Al Mayadeen English

  • Ar
  • Es
  • x
Al Mayadeen English

Slogan

  • News
    • Politics
    • Economy
    • Sports
    • Arts&Culture
    • Health
    • Miscellaneous
    • Technology
    • Environment
  • Articles
    • Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Blog
    • Features
  • Videos
    • NewsFeed
    • Video Features
    • Explainers
    • TV
    • Digital Series
  • Infographs
  • In Pictures
  • • LIVE
News
  • Politics
  • Economy
  • Sports
  • Arts&Culture
  • Health
  • Miscellaneous
  • Technology
  • Environment
Articles
  • Opinion
  • Analysis
  • Blog
  • Features
Videos
  • NewsFeed
  • Video Features
  • Explainers
  • TV
  • Digital Series
Infographs
In Pictures
  • Africa
  • Asia
  • Asia-Pacific
  • Europe
  • Latin America
  • MENA
  • Palestine
  • US & Canada
BREAKING
Palestinian Ministry of Health: Two were martyred in Israeli shelling that targeted a besieged house in the town of Qabatiya in Jenin
At least 68 dead in migrant shipwreck off Yemen: IOM
Trump: We want to feed the people in Gaza, we do not want them to starve.
US President Donald Trump: We will impose sanctions on Russia if it does not end the war on Ukraine.
Israeli media: Polls show that 52% oppose Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu while only 29% support him.
Israeli media: 32% of Americans still support "Israel's" war on Hamas, while 60% oppose it.
Israeli media: Core US support for "Israel" hits its lowest, while support for Palestine reaches its highest levels.
Al Mayadeen's correspondent reports martyrs, injuries in Israeli bombardment of home in Heker al-Jame area in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza.
Al-Quds Governorate: Today, the spatial division of Al-Aqsa Mosque began in a public and dangerous manner, and we warn of a religious war in the region
The Ministry of Health in Gaza: This brings the total number of victims of famine and malnutrition to 175, including 93 children

Local media across US refuse to cover ceasefire protests: Truthout

  • By Al Mayadeen English
  • Source: Truthout
  • 19 Feb 2024 18:56
5 Min Read

Even when coverage is reported, it often boasts support for “Israel”. 

  • x
  • Pro-Palestinian demonstrators display signs while marching during a protest held to call for a cease fire in the war in Gaza, Sunday, Feb. 11, 2024, in Braintree, Massachusetts. (AP)
    Pro-Palestinian demonstrators display signs while marching during a protest held to call for a ceasefire in the war on Gaza, Sunday, Feb. 11, 2024, in Braintree, Massachusetts. (AP)

It has been an ongoing challenge for small cities and counties in the US to get coverage of pro-Palestine protests supporting a ceasefire when it occurs outside of state capitals - and even when coverage is reported, it often boasts support for “Israel”. 

Truthout said that last month, NJ11 for Palestine held a vigil in Livingston, New Jersey, for the loss of Palestinian lives by "Israel". That same day, hundreds of Zionists yelled over them and called a 7-year-old girl a “future generation’s terrorist” as she read the names of dead Palestinians. Organizers also claimed that they spit on a Palestinian serving as a safety marshal while he was walking alone.

None of this was mentioned in the local pieces written by reporters, and neither was the vigil. 

Immy Moustafa, an NJ11 organizer, told Truthout, “With the vigil, we were right across the street from each other,” adding, “You can’t claim you didn’t know. You can’t claim you didn’t see. There’s no reason other than an intentional deleting of what the full story is.”

Ali Aljarrah, one of the founders of NJ11 for Palestine, clarified that ignoring the ongoing activism is actively contributing to the increasing violence against Palestinians. 

“There’s this constant erasure of Palestinian history,” Aljarrah said.

“So, when we’re talking about local media and its impact on Falasteen, that’s one thing to keep in mind. If local media’s not being honest in showing an event and demonstrations that are happening in support of Palestine … then it’s really showing that they’re complicit in this genocide and the erasure of Palestinians here in America”, he noted. 

Read more: How language used in US media facilitates genocide

Corporate intrusion

Earlier this month, Ceasefire Now NJ, a coalition of organizations, got Union City to pass a ceasefire resolution but still did not make it to The Jersey Journal.

Even in Minneapolis, Adnan Ahmed wrote an op-ed to grow support, saying, “I wrote it like I’m just gonna send it to some of the mainstream news outlets because they’re for Minnesota readers. So I purposely watered it down.”

Researchers at the Medill School of Journalism, Media, Integrated Marketing Communications at Northwestern University revealed that over half of all counties have limited or restricted access to local news outlets, which is due to buyouts from corporate and often right-wing investors.

Related News

Cholera devastates Darfur region amid conflict, US aid cuts

US uses tariffs to strongarm India on Russia ties

Truthout also highlighted that if coverage of these small protests does occur, the media coverage and local pieces written are mostly biased and do not include sufficient (or correct) context. 

