The AP is broadcasting only half of Iran’s ruler, Ayatollah Khameini, in this short wire service story that, unsurprisingly, is not being picked up and distributed widely. At least, not as widely as the AP’s Rosh Hashanah story, which can’t carry the details of the Jewish New Year without contrasting them with the Palestinian hardships in Gaza.

Here’s the angle the AP is taking from the speech:

Khamenei: Iran won’t let Palestinians be alone
Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Wednesday that Iran will stand beside the Hamas government in Gaza and that Israel is weakening and on the path to eventual destruction, state television reported.

Khamenei, who has the final say on all state matters, called Hamas’ prime minister in Gaza, Ismail Haniyeh, a “mujahed”, or holy warrior, saying “the Iranian nation will never let you be alone.”

Khamenei said Israel “has weakened day by day … Today, officials of the Zionist regime acknowledge that they are moving towards weakness, destruction and defeat,” according to state television.

“Definitely, the world of Islam will see that day and hope the existing generation of the Palestinian people will watch the day Palestine is at the disposal of the Palestinian people, in the hands of the landlords,” he said at prayers marking the Islamic Eid al-Fitr holiday that ends the holy month of Ramadan.

And here’s what else he said, that is not being broadcast widely.

Supreme Leader: Muslim world unity to foil enemies’ offensives
Supreme Leader of Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei here on Wednesday called for unity in the world of Islam, saying it is the only way to confront enemies’ all-out offensives.

“Unity in the world of Islam is the only way to counter enemies’ all-out offensives. Since they feel helpless in the face of huge movement of Islamic awakening, enemies resort to discord through lies and deception,” said Ayatollah Khamenei in his `Eid-ul-Fitr’ (Feast of Fast Breaking) sermons at Tehran’s Musalla (Grand Prayers Ground) on Wednesday.

Iran has no intention of stopping work on its uranium enrichment, as these are the words of a leader who sees himself at war with the non-Muslim world.

You would think the AP would find these words at least as newsworthy as the Iranian leader’s commitment to the Palestinians.

Apparently not.

This post is triggered by that post by Neil of A Cloud in Trousers. In which Neil joins the crowd of bleeding hearts demanding the release of five Cubans arrested by FBI in 1998 and put on trial for quite a few offenses (notice the source of the following quote, please):

There are a number of minor charges, including acting as agents of a foreign government without being registered with the US authorities (which the Five admit to), but the two main charges which three of them have been condemned to life sentences for are related to spying and murder.

I can agree with much of what Neil says: yes, Cuba is far from being a socialist heaven. Yes, the infamous US embargo on Cuba is stupid and only helps to perpetuate the Cuban regime. Yes, there is a strong possibility that the trial was partly rigged and the sentences dished out by the court were influenced by the venue.

However - the five never denied that they were Cuban intelligence agents, unlawfully operating on the territory of another country:

But the Five pointed out vigorously in their defense that they were involved in monitoring the actions of Miami-based terrorist groups, in order to prevent terrorist attacks on their country of Cuba.

(You will have to scroll down a lot in the linked site or search for “Who are the Cuban Five?” on that page to get to that quote). Without resorting to legal terminology (which I cannot do anyway), these people were spying, no matter what legal term is fitting to their occupation while in Miami. No matter what the previous source (a Marxist one, to be sure) tries to prove. The verbal trickery of the “agents of foreign government” and “monitoring the actions of terrorist groups” kind is really pathetic. Imagine a USA spy caught in Cuba “monitoring the activities” of something.

They may have gotten harsher sentences than were due to them. That is, if you rely solely on Granma - sourced propaganda and decide to believe that every other charge but spying is false. That is if you forget what exactly it is DGI, the Cuban foreign intelligence service, does for living. That is if you look at Desmond Tutu’s and Harold Pinter’s backsides as a sole source of that redeeming ray of hope.

In short - if you are ready to buy one-sided crap in unlimited doses.

Now ask yourself how many of the celebrities that join hands protesting the bitter fate of the Miami five have ever joined their manicured hands in protesting the fate of the jailed Cuban journalists, dissidents, the whole people? Does the name of Rev Tutu or that of Reb Pinter appear on one of these protests?

Yeah, but it’s hardly relevant to the case we discuss here. Or is it?

Cross-posted on SimplyJews.

The AP couldn’t manage to write a Rosh Hashana story without criticizing Israel. Because gee, when they write Ramadan stories, the first thing they do is bemoan Muslim terrorist attacks. Oh, wait. No they don’t. Here’s what went ’round the world:

Israelis ushered in the Jewish New Year on Monday with festive family dinners - and a warning from their outgoing prime minister that they’ll have to return virtually all the land captured in 1967 to win peace with the Palestinians and Syrians.

Ehud Olmert, who is giving up his office amid a corruption investigation, also exchanged holiday greetings with the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas. The Jewish New Year, or Rosh Hashana, coincides this year with Eid el-Fitr, one of the holiest days on the Muslim calendar.

Let’s see what the AP says the Palestinians have to do.

Palestinians, meanwhile, prepared for Eid el-Fitr, the three-day holiday marking the end of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan. Eid el-Fitr will start here Tuesday.

In Gaza, outdoor markets were selling nearly all the supplies needed for the holiday, but prices were up sharply, compared to the period before the start of the blockade. Gazans get many of their supplies through smuggling tunnels under the Gaza-Egypt border.

A tunnel operator, who would identify himself only as Abu Nidal, said he had been working double time in the run-up to the holiday.

“Before we used to enter 1, 2 tons a day of goods in general,” he said. “These days, from 5 to 6 tons.” He added that the smuggled goods range from clothes and chocolate to balloons.

Got the narrative? Israel will have to give up all the territory captured in 1967. Because Ehud Olmert, the unelected Prime Minister of Israel, who is operating without any kind of mandate and is being forced out of office due to corruption investigations, said so. The Palestinians, meantime—have to smuggle Eid food into Gaza. Lots of it.

Now let’s look at the holiday itself. The AP can’t simply describe Rosh Hashanah. Nope. Gotta have the narrative.

Rosh Hashana, which began at sundown, ushers in 10 days of soul-searching capped by Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. But the New Year holiday itself is a time for festive meals, which traditionally include an apple dipped in honey to symbolize a sweet new year.

Israel closed off the West Bank until late Wednesday, barring Palestinians from entering Israel. It is a measure common during Jewish holidays, to deter possible attacks by Palestinian militants.

The Gaza Strip, the other Palestinian territory, has been virtually sealed off since June 2007, when the Islamic militant group Hamas seized control by force. The vast majority of the territory’s 1.4 million Palestinians have been trapped there since then.

Got it? While Israelis will be having festive meals, after days of soul-searching, the Gazans are trapped inside the Gaza Strip (and there’s almost no context save for the reference to Hamas above), and working double-time to smuggle in Eid feast goods.

File this under, “Why we hate the AP.”