Friday, March 07, 2008

NPR: Shooting Kills 8 at Jerusalem Religious School

I've read a couple of articles that talk about the bias in our news showing bias for Israel. And though I respected the sources, I was still a bit skeptical. I figured I'd just keep their point in mind, after all, it's easy to make a point if you only need to give a couple sound bites.

This morning on the radio I heard this AP story: Shooting Kills 8 at Jerusalem Religious School

I don't really care who is "right" or "wrong" in the Israeli/Palestinian conflict. But read the story. The headline is about the 8 who died in the shooting. The wording in the rest of the story talks about how the Israelis are thinking about not continuing with peace talks, how this was the deadliest attack since 11 were killed in April 2006. Contrast that with the way it states what motivated this killer of 8: "120 Palestinians and three Israelis died in the clashes, which were sparked by an increase in militant rocket fire from Gaza into southern Israel."

So let me get this straight, one crazy guy kills 8 and the horror is described in detail ("a bullet-scarred Jewish seminary", "victims were between ages 15 and 19 except one, who was 26") and Israel is graciously continuing with peace negotiations. But the attack of a nation on Gaza killing 120 (what ages? what was the damage to the neighborhoods?) gets a brief mention.

Ok, so perhaps it's just this one story. Let's do a quick search on the AP stories of the last week (during which the attack on Gaza happened). Notice there are no headlines saying Israel attacked Gaza, nothing about anyone mourning the 120 killed in Gaza. Just headlines about rockets going into Israel. There is the one headline about Syrians protesting the attacks (10s of thousands by the way).

Israeli warplanes fly over BeirutMar 7, 12:22 PM EST
Israelis mourn 8 killed at seminaryMar 7, 12:11 PM EST
Hamas backtracks on attack claimMar 7, 10:53 AM EST
Libya blocks UN from condemning violenceMar 7, 3:56 AM EST
Egypt walls up Gaza borderMar 6, 9:49 PM EST
Quiet US support for Egypt's Gaza effortMar 6, 6:33 PM EST
7 die in shooting at Jerusalem seminaryMar 6, 4:42 PM EST
UN rights council condemns IsraelMar 6, 2:32 PM EST
Egypt presses Hamas on Gaza truceMar 6, 11:21 AM EST
UK rights groups: Gaza in severe crisisMar 5, 8:41 PM EST
Palestinians say peace talks back onMar 5, 6:52 PM EST
Lawyers work to free Israeli soldierMar 5, 12:38 PM EST
Abbas says no talks without Gaza truceMar 5, 6:04 AM EST
Father misses children's Gaza funeralMar 4, 2:31 PM EST
Palestinians call drones a deadly weaponMar 3, 7:22 PM EST
Syrians protest Israeli attacks in GazaMar 3, 4:20 PM EST
Egyptian chopper strays over GazaMar 3, 1:38 PM EST
Israeli city shocked as rockets hitMar 2, 4:48 PM EST
Israeli says comment manipulatedMar 2, 1:32 PM EST
Egypt to treat wounded PalestiniansMar 2, 7:07 AM EST
Analysis: Mideast talks a mixed bagMar 2, 3:45 AM EST
King calls for US help in Middle EastFeb 29, 10:31 PM EST
Girl killed on Egypt-Israel borderFeb 28, 6:56 PM EST
Israelis debate rocket defenseFeb 28, 2:58 PM EST
Rice says Hamas rocket attacks must stopFeb 27, 9:16 PM EST

The message is clear: Palestinians brutally murder Israelis, and if you read closely Palestinians happen to die in "clashes" with the Israeli military. Palestinians are to blame.

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