Media bias in action: A case study

This story came across the AP site shortly after the events occurred. Let’s look at the lead:

NABLUS, West Bank (AP) – Israeli troops killed a senior Hamas militant in an overnight arrest raid Monday, Palestinian medical officials and neighbors of the man said.

Troops arrived at the home of Amjad Hanawi, 34, Hamas’ top military commander in the northern West Bank, shortly after midnight, according to the accounts.

The soldiers ordered Hanawi’s family out of the house. While most members came out of the house, Hanawi refused and tried to escape. He was shot as he tried to climb a fence. The neighbors claimed that army dogs attacked several family members.

Pretty straightforward, the anti-Israel spin already there in the “eyewitness” accounts. Here’s the final graf to the story when it first hit the wires:

The killing threatened to raise tensions as dignitaries from around the world gathered in Israel to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the assassination of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin by a Jewish ultranationalist. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice arrived late Sunday, and international Mideast envoy James Wolfensohn has been meeting with top Israeli and Palestinian officials in hopes of wrapping up an agreement on reopening the Gaza Strip’s border crossings.

Now let’s look at the later story, written by a different writer (who just happens to have an Arab name). here’s the lead:

NABLUS, West Bank (AP) – Israeli troops killed a senior Hamas militant in an arrest raid on Monday, touching off threats of revenge from the Islamic group.

The violence raised tensions as dignitaries from around the world gathered in Israel to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the assassination of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin.

Troops arrived at the home of Amjad Hanawi, 34, the commander of Hamas’ armed wing in the northern West Bank, early Monday, according to Palestinian witnesses and the Israeli military.

Interesting, isn’t it, how the lead changed so drastically? The last paragraph in the first version was raised to be part of the lead in the one that the world’s newspapers will publish.

This is why anti-Israel sentiments are so prevalent. They are whipped up by the anti-Israel media, particularly by their anti-Israel Arab stringers and writers. Although the non-Arabs do quite a hatchet job on Israel as well.