aral,
@aral@mastodon.ar.al avatar

“In one of those moments that you can’t believe is not satire, Antony Blinken met with Arab-American leaders and warned them that if Palestine got statehood, the US would defund the United Nations and potentially the World Food Program, plunging the developing world into starvation. It wasn’t enough for these fascists to starve innocents in Palestine, they’re now threatening to do it across the world. They would really rather kill millions more than stop doing genocide.”

https://www.councilestatemedia.uk/p/blinken-suggests-the-world-food-program

mastobit,
@mastobit@awscommunity.social avatar
ButterflyOfFire,
@ButterflyOfFire@mstdn.fr avatar

@aral Will he close MCDonalds ?
We don't have MCDonaldZ in our country, neither KFC.

ButterflyOfFire,
@ButterflyOfFire@mstdn.fr avatar

@aral Spy balloons country 🤦

ButterflyOfFire,
@ButterflyOfFire@mstdn.fr avatar

@aral Disney land.

ButterflyOfFire,
@ButterflyOfFire@mstdn.fr avatar

@aral We will help US people one day, not now, they don't need our help.

sharan,
@sharan@metalhead.club avatar

@aral , I respect your efforts to help the cause, but by sharing stuff like this, you don't.

We should all be careful with "news" like this. If a piece of news doesn't cite a source, there's no other viable source, and it dives heavily into any bias, huge chances are that it's fake.

aral,
@aral@mastodon.ar.al avatar

@sharan I’m sorry, please correct me if I’m missing something, but the article cites a primary source who was at the meeting. This is the source: https://x.com/halalflow/status/1792944530389393422

Is the problem that the person is Arab-American and therefore somehow inherently untrustworthy?

sharan,
@sharan@metalhead.club avatar

@aral I am from Bosnia and Herzegovina; it would be only fitting, if we're judging stereotypically, that I should despise CNN and trust the Arabs.

😆

No, the thing is that I really can't take stuff like this without several viable sources as true. I'm an ex-journalist myself, and fact-checking is something that needs to be done to stop the paranoia and further hate.

Judging by your previous posts, we're on the same side. But I'll always be skeptical.

Miro_Collas,
@Miro_Collas@masto.ai avatar

@aral Hum, that's not quite what is reported in that article. What it reports, via very indirect sources, is that (a) the US might defund the UN, and (b) that the UN might cut the food program.

However, I am wary of the sources.

@palestine

adachika192,
@adachika192@hcommons.social avatar

@Miro_Collas @aral @palestine

cf. https://youtu.be/u_FnTyAl3po?si=F7ZQIr7m9uTHpdCx

Seems like the article stands principally on what Bilal Hammoud told in this broadcast.
🖖

Miro_Collas,
@Miro_Collas@masto.ai avatar

@adachika192
Right, exactly. Confirmation would be needed

@aral @palestine

aral,
@aral@mastodon.ar.al avatar

@Miro_Collas @adachika192 @palestine Confirmation from a white person? Is Bilal inherently untrustworthy because he is an Arab-American? I’m having real trouble understanding this.

Miro_Collas,
@Miro_Collas@masto.ai avatar

@aral
Playing the racism card? That's disappointing. Especially because you have no idea whatsoever what race I am, you made an assumption. Which could be seen as racist too, perhaps.

Confirmation from a different source. it is not at all unusual to wish to see news confirmed from other sources.

@adachika192 @palestine

aral,
@aral@mastodon.ar.al avatar

@Miro_Collas @adachika192 @palestine I didn’t realise it was a card. My question is what makes an Arab-American who was in the actual meeting sharing his recollection of his first-hand experience at the meeting an untrustworthy primary source? I don’t think I’ve gotten an answer to that question.

Miro_Collas,
@Miro_Collas@masto.ai avatar

@aral
His ethnicity is irrelevant - why did you introduce it? So yes, you're playing the racism card.

Also, I never said he was untrustworthy.

So, there is no question to answer, and this conversation is over.

@adachika192 @palestine

aral,
@aral@mastodon.ar.al avatar
adachika192,
@adachika192@hcommons.social avatar

@aral @palestine

Don’t worry, I can wait for your answer.

> https://hcommons.social/@adachika192/112485631385539729

adachika192,
@adachika192@hcommons.social avatar

@aral

Wait, I can’t follow your argument… Who’s talking about any “confirmation from a white person”? Would you kindly explain the logic?

@Miro_Collas @palestine

rimu,
@rimu@mycrowd.ca avatar

@aral I am unable to verify that from any other source. Careful with this one.

aral,
@aral@mastodon.ar.al avatar
Vittoria,
@Vittoria@mastodon.social avatar

@aral @rimu yeah, those are not sources

rimu,
@rimu@mycrowd.ca avatar

@Vittoria @aral Agreed. That doesn't cut it for me.

aral,
@aral@mastodon.ar.al avatar
aral,
@aral@mastodon.ar.al avatar
Vittoria,
@Vittoria@mastodon.social avatar

@aral @rimu you're just reposting the same one source. Was there anyone else in that meeting who can corroborate what this person is saying?

aral,
@aral@mastodon.ar.al avatar

@Vittoria @rimu I don’t know. You’re the senior news editor. Why don’t you follow up and see? Isn’t that your job?

Vittoria,
@Vittoria@mastodon.social avatar

@aral @rimu I guess yours is disseminating information without verifying the veracity of the claims, then..

aral,
@aral@mastodon.ar.al avatar

@Vittoria @rimu No, that clearly is also your job as your news organisation routinely quotes IDF spokespeople without questioning whether they are lying or not.

https://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=france24%20idf%20spokesperson%20said

Vittoria,
@Vittoria@mastodon.social avatar

@aral @rimu guess what, we also routinely quote Hamas, and NGOs, and UNRWA, and pretty much all the other actors involved in the conflict, plus reporters on the ground and eyewitnesses, and that's how sources work, you get at least two, preferably three..

aral, (edited )
@aral@mastodon.ar.al avatar

@Vittoria @rimu And here you have one so take it for exactly what that’s worth. Seriously, go ask Blinken if the guy is lying or not then report back. That’d be useful. That’s your job. You’re the journalist.

Vittoria,
@Vittoria@mastodon.social avatar

@aral @rimu yeah man, all I am doing is pointing out that it's irresponsible to disseminate opinions as facts without verification, but you do you

aral,
@aral@mastodon.ar.al avatar

@Vittoria @rimu It’s not an opinion, though, is it? It is a recollection. And the distinction is critical. The source is not opining about what Blinken said, he is reporting it.

So you can say:

  • I don’t believe the source is credible – misremembering? lying? (Why? No one in this thread has actually given me a reason for this.)

  • A single source is unreliable by our standards (excellent, I love it: Now contact Blinken’s office and get confirmation or a denial. That’s your job.)

aral,
@aral@mastodon.ar.al avatar

@Vittoria @rimu CC @CEMedia Thoughts? 👆

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