There’s dead, and then there’s killed by Israel

Let’s take a look at two different tales of dead civilians.

The first is the AP narrative of what happened last Saturday, when terrorists stabbed three children and their parents to death. The details are grisly; they include stabbing a three-month-old infant in the heart and slashing the child’s throat.

First, the two headlines:

Israel hunts for killers of sleeping settlers

Israeli strike misses target, kills 4 Palestinians

and the earlier headline:

Palestinians: 4 killed, 13 wounded in Gaza Strip (Fox News rewrote the headline a bit, but I link there because their links don’t break.)

Note that the AP does not identify the killers in the story about the Fogels’ murders. In fact, the AP does not explicitly blame Palestinians, or even “militants” for the murders in the lead—as if it was just some sociopath who wandered into the Fogels’ home and brutally murdered three children and their parents. Here’s how the attack is described in the second paragraph:

The knife attack, which killed two young children, a baby and their parents as they slept, was the deadliest in years. It comes at a delicate moment, with pressure building on Israel to launch a new peace initiative and the Palestinians pushing for world recognition of an independent state _ with or without a peace deal.

And what killed the children? The “knife attack.” Not a Palestinian “militant,” even. The knife did it. Compare that to the headlines of the Gaza story, which uses the words “killed” and “Israel kills” in the headlines and leads. The Fogel story? “Israel hunts for killers”—not a word about Palestinians.

Look again at the description of the scene in Gaza. This is in the lead—the third paragraph—of the early edition of the story:

TV footage showed body parts and shrapnel at the scene of the attack. Hamas said Israeli tank fire had hit the house in what would be the deadliest Israeli attack on Gaza in months.

You know how far down you have to dig for a similar graf in the story about the Fogels? Before the AP uses the words “Palestinian” in relation to the murderer?

TV footage from the scene showed children’s toys covered in blood and furniture tipped over. Israeli officials said at least one Palestinian militant infiltrated the settlement, entered the family home and stabbed the parents and three of their children, ages 11, 3 and 4 months, as they slept.

Thirteen paragraphs.

Note also that use of the words “attack” to describe both terrorist attacks and Israeli shelling of terrorists launching attacks. While it is correct semantically, it still essentially puts terrorism and defense of civilians into the same category. Because the IDF trying to stop mortar launches is just like Palestinian terrorists breaking into a house and going from room to room, slashing the throats of children.

Of course, the real difference between Israelis and Palestinians can be seen in their reaction to the death of civilians. When the Fogels were murdered, Gazans celebrated. At the news that a mortar strike went horribly wrong, the prime minister of Israel expressed his regret for the deaths.

Yes, it’s awful that three children and an adult were killed. But their deaths are also on Hamas, because they launch mortars from civilian areas—hoping for exactly something like this.

And if you’re wondering why Hamas suddenly launched a barrage of missiles—they want to distract their people, who are actually rebelling against their Islamist masters. Hamas doesn’t want Gazans marching for freedom, like the rest of the Arab world. Expect more missiles every time Gazans try to break free. And, of course, expect more of the same from the AP.