All three networks on Monday hyped the opening of the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem with varying degrees of worry, but it was CBS This Morning that fretted over the “impotent anger” directed towards Israel and the high unemployment in Gaza. Holly Williams tried to spin the riots and violence as mostly peaceful: “Most of the Palestinians here today are peaceful, but some are attempting to cross the border. They're throwing stones and lighting fires.”
Williams added: “On Friday, some of them stormed a border crossing area for cargo and damaged fuel and gas pipelines.” But other than the stone throwing, fires and riots, it's pretty muche peaceful?
Without any hint of just how extreme this statement was, the journalist noted:
These protests also mark the 70th anniversary of the founding of the state of Israel which the Palestinians call a catastrophe.
Oh, they just don’t want Israel to exist. Isn’t that kind of a big problem for any kind of peace process? She concluded with concern over “impotent anger” and high unemployment:
These demonstrations seems to be fueled by feelings of impotent anger. The blockade of the Gaza strip in place for more than ten years has left the economy here on the verge of full collapse, according to the United Nations, with frequent power cuts, contaminated water and nearly 50 percent unemployment.
In contrast, co-host Gayle King earlier referred to the embassy as a “proud moment” for Trump and a “fulfillment of a promise.” Williams's fellow foreign correspondent Seth Doane also explained that Trump’s actions had actually been official U.S. policy for quite a while:
Earlier today we spoke with senators Lindsey Graham and Ted Cruz who underline that in 1995 a bipartisan Congress agreed, voted to move the U.S. embassy here. Every single president after that issued a waiver due to security concerns.”
Over on Good Morning America, however, Terry Moran ignored the point made on CBS: Congress made this decision 23 years ago. Instead, Moran chided: “The President's decision to move the embassy here breaks with decades of American foreign policy.”
Moran worried: “The idea was always that the U.S. would remain neutral on that incredibly tense issue of Jerusalem's final status while Palestinians and Israelis negotiated through their conflict. But President Trump ended all that.”
On NBC’s Today, Richard Engel reminded: “Not everyone is happy with this. Tens of thousands of Palestinians have already begun demonstrating in the Gaza Strip and more than ten of them have been killed.”
A transcript of the CBS This Morning segment is below. Click “expand” for more:
CBS This Morning
5/14/18
7:06 a.m. EasternNORAH O’DONNELL: It's an angry scene on Israel’s border with Gaza. Nearly 70 miles from Jerusalem, that's where thousands of Palestinians are protesting the embassy move in the face of Israeli troops. Holly Williams is in Gaza where Israelis say at least 16 people have now died in today's violence. Holly, good morning.
HOLLY WILLIAMS: Good morning. This week marks a culmination of six weeks of protest here on the Gaza strip, and today there are thousands of Palestinians demonstrating all along the fence just behind me that separates Gaza from Israel. Today Israeli soldiers have used drones to drop tear gas canisters and fired live ammunition. They've killed more than 40 Palestinian protesters over the last six weeks. Most of the Palestinians here today are peaceful, but some are attempting to cross the border. They're throwing stones and lighting fires. And on Friday, some of them stormed a border crossing area for cargo and damaged fuel and gas pipelines.
The Palestinians have condemned the move of the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem in part because they hope that East Jerusalem will one day be their capital if they ever get their own state. These protests also mark the 70th anniversary of the founding of the state of Israel which the Palestinians call a catastrophe. These demonstrations seems to be fueled by feelings of impotent anger. The blockade of the Gaza strip in place for more than ten years has left the economy here on the verge of full collapse, according to the United Nations, with frequent power cuts, contaminated water and nearly 50 percent unemployment. Norah?
