Get a load of this “objective” piece the AP released on the “nakba” celebrations. It’s graf after graf of opinion masquerading as fact.
Palestinians marked the 60th anniversary of their uprooting with rallies, sirens and black balloons Thursday – an annual ritual made even darker this year by crippling internal divisions and diminishing independence hopes.
The memorial provided a stark contrast to Israel’s all-out birthday bash, which included a high-profile visit by President Bush for the 60th independence day celebration.
Bush’s embrace of Israel at a time when the Palestinians were mourning was bound to further harm the tainted U.S. image in Palestinian areas and across the Arab world.
Thursday’s events commemorated the displacement of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians who either fled or were driven out of their homes during the 1948 war over Israel’s creation. Palestinians call it their “nakba,” Arabic for catastrophe.
Break out the hankies, folks. And the yellow markers. In fact, I ought to start using yellow background for this kind of pseudo-news. They don’t even have the decency to label this “analysis” or even “feature,” ’cause it sure as hell isn’t news. And here’s the latest Palestinian appropriation of Israeli symbolism. I swear, these people have never had an original idea, ever.
In the West Bank city of Ramallah, thousands stood in silence in downtown Manara Square as a siren wailed, then listened to a taped Abbas speech.
On Israel’s Memorial Day, a siren sounds for two minutes in remembrance of Israel’s war dead.
Also in the article, the AP manages to minimize the rocket attack on Ashkelon.
Israel’s government, meanwhile, came under mounting pressure to try to oust Hamas, after a rocket fired from Gaza hit a medical clinic in an Israeli shopping mall and seriously wounded four people, including a 2-year-old girl.
While that part is factually accurate, it is misleading. Fifteen people were wounded, four seriously. By mentioning only the seriously wounded victims, the AP once again whitewashes a terrorist attack on Israel. Just as the AP will highlight any and all civilian casualties when the IDF goes into Gaza. It’s gotten so predictable I probably shouldn’t bother writing about it anymore.
Yeah. I’ll stop when they stop.
Hm, I thought AP stood for Abysmal and Pathetic.
(I do the same job for the German speaking media and it seems I won’t be running out of work for quite some time. But when they stop, I’ll stop, too.)
Shabat Shalom, Meryl.