So what's in the news motzei Shabbos? On Friday, seven innocent Palestinians were accidentally killed, apparently by Israeli forces who were attempting to fire on Kassam-rocket-launching sites in Gaza. The Palestinians killed included women and children, five members of the same family ... at a picnic on the beach.
It is a terrible thing, and all hell has broken loose because of it.
Missed Opportunity Thousands of Palestinians attend a demonstration at the Palestinian Parliament in Gaza City, Friday, June 9, 2006 following an Israeli artillery strike that killed seven civilians in the Gaza Strip.... (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)
Abu Mazen (Fatah) has called it a "despicable massacre" and Hamas has ended their supposed truce (termed by DEBKA, a "16-month semi-lull"). Both are no doubt greatly relieved that attention has shifted away from their own "factional violence."
The liberal media, apparently aligned with Palestinian interests, is relishing the story. A headline at the Times (UK) is a good example: Babies die as artillery barrage hits families on picnic beach.
The Kansas City Star headlines an AP report (by Sarah El Deeb) this way: After beach shelling, anguish.
I think one of the biggest problems with the media - aside from their deep and widespread anti-Israel bias and their equally deep and widespread conspicuous compassion for Palestinians - is that they consider themselves players in the unfolding of events (as indeed they are but should not be), leading to these oddly inappropriate situations: CNN, itself broadcasting said footage, reports that
News footage of disconsolate 7-year-old Huda Ghalya, who survived the killing of her family, reverberated across the globe. She, her mother, father and three siblings were having a beach picnic at the time.(Note that the CNN headline puts Olmert's 'regret' in quote marks....)
ABC News, itself part of the feeding frenzy, says "10-year-old Girl Who Lost Family at Picnic Becomes Symbol of Palestinian Mourning."
BEIT LAHIYA, Gaza Strip Jun 11, 2006 (AP)— Pounding on the sand, Houda Ghalia shrieked for her father after he was killed with five of her siblings at a seaside picnic by what Palestinians said was an Israeli shell.How did the girl become such a "symbol"? Well, by the media making her one, of course.Footage of the 10-year-old screaming "Father! Father!" has played over and over again on television, driving home the devastating impact of what Palestinian leaders are calling "genocidal" and "a war crime."
One of the only members of her family to emerge unscathed, Houda was left questioning her fate.
"What have I done wrong that I should have to live without my parents?" the girl asked AP Television News, surrounded by teary-eyed female relatives dressed in black.
Did Daniel Wultz become a "symbol"? Danielle Shefi? The Ohayon boys? I challenge anyone to find a mainstream media source (outside of Israel) that has mentioned the "anguish" suffered by David Hatuel. Not only did these Jews not become symbols, hardly anyone has ever even heard of them.
The "news" has devolved into self-fulfilling leftist anti-Israel prophecy. I could write this script with my eyes closed: Israel is apologizing all over the place and has promised a full investigation. The U.S. State Department has called for restraint. Kofi Annan is "deeply disturbed." The Arab League calls it "terrorism." The Muslim Brotherhood calls it a "massacre" and is quoted extensively by the MSM in the process.
Here's a new twist, however, I would not have known to include in my script:
In Tel Aviv, around 100 Israeli pacifists gathered at the house of the army chief of staff, Lieutenant General Dan Halutz, shouting "murderer".Among the demonstrators was Dana Olmert, the daughter of Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, one of the organisers said, adding she left when she saw she was being photographed.
Just watch, one day Dana Olmert could be the new Media Symbol. I wouldn't be at all surprised.
Posted by: J. Lichty | Monday, 12 June 2006 at 11:42 AM