Studies show that US coverage is Israeli-centric. The main bureaus for CNN, Associated Press, Time, etc. are located in Israel and often staffed by Israelis. The son of the NY Times bureau chief is in the Israeli army;"pundit" Jeffrey Goldberg served in the IDF; Wolf Blitzer worked for AIPAC. Because the U.S. gives Israel over $8 million/day - more than to any other nation - we feel it is essential that we be fully informed on this region. Below are news reports to augment mainstream coverage.

Monday, June 29, 2009

Hamas to deliver letter to Shalit, 'if he survived the war'

Ma'an
'Hamas leader Osama Al-Mazini promised on Monday to deliver a letter from the family of captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit if the prisoner survived Israel's assault on Gaza last winter.

"Hamas received the letter and promised to send it to the relevant persons. If he is alive it will reach him, but if he is dead it won’t reach him because we actually don’t know if he is still alive after the Gaza war," he said...

...the official said that there has been little progress on the soldier's case, but that in the first year of Shalit's detainment, there were understandings reached with Israel.... negotiations ended with the administration of former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.... Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government hasn't submitted anything yet, and all that has been reported in the media are "test balloons," the official added, referring to a number of Israeli and Palestinian reports that a release and prisoner swap were imminent [Israel holds over 10,000 Palestinian prisoners, including women and children].

... He also said that Israel has agreed not to rearrest anyone freed in the deal, but that there were no guarantees the country's military would not attempt to assassinate them later. Full story