Site, Mainstream Media Just Sees 'Tensions'
When Israeli forces shut down access to the revered Ibrahimi Mosque amid incursions on Al-Aqsa—to accommodate Israeli holiday-goers, no less—mainstream outlets dutifully report it as 'tensions.' They rarely connect it to the decades-long pattern of religious site restrictions and settler-led provocations that conveniently sidestep international law. This isn't just about 'tensions'; it's about
control, displacement, and the systematic erosion of Palestinian religious and cultural rights, a playbook honed since the Nakba. Instead of questioning the asymmetry of power that allows one group to dictate access to another's holy sites, we get euphemisms. One might wonder if the same measured language would apply if the roles were reversed. It appears some 'tensions' are more newsworthy than
others, especially when they disrupt the carefully curated narrative of 'self-defense' and 'security concerns' that permeate Washington's discourse—a discourse heavily influenced by groups like AIPAC, who spent over $14 million in 2022 lobbying efforts to ensure such narratives persist. (Source: OpenSecrets.org)