The New York Times, Washington Post, and Los Angeles Times were found to have a consistent bias against Palestinians in their coverage of "Israel's" aggression on #Gaza, according to an Intercept analysis.#GazaGenocide #Palestine pic.twitter.com/mkTcQYPxaZ

— Al Mayadeen English (@MayadeenEnglish) January 11, 2024

Meera Jaffrey, an organizer with Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) North Jersey, said, “The media bias definitely has an impact on the movement and people’s perception of the truth”.

She added, “Not only does this type of reporting thwart the ceasefire effort, its main intention, but it also helps to propagate anti-Arab, anti-Palestinian and Islamophobic sentiment. Mainstream media is making activists in the ceasefire movement have to work harder for peace.”

The same goes for Chattanooga, Tennessee, as activist Kaitlin Blanchard stated, “Centering Hamas as the reason for Israeli aggression is the biggest trope,” telling Truthout, “It is present in every single article.”

Don't mix this with that

Wassim Hage, an organizer with the Arab Resource and Organizing Center (AROC) in the San Francisco Bay Area, said, “In San Francisco, I think it would be like 800 to 1,200 public comments in person in support of a ceasefire resolution versus one public comment in opposition … [but it’s covered] as if they’re equal in terms of the political weight that they have.”

Hage, Blanchard, and other New Jersey activists underlined that Zionists were being merged with “the Jewish community," although anti-Zionist Jews have played a prominent role in the ceasefire movement resulting in the arrest of many in certain instances.

“AROC will always get the quote because we are the Arab center locally, but we’ve found that reporters are sometimes more reticent to quote anti-Zionist Jewish organizations,” Hage noted.

Liz Cooper, another JVP North Jersey organizer, wrote for a blog established by Ceasefire Now NJ concerning a weekly protest constantly being held in South Orange, New Jersey.

“I was really motivated to try to speak on it because I felt like it was an important change in the political landscape of North Jersey that has not been reported on particularly thoroughly,” she said.

Cooper stated that Ceasefire Now NJ created their own blog to make sure that action gets the correct coverage and that the correct message goes out. 

“The media is part of the problem,” Hage believes. “The movement in general is starting to come around to the notion that we need to take media, whether it’s social media or popular media or press media, seriously, and kind of struggle on that terrain.”

Read more: Hamas, PFLP decry decision to limit Muslims in al-Aqsa during Ramadan

“On a much smaller scale, it’s the same thing that is happening in Gaza,” Moustafa said. “It is up to the average person to become a journalist and to show what is happening.… That’s kind of the coverage that we as pro-Palestinians are relying on because we’re not getting much coverage otherwise.”

  • United States
  • Gaza Strip
  • Occupied Palestine
  • New Jersey
  • Operation Al-Aqsa Flood
  • Palestine
  • Israel
  • US
  • media coverage
  • Gaza
  • Tennessee
War on Gaza

War on Gaza

Most Read

A rescued crew member from the ETERNITY C vessel in a video released by the Yemeni Armed Forces on July 28, 2025 (Yemeni Military Media)

Yemen Navy reveals fate of targeted Eternity C ship crew

  • Politics
  • 28 Jul 2025
An Israeli tank explodes following an ambush by al-Qassam Brigades in Gaza, Occupied Palestine, undated (Al-Qassam Military Media)

Al-Qassam strikes Israeli vehicles in Gaza, inflicts casualties

  • Politics
  • 30 Jul 2025
UAE lodges complaint against Israeli ambassador over 'misbehavior'

UAE lodges complaint against Israeli ambassador over 'misbehavior'

  • Politics
  • 1 Aug 2025
Protesters chant anti-Israeli slogans as they carry a banner that reads:" Freedom for Palestine, Alliance stop the war," during a demonstration in support of Palestinians in Gaza, outside the Israeli embassy, in Athens, Monday, June 9, 2025 (AP)

Athens mayor slams Israeli ambassador over Gaza war, graffiti claim

  • Politics
  • 3 Aug 2025

Coverage

All
The Ummah's Martyrs

Read Next

All
A member of the al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, takes part in a parade as he celebrates a ceasefire agreement between Hamas and the Israeli regime in Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip, Sunday, January 19, 2025 (AP)
Politics

Al-Qassam: We’ll allow aid to Israeli captives if Gaza siege ends

Freed Lebanese freedom fighter Georges Abdallah during an interview on Al Mayadeen, which aired on Sunday, August 3, 2025 (Al Mayadeen screengrab)
Politics

Exclusive: Resistance key to building state, Georges Abdallah says

United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres gives a statement about the situation in Gaza at UN headquarters, Friday, June 27, 2025 (AP)
Politics

UN warns Gaza faces water crisis, looming famine under Israeli siege

Israeli soldiers drive their armored personnel carrier along the Gaza Strip, in southern occupied Palestine, Wednesday, July 30, 2025 (AP)
Politics

Ex-Israeli general says Gaza starvation campaign isolated 'Israel'

Al Mayadeen English

Al Mayadeen is an Arab Independent Media Satellite Channel.

All Rights Reserved

  • x
  • Privacy Policy
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Authors
Android
iOS