Media bias, triumphant

So do you remember that red-on-red fighting in the terrortories that killed dozens and wounded hundreds? Or was it killed hundreds and wounded thousands? I forget.

Remember how hard it was to find the kind of media blitz that you get when palestinians are killed by Israelis?

Wonder no more. Because Israeli troops got into gunbattles with terrorists over the weekend and killed some of them. The world, led by the wire services, is (as usual) freaking out.

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — Hamas militants today called for a fresh wave of attacks against Israel after troops killed nine Palestinians in weekend fighting, straining a five-month-old cease-fire.

In response to the bloodshed, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’ more moderate Fatah movement urged him to consider breaking off contacts with the Israeli government, despite his pledge to the United States to hold regular meetings with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert. Hamas and Fatah are partners in a coalition government.

Among the nine Palestinians killed in the weekend upsurge of violence were two gunmen and a 17-year-old who died today in the West Bank. The fighting also included a Palestinian rocket attack on the southern Israeli town of Sderot that damaged a home.

It’s all there. Maximizing the harm done to the Palestinians (including the terrorists as victims, using the active voice “IDF Kills 8” were the headlines earlier), minimizing the rocket attacks on Sderot, which have been occurring since the “cease-fire” was begun, identifying Palestinian teenagers’ age when they get killed, but never doing the same for Israeli victims.

Troops killed the Palestinian teenager today in a village near Ramallah. Palestinian officials said he was throwing stones at an Israeli patrol when he was shot. The army said soldiers opened fire as the youth was about to throw a firebomb at a military jeep.

Earlier, an army task force raided the militant stronghold of Nablus, killing two Palestinian gunmen, including Amin Lubadi, a top bombmaker who had been wanted by Israel for more than three years. The army said an Israeli soldier was lightly wounded in the battle.

After weeks of relative quiet, the latest surge in violence began on Saturday, when five people were killed during Israeli arrest raids in the northern West Bank.

During those weeks of “relative quiet,” Israelis have been shot, stabbed, had rockets fired into their towns, and several suicide bombings were thwarted. But it was “relatively” “quiet.” Right.

In the Gaza Strip on Saturday, Palestinians fired a rocket at the Israeli town of Sderot, hitting a house but causing no injuries. The army subsequently attacked a car it said was carrying the attackers, killing a 37-year-old man. Palestinian officials said he was a civilian.

The Gaza truce has largely held, though militants have frequently fired rockets into Israel and have attacked Israeli patrols along the border fence. Olmert’s government has warned it will not tolerate continued rocket fire.

So, a truce that “holds” is a truce where one can attempt murder with impunity? No, a truce that “holds” is only a truce that holds during violence from the Palestinian side. When the Israeli side fights back, it “threatens the truce.”

Just for a comparison, let’s take a look at what the AP does when the Palestinians murder their own. (Or just click through to the whole post from gee, March.)

Hamas Commander Dies in Gaza Shootout
A Hamas military commander was killed Tuesday in a shootout with Fatah gunmen shortly before the leaders of the two groups met to try to bridge their differences over a power-sharing deal.

At least seven people were wounded in the gun battle in Gaza City.

Now look at another AP article:

Israeli Troops Kill 8 Palestinians
Israeli troops killed eight Palestinians, including a 17-year-old girl, in a two-day surge of fighting across the West Bank and Gaza Strip, Palestinian officials said Sunday.

The dead also included three militants traveling together in a car in the northern West Bank, and a man in Gaza killed in an Israeli airstrike in response to a Palestinian rocket attack.

The Hamas commanded “dies” when he is killed by Fatah. But Palestinians are “killed” by the IDF. The Hamas commander “was killed”—passive voice—but the Palestinians are “killed” by the IDF. Palestinian victims are always named, aged, and generally labeled as civilians by Palestinian spokesliars. The AP rarely bothers to name, age, or identify in any way Israeli victims of Palestinian attacks.

And the bias goes on. And on, and on, and on. And so will these posts.

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