Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me

The shame just keeps piling up as a credulous Western media, which is simultaneously intimidated by Arab thuggery and blinded by Arab tricks, abandons its responsibility to provide actual news in the Middle East. Joel Mowbray does an excellent job summarizing how the Western media is either frightened by, duped by or complicit with the worst elements in the Middle East:

As any veteran of Middle East media coverage knows, many Arab stringers and free-lancers—hired on the cheap by Western outlets, ostensibly because of their superior knowledge for local leaders and events—see it as their duty to demonize Israel, while exalting fellow Arabs or Muslims.

But while the widespread use of Arab locals in covering the Middle East and the frightening level of threatened and real violence are both deeply troubling, more concerning is that the Palestinian propaganda machine has enjoyed tremendous success over the years hoodwinking supposedly sophisticated Western journalists. And Hezbollah has done just that over the past month.

In short, almost nothing that is purported to happen in the Arab world can automatically be taken at face value. Not even if it’s captured in a photo.