Yesterday, Israeli drones killed a couple of Palestinian terrorists who were trying to fire rockets into Israel. And while even the AP couldn’t find people to insist they were farmers, or boys collecting scrap metal, the AP did manage to completely whitewash how those “projectiles” kill Israelis (though this one wasn’t a “homemade” rocket, but a deadly accurate one:
On Sunday a rocket fired from Gaza struck open fields in southern Israel causing no damage or injuries. The army said two other projectiles were also fired Saturday. They were the first fired from Gaza since June 16 but the border between Gaza and Israel has been largely calm in recent months.
In early April, tensions ratcheted up after a rocket-propelled grenade fired from Gaza struck an Israeli school bus, killing a teenager.
Israel responded with a series of air strikes that killed at least 19 Palestinians in the deadliest violence since Israel’s devastating 22-day Operation Cast Lead on the Palestinian territory in 2008-2009.
Remember that RPG that killed Daniel Viflic? It wasn’t just an RPG. And its victim had a name and age. Funny how the AP can name and age the terrorists in their news article, but can’t remember the name and age of the child killed by a laser-guided missile that deliberately targeted a schoolbus. It was not a simple “rocket-propelled grenade” that murdered a sixteen-year-old boy on his way from home, and that would have murdered dozens had it struck five minutes earlier.
When the attack happened, the AP could identify the weapon as a laser-guided anti-tank missile. But not now, when a few months have gone by and they can whitewash the attack with abandon.
It’s also worth noting that the headline to the AP story linked above is “Israeli drone attack kills two militants in Gaza.” New headline? “Israeli airstrike kills 2 in Gaza.” Note the difference. The “militants” are no longer identified as such in the headline. And this time, Ibrahim Barzak did manage to find people to claim that Israel killed civilians, thus justifying the headline even though this is the lead:
An Israeli aircraft fired at Gaza militants about to launch rockets at Israel, killing two in the deadliest cross-border fighting in three months.
And the updated history (still whitewashed):
Hundreds of people have been killed in fighting along the Israel-Gaza border in recent years. The most fighting took place in March, with militants firing rockets and heavy mortar barrages at Israel and Israel retaliating with airstrikes. Nineteen Palestinians were killed by Israeli airstrikes over a two-day stretch in the second week of April after Gaza militants fired a rocket at an Israeli school bus. Egypt’s new government brokered an informal cease-fire later in April.
In the update, they don’t even mention that a child was killed. Way to be objective, AP! Way to present both sides of the issue, just as your News Values and Principles demand.
That means we abhor inaccuracies, carelessness, bias or distortions.
Shyeah.
I have read Ibrahim Barzak garbage for many years now, always tries to spin his AP articles with the Gaza hamas point of view, because if he does not, he is history!
” Gaza militants fired a rocket at an Israeli school bus”
Yeah, that’s really “militant” to fire a rocket at a school bus. They’re not “militants”. They’re savages.