Media ignore Palestine convoy stranded by Iraq after Israel flotilla incident drew outrage

The presence of an Israeli angle can determine whether the difficulties faced by activists become an international news story.

By Vered Weiss, World Israel News

HonestReporting has criticized the lack of international media attention given to the Palestine Convoy, contrasting its treatment with the 900 mainstream media articles generated after Israel detained activists from the Global Sumud Flotilla.

The international Palestine Convoy has been stranded at the Turkey-Iraq border for nearly a week, with Iraqi authorities refusing to allow the group to enter the country. Participants launched a hunger strike after being denied entry for a fourth consecutive day.

The media watchdog said it found no coverage of the convoy’s difficulties in the legacy press, despite the attention and international outrage that followed Israel’s detention of Global Sumud Flotilla activists.

The convoy left Srebrenica, Bosnia and Herzegovina, on July 25 and traveled through several European countries before passing through Turkey.

Its journey was halted at the Ibrahim Khalil Border Gate on the Turkish side of the Turkey-Iraq frontier, where participants have been waiting for Iraqi authorization to cross.

The group, which includes activists and supporters from several countries, is seeking to travel overland toward Judea and Samaria in solidarity with the Palestinian people.

Participants have demanded an immediate end to the obstruction, describing themselves as a peaceful resistance group.

Ali Cengiz, coordinating chairman of the Palestine Convoy, has appealed to supporters around the world to draw attention to the activists’ situation.

HonestReporting and other critics have pointed to the difference in coverage as evidence that incidents involving pro-Palestinian activists attract substantially greater media attention when Israel is involved.

Media watchdogs have characterized the disparity with the phrase “No Jews, No News,” arguing that the presence of an Israeli angle can determine whether the difficulties faced by activists become an international news story.

The convoy remains at the border awaiting permission from Iraqi authorities to continue its journey.

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