There’s a story on page A8 of today’s New York Times out of the occupied territories: “Two Israeli Men Are Attacked, and One Killed, Near Settlement in the West Bank.” A Palestinian reportedly flagged down a car in the West Bank then shot the men inside, two hikers. Israel’s president and education minister are quoting condemning the attack.
The Times should report this killing, but I have three problems.
1. Does the Times report every killing of a Palestinian, complete with commentary from outraged Palestinians? My impression is no, but I think we (meaning me, you, and others) should start keeping track, or look back at recent months and compare what the Times does when a Palestinian kills an Israeli vs when Israelis kill Palestinians.
2. The Times goes back to the history of last summer’s violence and as usual, they treat it as though the violence started with the killing of the Israeli teens.
Its timing was a grim reminder of the kidnapping and killing of three Jewish teenagers last June in the West Bank, which unleashed tensions that culminated in a seven-week war between Israel and Hamas, the Islamic militant group, in Gaza.
Actually there were earlier shootings of Palestinians, on Nakba Day, May 16, 2014, but they don’t count, because the Times adopts the Israeli narrative, that cycles of violence only begin when Palestinians kill Israelis.
3. There are no comments from readers on this article. I suspect this is a policy now–there used to be comments on many Israel/Palestine articles. Increasingly this is not the case.
One only has to read Kate’s compilations to see that there are nearly daily violations of the “ceasefire” by Israel. Their “cycles of violence” have never ended since the beginning! From her agonizing list today, there is this:
…”There have been a number of attacks by Palestinians on Israeli military and civilians over the last year, largely in the wake of Israeli activities across the occupied Palestinian Territories, including last summer’s offensive on Gaza which left more than 2,200 Palestinians dead. An average of two Israeli civilians per week have sustained injuries by Palestinians so far in 2015, with one Israeli killed, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. In the same time period, an average of 39 Palestinians have been injured by Israeli forces per week and 13 killed, two of whom were killed since the beginning of this month. The number does not include incidents of injury by Israeli settlers on Palestinians in the West Bank.” – See more at: https://mondoweiss.mystagingwebsite.com/2015/06/military-responsibility-israeli#sthash.Nw1kNgPf.dpuf
and this:
“Palestinian bravery vs. the Israeli army Haaretz 17 June by Amira Hass — Had it not been for the cameras, the eyewitness reports about the armed soldiers who beat a Palestinian protester would have been dubbed as dubious ‘allegations.’ — The mistake made by the armed soldiers from the Netzah Yehuda battalion was that they allowed cameras to document their bestiality and cowardice while attacking a brave Palestinian civilian, armed with a visor cap and T-shirt, last Friday. For this error, their commanders punished them this week by meting out negligible disciplinary punishments. Their commanders couldn’t punish them for their crude assault, their loss of control, their arrogance or their abuse; you don’t punish a person for something that is the social norm, as well as a metaphor for the balance of power between Israel and the Palestinians … ” – See more at: https://mondoweiss.mystagingwebsite.com/2015/06/military-responsibility-israeli#sthash.Nw1kNgPf.dpuf
( the entire article is well worth your time!)
As for your question: “Does the Times report every killing of a Palestinian, complete with commentary from outraged Palestinians?”
I could only guess that you were employing irony, because clearly the answer is heck NO! Hadid did not allege that the suspect was a “terrorist”, but:
“Hamas praised the attack but did not claim responsibility for it, Israeli media reported. The military spokeswoman, speaking on the condition of anonymity under standard protocol, said the army had not yet determined if the killer acted alone or on behalf of a terrorist organization, because he had not been apprehended.
Israeli leaders condemned the attack. “We will not accept a situation in which a young hiker has his life taken from him in the land of Israel because he is Jewish,” President Reuven Rivlin said in comments on his Facebook page. “The murderous attack that occurred today is another step in the quiet and serious escalation in acts of terrorism we have witnessed in recent months.”
Israel’s education minister, Naftali Bennett, of the hawkish Jewish Home party, accused Palestinian society of promoting “murder and terror.”
“At a time when the world is busy boycotting Jews, the Palestinians are busy killing them,” he said in a statement.”
PS~ Rivlin, it was not “in the land of Israel”. Bennett is obnoxious, as usual.
…”Friday’s terror attack took place near the Ein Buvin spring, close to the settlement of Dolev in the Ramallah area. Visits to the spring by Israelis need to be coordinated with the Israeli army, which provides security if the visit is approved, according to an Israel Defense Forces officer in the Judea and Samaria Division who briefed reporters. He said that the two men did not coordinate the visit.” … – See more at: https://mondoweiss.mystagingwebsite.com/2015/06/military-responsibility-israeli#sthash.4Fw5ipHo.dpuf
Thanks, Donald. (Something smells, imho)
“Israeli leaders condemned the attack. “We will not accept a situation in which a young hiker has his life taken from him in the land of Israel because he is Jewish,”
No . it is not in the land of Israel .Or is it because he is Jewish.It might have something to do with his being an illegal squatter living on stolen land , not that that makes his killing ok but if you play with fire , you just might get burned.
War criminal bennett had no problems killing Palestinians because they are Palestinians living in their own land.This particular zionist should be in irons at the Hague and receive a long sentence so he can no longer harm Palestinians because they are not Jewish.
It seems to be generally (who is that general, I wonder) that any attacks against civilian settlers in occupied territories is to be counted as criminal. I’m not that sure. The Nuremberg and related sentences, or the reactions to postwar measures against such German settlers in WW2 occupied lands were not so unequivocal.
This story isnt hanging together. the hikers were supposed to coordinate visits to the spring with the IDF. They didn’t. They said they stopped for a Palestinian hitchhiker. That just doesn’t happen these days. mayber 20 years ago. Feels like a drug hit.
Every informed person, including journalists, knows that Hitler’s war against the Jews began as retaliation against the Jews of the
Warsaw Ghetto for shooting at their Nazi occupiers.