All this time, I thought it was the editors. Now I think it’s the Jerusalem bureau chief. Check this one out. It’s loaded for bear from the headline on down.
Prison Raid Shows Israel’s New Freedom
JERUSALEM (AP) – Israel’s dramatic seizure of senior Palestinian militants from a West Bank jail highlights its new freedom of action with the internationally shunned Hamas poised to take over Palestinian government.Tuesday’s raid also undercuts the authority of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, boosts the electoral prospects of acting Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and sends a strong warning to Hamas about failing to honor past accords.
Neither of those are the killer graf. This one is:
In one way, though, it lets Hamas off the hook. Hamas had intended to release the militants, but the raid allowed them to avoid the international outcry that almost surely would have followed had they done so.
Do you see the logic? Because Israel went in and got the terrorists who killed Ze’evi, Hamas didn’t have to face the world outcry it would have gotten for releasing five terrorists. Pay careful attention to that logic, because in the AP world, cause-and-effect are perfectly clear: It is always the fault of Israel and the West, never the fault of the murderers, thieves, and liars in the PA.
Israel, the United States and Britain blamed the Palestinian Authority for the 10-hour siege at a prison in the West Bank town of Jericho that left three Palestinians dead and culminated in the surrender of militant leader Ahmed Saadat and four of his alleged accomplices in the 2001 murder of an Israeli Cabinet minister.
Under a four-year-old agreement, Saadat and the other prisoners were held in a Palestinian jail monitored by U.S. and British guards. But the guards left Tuesday, a week after the United States and Britain warned Abbas they would go unless the Palestinians beefed up security.
Israel, the United States and Britain argued the Palestinians had failed to live up to their commitments under the Jericho accord.
The palestinians did fail to live up to their agreements. There is no argument on that part. There is only truth and falsehood, and the AP is lying if they’re telling you the pals kept their agreements. But wait, here’s the worst part of the cause-and-effect:
The guards’ departure triggered the Israeli raid and a spree of violent Palestinian protests and widespread kidnappings of foreigners.
Do you get the cause-and-effect? The Israeli raid was not triggered by the palestinian failure to keep the Jericho accord. It was not triggered by the leader of Hamas saying that they would free the murderers of Minister Ze’evi. It was not triggered by Mahmoud Abbas saying that he had no problem with the release of the murderers. The Israeli “raid” was triggered by the departure of the British guards.
Which also triggered the palestinian protests and kidnappings. See? The AP cause-and-effect: It’s never the fault of the pals. It’s always on Israel and the West (but usually just Israel, in these cases).
And yet there is still more. Observe:
With Hamas’ refusal to recognize Israel and renounce violence in the wake of its surprise Jan. 25 victory in parliamentary elections – and Israel’s insistence it will not do business with a Hamas government – many Israelis and Palestinians were wondering which agreement would unravel next.
Hamas has out-and-out said that they will not recognize previous agreements with Israel. There is nothing to unravel. One party is refusing to abide by precedent and law, the other has no contol over it.
Delicate understandings painstakingly brokered by the United States and Europe after Israel’s Gaza pullout last summer – including a new Gaza-Egypt border crossing monitored by European inspectors – could meet the same fate as the Jericho accord.
The prison raid “shows the new thrust, the new aim which is complete (Israeli) unilateralism, forget that there’s anybody on the other side,” said Diana Buttu, a former legal adviser to the Palestinian Authority.
Had enough yet? Do you see how this article utterly turns the issue on its head and blames Israel completely for everything? Well, wait. Because Gutkin isn’t done yet.
Hamas’ victory, added outgoing Palestinian Foreign Minister Nabil Shaath, “has stopped any international pressure on Israel, and thus Israel feels it has a free hand to do anything it wants.”
Sure. Because it’s not like the UN Security Council isn’t currently working on a resolution condemning Israel for the raid on the jail. Right. Israel can do anything it wants, and all international pressure has stopped.
I’m going to stop now, because I’ve been yelling in Sarah’s ear while writing this. That, and I don’t want to give myself an aneurysm.
And AP will always sound like this because the vast majority of AP stringers in the area are Arab or American British uber-liberals-with-Palestinian-translators who were vetted by Hamas. You weren’t really expecting objectivity?
The Palis failed to keep their agreement? Well, fancy that! Can anybody think of an agreement they have kept? Class? Anyone? Bueller?
Criticizing Israel for retaliating for acts of war against her is like criticizing the Poles in 1939 for shooting back at the Nazis.