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NY Times reports source of UNRWA school attack is unclear even though Israel said they did it

Blood and and discarded belongings are left behind at a U.N. school in Beit Hanoun, in the northern Gaza Strip, Thursday, July 24, 2014. Israeli tank shells hit the compound, killing more than a dozen people and wounding dozens more who were seeking shelter from fierce clashes on the streets outside, Palestinian officials said, as Israel pressed forward with its 17-day war. (AP Photo/Adel Hana)
Blood and and discarded belongings are left behind at a U.N. school in Beit Hanoun, in the northern Gaza Strip, Thursday, July 24, 2014. Israeli tank shells hit the compound, killing more than a dozen people and wounding dozens more who were seeking shelter from fierce clashes on the streets outside, Palestinian officials said, as Israel pressed forward with its 17-day war. (AP Photo/Adel Hana)

The New York Times‘ Ben Hubbard and Jodi Rudoren report on yesterday’s attack on an UNRWA school in Gaza that killed at least 15 people. They write:

The source of the blasts was unclear, setting off recriminations between Israelis and Palestinians over which side was responsible. People in the school reported three to five blasts and accused Israel of shelling them. Israel suggested that rockets fired by militants might have fallen short of their targets or that the school might have been hit with errant shells from either side in fighting nearby. The United Nations said it could not confirm the source of the blasts.

Oddly enough however the Israeli military had already taken responsibility for the attack:

Huh? The Guardian is on the story:

The Israeli military first claimed, in a text sent to journalists, that the school could have been hit by Hamas missiles that fell short. Later, a series of tweets from the Israel Defence Forces appeared to confirm the deaths were the result of an Israeli strike. “Today Hamas continued firing from Beit Hanoun. The IDF responded by targeting the source of the fire.”

NBC’s Richard Engel tweeted that Israel’s original narrative that Hamas missiles struck the school just didn’t make sense:

And yet Hubbard and Rudoren repeated the Israeli account verbatim.  Media critic Greg Mitchell calls it “a disgraceful day for the ‘Paper Of Record’.”

Even odder, New York Times Jerusalem bureau chief Jodi Rudoren seems to think that readers should pay less attention to what is happening in Gaza – which is her beat! Yesterday she tweeted out this Atlantic article by Jeffrey Goldberg titled “Obsessing About Gaza, Ignoring Syria (and Most Everything Else)”:

(h/t Nancy Kricorian)

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Jodi, Queen of Hasbara and Whataboutery!

I want to thank MW for watching the NYT so I don’t have to.

Jodi rudoren get a job, defending war crimes doesnt fit you.
And get a haircut.

take a look at the times editorial suggesting that the source of the attacks on the UN school have not been determined yet. it has been over 24 hour hours and the facts of the attack have been reported widely in media around the world. the times has decided to cover up a blatant war crime.

Headlines on front-page lead story in today’s print Washington Post: 16 killed in strike on U.N.-run school in Gaza: MASSIVE PROTESTS FOLLOW IN WEST BANK: Israelis suggest Hamas could be responsible:

Not until the second and third paragraphs of the story is any doubt cast on the Israeli blaming of Hamas:

The question now is who did it.

A senior Israeli military spokesman, Lt. Col. Peter Lerner, said Thursday night that “there was a possibility” shells from Israeli forces­ struck the U.N.-run school in the Gaza Strip. But he also suggested that Hamas mortars or rockets could have been responsible. The Israeli army was investigating the incident “to see what exactly caused the deaths and injuries,” he said.

The misleading subheadline is missing from the story on line.

i saw that tweet of hers yesterday so i checked out the link. that has got to be one of the all time worst goldberg articles i have ever read (and that’s saying a lot). the sheer desperation in the messaging is beyond pale. seriously, if this is all they’ve got, the publishers need to rethink having people like goldberg provide coverage. and for her to be tweeting it, i started to respond to her…and then just didn’t. i mean what is there to say to someone tweeting such inane links. it’s really mindboggling.