More AP bias: When Israel says it will refuse to continue trading with the palestinians because the palestinians are letting murderers cross the Rafah border, it’s a “threat.” When Hamas threatens to end the faux truce and resume large-scale murders of Israelis, it’s a “reiteration.” Observe the two stories:
Hamas Leader Reiterates No Israel Truce
Dec 9, 6:11 PM (ET)
By ALBERT AJI
DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) – Hamas will not renew its truce with Israel when it expires at the end of the year, the political leader of the Palestinian militant group told a rally Friday.The comment by Khaled Mashaal raised the threat of renewed suicide bombings in Israel. Hamas carried out dozens of such attacks, killing hundreds of people, before the informal truce came into effect earlier this year.
“We will only choose the road of resistance, especially since we are waiting for the last moments of the truce, which has fatigued us,” Mashaal told more than 1,000 supporters in a Palestinian camp outside the Syrian capital.
“I say enough to the truce,” Mashaal said.
The word “threat” is used only in relation to the “threat of renewed suicide bombings.” You’d think that the headline would be, “Hamas threatens to renew suicide bombings,” but then, you wouldn’t be an AP editor if you thought that way.
Israel Demands Better Border Security
Dec 10, 1:15 AM (ET)
By RAVI NESSMAN
JERUSALEM (AP) – Israel threatened on Friday to restrict trade across its frontier with Gaza if the Palestinians fail to address its security concerns at the newly opened border crossing between Gaza and Egypt within two days.The restrictions, if carried out, would further choke Gaza’s already shaky economy and damage hopes for renewed cooperation between Israel and the Palestinians following Israel’s pullout from the Gaza Strip in September.
The threat was made at a meeting between Israeli officials and international mediators. The Associated Press obtained notes of the session.
Early Saturday, an Israeli naval boat patrolling the Gaza coast shot and killed a Palestinian in the town of Rafah near the Egyptian border, Palestinian officials said. Israel had no immediate comment.
Palestinian medical officials identified the slain man as Nazen Farhat, 27. A second man who was with Farhat was missing, the officials said.
The Rafah terminal opened Nov. 26 under the supervision of European monitors, giving Palestinians control of a border for the first time.
Israel has complained in recent days that the Palestinians were violating a U.S.-brokered agreement by not providing instant information on people crossing from Egypt into Gaza. As a result, Israel said last week up to 15 militants, including the brother of Hamas leader Mahmoud Zahar, were allowed in.
The negative language is accented in boldface. Once again, the AP shows its anti-Israel bias. And, by the way, WTF is that bit about the IDF patrol shooting doing in this story? Is it part of the Rafah crossing? Did it happen at the Rafah crossing? Was it because of the Rafah crossing? No. It is there specifically to make Israel look like it’s killing palestinians indiscriminately. Notice that there is no information given as to why the palestinian was shot, but you know his name and age. Amazing, that. Because a quick check on Ynet shows that the swimmers were terrorists. Funny how the AP never manages to pick up on things like that in its updates, but other news services manage.
So what’s the American take on all this?
U.S. officials told a separate meeting of the so-called Quartet of international mediators Friday that the Palestinians were complying with the Rafah agreement and that any delay in relaying information was the result of technological problems that American experts were trying to resolve, according to notes of that meeting also obtained by the AP.
The Bush/Baker State Department analogy continues unabated. This administration is paying lip service to supporting Israel’s security concerns, while the reality is the opposite.