by Barbara Sofer

April 23, 2009

The warmth, openness, and seeming naivete of sources in the Middle East often confound reporters in our region. So many people seem ready and eager to talk that it’s easy to believe you’ve happened upon a fresh and authentic source of information. Let us never forget that there is no such thing as a disinterested party in the Middle East. Whether you’re being guided through a dazzling bazaar fragrant with cinnamon and coriander, or through a malodorous open sewer, someone is trying to sell you a story. Let the buyer beware.

For example, I’m having coffee in Jerusalem with a Palestinian who has been involved in the launching of the first film festival in a West Bank city. The idea of the festival is very appealing to me. It’s a sign of burgeoning normality and sophistication. If Thomas Friedman has taught us that having a McDonald’s in your country is a sign that you’re moving toward a peaceful lifestyle, then certainly holding a film festival demonstrates a more nuanced view of the world.

Sadly, it turns out that the film festival opening was a disaster. The audience was assembled, the films were ready to go, but the computerized projector didn’t work.

I’m already bracing myself: How will they blame Israel? I don’t have to wait long. My Palestinian interlocutor shakes his head in despair. The projector’s malfunction was an intentional Zionist sabotage of the evening. He relates a travelogue of the projector’s winding journey through foreign ports and its ultimate delay by customs so that it would arrive “too late to be checked.”

But I’m wondering how late that projector actually arrived. Certainly faulty machinery — discovered even a few hours before — could have been replaced with one from a sympathetic Israeli cinema.

“Hadn’t anyone tried it ahead of time?” I ask.

“I guess not,” he shrugs.

To him, the failure will always be caused by Israeli malevolence. From my Israeli point of view, it seems like Palestinian incompetence.

How does a journalist report this story?

She could describe the excitement of the crowd, the disappointment, the suspicion among those present that this is another Israeli plot, and then get a token denial from an Israeli official. Or, determined to justify Israel, she could launch into an investigation to debunk the charges. Perhaps the projector was indeed held up in customs for security reasons, because a tax was owed, or in an example of just plain inefficiency. Probably, facts will be eclipsed by opinions. Personally, I’m skeptical that a country that produces so many self-critical films would make an effort to put the kibosh on a West Bank cultural event. But then, I tend to think well of Israel.

In the final analysis, the story told will wind up being more a reflection of attitude than fact. In this, we reporters can be equally culpable.

Many reporters pick up local attitudes or are influenced by the prevalent buzz of the press corps. Someone like me, with a strong pride in her country and unembarrassed Zionist ideology, has to be careful not to accept at face value stories of my own people’s heroism or victimization.

Interviewees with an agenda are always guessing what a reporter wants to hear. We reporters need to be conscious of our own prejudices and sympathies as well as the desires of those we interview to energetically promote their personal causes. A good knowledge of the region, common sense, and a fair measure of skepticism are valuable antidotes to falling for a slanted story. It’s far worse than buying a street corner wristwatch that fails immediately after purchase. A damaging story can tick on forever.

Israel-based writer Barbara Sofer received the 2008 Eliav-Sartawi Award for Middle East Journalism. This article is part of a series on responsible journalism in the Arab-Israeli conflict written for the Common Ground News Service (CGNews).

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