Events in Syria have been spinning out of control over the last few weeks, with coverage all over the world reflecting that and trying to keep up with the changes. Between the claims of chemical weapons being used by both the regime and the rebels, rising tensions between Iran and the West, the growing humanitarian crisis in and around Syria, and now a death toll of over 70,000 and climbing the situation is fast approaching a point where it may no longer be contained. A highlight of this fear that Syria will soon grow into a regional conflict, not just a civil war, were the reports of Israeli airstrikes two weeks back.
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2013/05/201354434558135.html
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2013/05/20135502043908700.html
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-22419221
http://www.cnn.com/2013/05/06/world/meast/qa-israel-syria/index.html?iid=article_sidebar
http://english.alarabiya.net/en/views/news/middle-east/2013/05/08/gh.html
Two Israeli airstrikes occurred on May 3, and May 5. The reported targets were ‘game changing’ surface to missile delivery systems being shipped to Hezbollah. What’s interesting in terms of coverage is that both Arab and Western news sites essentially focused on the same implication, though with very different tones and perspectives, perhaps reflecting their respective objectives. Most Western media coverage managed to tap intelligence sources that specified the weapons were Fateh-110’s surface-to-surface missiles. The overall tone of news coverage from both the BBC and CNN seems to be focusing on conveying the Obama administrations hesitancy about how to proceed with Syria, along with the concerns of this spreading into a much wider conflict. But if the Western media is displaying trepidation, then the more surprising tone of the reports from the Arab news sites is one of apathy. While there’s certainly not joyous over the news, Arab news media like Al Jazeera and Al Arabiya have not taken the opportunity to demonstrate their typical outrage when it comes to most things involving Israel. Instead, they’ve used this as a basis to further attack and accuse the Assad regime itself, making sure to put in reminders about the atrocities Assad’s forces are currently committing, or inserting a few jabs at Hezbollah for getting involved in the Syrian conflict in the first place, almost inviting responses like the one Israel just unleashed in a way. In many ways this seems to be reflective of each parties attitudes on the matter, with the West seeking any way to try and deescalate and resolve the conflict through political means, whereas the Arab world seems more focused on taking decisive action.
