Sunday, November 17, 2013

Yea, the NYT is biased in favour of Israel

 ... and pigs might fly 


This  from  As'ad AbuKhalil's blog of Arab Angers :

"The attack came after a string of violent episodes in the Israeli-occupied West Bank in recent months that ended a period of relative calm. Since September, an Israeli soldier has been killed in Hebron, apparently by a Palestinian sniper; an off-duty soldier killed by a Palestinian acquaintance who had lured him to the West Bank; and a retired colonel bludgeoned to death outside his home in the Jordan Valley.
In the last week, an Israeli couple escaped from a burning car after it was hit by a firebomb on a West Bank road, and a Palestinian man was shot dead by Israeli soldiers after he opened fire at a bus stop with a homemade handgun. A number of Palestinians have also been killed recently in clashes with Israeli soldiers. Three were killed in one arrest raidthat turned violent in August."

The link contained in this post is dead but I googled the quote and found it came from here, the NYT. There is an ellipsis in the quote by AA, which I highlighted in red,  without any indication within the quote provided by Abukhalil that the original was tempered with. 

"The attack came after a string of violent episodes in the Israeli-occupied West Bank in recent months that ended a period of relative calm. Since September, an Israeli soldier has been killed in Hebron, apparently by a Palestinian sniper; an off-duty soldier killed by a Palestinian acquaintance who had lured him to the West Bank; and a retired colonel bludgeoned to death outside his home in the Jordan Valley. 

In the last week, an Israeli couple escaped from a burning car after it was hit by a firebomb on a West Bank road, and a Palestinian man was shot dead by Israeli soldiers after he opened fire at a bus stop with a homemade handgun. 

Israeli security officials have attributed the rise in attacks to unrelated individuals rather than an orchestrated campaign backed by militant groups. A number of Palestinians have also been killed recently in clashes with Israeli soldiers. Three were killed in one arrest raid that turned violent in August."

The aim of this post by AA is to show that the NYT (of all things) is applying a double standard in its treatment of I/P victims. He quotes his source as saying:
 
Look at how the Times details attacks on Israelis but Palestinians are in passing, with only one incident mentioned:
and  it seems he approves of this source's message and even enhances it by heading the post "New York Times's standards" 

 So far we have a misrepresented quote and a charge against the most anti-Israel mainstream media outlet as favouring Israel.

But that is not what bothers me. What intrigues me is that this complaint seems to equate honest-to-God murders of Israelis by Palestinians with Palestinians being killed during arrests and violent clashes by Israeli soldiers, as mandated by their duty to serve and protect the people of Israel from violent attacks against them.

Here are the three murders carried out by Palestinians:

1. " an Israeli soldier has been killed in Hebron, apparently by a Palestinian sniper"

The gunman fired at Kobi and another Givati Brigade infantryman positioned to defend the Jewish community, as part of the army’s holiday preparations. The soldiers were positioned near the pharmacy intersection and Beit Hamachpela, defending the road used by Jewish residents of the quarter in Hebron.

“From what we see, the shooting occurred over a long distance,” a senior IDF source said. “At this stage, we have no clear direction as to the identity of the shooter.”

2.  " an off-duty soldier killed by a Palestinian acquaintance who had lured him to the West Bank;
 
The closeness of the relationship between Mr. Omar, 42, and the soldier, Sgt. Tomer Hazan, 20, remained unclear late Saturday, but the owner of the shop in Bat Yam where they worked said in a television interview that both men were well liked. Colonel Lerner said Mr. Omar had persuaded Sergeant Hazan to go with him in a taxi Friday from Israel to a Jewish settlement in the West Bank and then to Beit Amin, a nearby Palestinian village of 1,100, where his family is from.
Mr. Omar then took Sergeant Hazan to an open area, killed him and hid his body in a water cistern, according to Colonel Lerner, who said Mr. Omar “wanted to barter with the dead body.” Colonel Lerner did not say how the soldier had died.
3.  and a retired colonel bludgeoned to death outside his home in the Jordan Valley. 

 The man, Sariya Ofer, 61, was attacked around 1 a.m. by at least two people in the yard of his house at Brosh Habika, an isolated resort village that he ran and that was empty of visitors at the time. His wife, Monique, who escaped and called for help after reaching a highway, said Mr. Ofer had gone outside after hearing noises.
Lt. Col. Peter Lerner, a military spokesman, said it was not immediately clear if the killing was a politically motivated act of terrorism or a criminal attack. He said Mr. Ofer was attacked with iron bars and a knife or an ax.

And here are the accounts of record of "A number of Palestinians have also been killed recently in clashes with Israeli soldiers. Three were killed in one arrest raid that turned violent in August."
 
The Israeli military said that its troops were in the Qalandia camp to back up security forces seeking to arrest a resident described by the military as a “terror operative.” Hundreds of residents threw rocks, firebombs, iron bars and other items at the security forces, including from rooftops, and soldiers were called in to aid them. 

The military later said an investigation indicated that camp residents had also fired at the soldiers and that the forces felt their lives were in danger, a standard that then allows the use of lethal force.
“Large, violent crowds such as this, which significantly outnumber the security forces, leave no choice but to resort to live fire in self-defense,” said Lt. Col. Peter Lerner, a spokesman for the Israeli military.
Other incidents that ended in Palestinians being killed by IDF soldiers:

* ... when about 50 soldiers and border police officers entered the camp at 3 a.m., they faced gunshots as well as rocks, firecrackers and explosive devices. 

The Maan news agency identified the dead Palestinian as Majd Mohammad Anis Lahlouh, 22. Two other Palestinians were injured, along with two soldiers, Colonel Lerner said.

“A very violent riot erupted there,” the company commander, identified only as Shai under military rules, said in a video of the episode that was distributed by the Israel Defense Forces. “We were faced with armed Palestinians, who shot at us from behind covers and rooftops. We responded with live fire.”
**...   The dead man was identified as Muataz Idris Sharawneh, a student at a Palestinian Authority security academy in Jericho.
A spokeswoman for the Israeli military said the Israeli forces were carrying out a routine overnight operation in Dura, southwest of Hebron, when clashes broke out. She said that a group of Palestinians hurled rocks at the soldiers and that, according to initial evidence, a few of them began to climb on one of the military vehicles. After the Palestinians ignored warnings to retreat and were undeterred by riot dispersal means, she said, soldiers fired at one of them. The spokeswoman was speaking on the condition of anonymity under army rules.
All quotes and information are from articles and reports appearing in the NYT.

So I ask you, can the NYT possibly be accused of pro-Israel bias, as AbuKhalil's reportage and headline indicate with this statement:  "Look at how the Times details attacks on Israelis but Palestinians are in passing, with only one incident mentioned"??

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