Israel Matzav

Media Bias at al-Guardian (Sunday Observer)

And you thought April Fools was last week.... I started to Fisk this article, because its ridiculous headline ("Hamas in call to end suicide bombings") caught my eye. But this article is much more than a ridiculous headline - it's a prime example of the media bias that permeates much of the British press in general, and al-Guardian in particular. As you read this, keep in mind that it's a news story and not an editorial. It could have been published in Der Stumer.

Hamas is to abandon its use of suicide bombers, who have killed almost 300 Israelis, in any future confrontations with Israel, its activists have told The Observer.

The Islamic group, which leads the Palestinian Authority, says, however, that it may resort to other forms of violence if there is no progress towards Palestinian statehood.

Yihiyeh Musa, a Hamas member of the Palestinian Legislative Council, said Hamas had moved into a 'new era' which did not require suicide attacks.

'The suicide bombings happened in an exceptional period and they have now stopped,' he said. 'They came to an end as a change of belief.'

Do any of you think that al-Guardian actually believes this (the Observer is the Sunday edition of al-Guardian)? Do any of you really believe that Hamas has decided to give up suicide bombings? These are the people who tell us that it's their 'obligation' and that they 'long for death.' But read on, here comes the real media bias. This is astounding.

As Hamas toned down its rhetoric, Israel increased pressure on the Palestinians, particularly in Gaza. Two militants were killed in an airstrike near Gaza City yesterday and five men and a five-year-old boy were killed on Friday night.

Each day hundreds of artillery shells are fired by Israel at northern Gaza. Palestinian factional tension is also high and the price of commodities such as flour and sugar has more than doubled as a result of Israel closing border crossings.

Why are 'hundreds of artillery shells' fired by Israel at northern Gaza each day? Kassams? Katyushas? They don't exist in al-Guardian's world....

...

Musa said Hamas only embarked on suicide bombing campaigns as a response to extreme provocations by Israel, such as the killing of 29 Palestinians in Hebron in 1993. It had been a policy of desperation.

According to the Israeli army, since October 2000, Hamas carried out 51 suicide attacks, killing 272 Israelis. Islamic Jihad and the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade carried out 34 each, killing 98 and 80 Israelis respectively. Almost 5,000 people, mostly Palestinians, have been killed over that period.

This doesn't count all the attacks that the IDF stopped before the bombers could reach their targets. Note that 'Israel's provocation' was the act of one individual - Baruch Goldstein. From reading al-Guardian, you would think that the IDF had killed 29 'Palestinians' in Hebron. By the way, it was 1994, not 1993. And if Israel's 'provocation' occurred in 1993 why were there so many suicide bombings since October 2000????

...

Ghazi Hamed, the spokesman for the government, said in future any military action would be restricted to the Palestinian territories occupied by Israel. [Of course, in Hamas' world, everything between the Jordan River and the Meditteranean Sea is 'occupied by Israel.' CiJ]

Israel and the international community have demanded that Hamas recognise Israel and renounce violence as a precondition to normalising relations but it has so far refused.

The ascent of Hamas to political power has led its leaders to modify its positions but opinion is divided as to whether this is a fundamental change or a tactical expedient. Israel says Hamas remains true to its original aims, as stated in its charter, of destroying the state of Israel.

There's more for those with the stomach for it.

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 7:01 PM