kvetch
Devout UK Hindu-Jew
on israeli press one sided coverage of gaza, from the jewish news nosh:
News Summary:
The Israeli headlines read: Four IDF soldiers injured by an anti-tank missile. The Maan News Agency headline was that four civilians were killed and 25 were injured when Israeli tank shells hit a funeral tent. Following the killing of four Palestinian civilians, more rockets were launched over the fence into Israel. Reading the Israeli papers about the escalation between Gaza and Israel, one would never think that the Palestinians may be responding to Israeli killings as well as incursions into their territory. Maariv illustrates the escalation by listing four events between October 23 and November 8th in which Palestinian road mines and rockets injured Israeli soldiers. There is not a word about the killings of two civilians last week, one a 13-year-old boy, who wask killed when IDF moved forces into Gaza sparking a firefight with local militants.
But, then again, on review of today's reports and those from last week, there is almost no mention that Israeli forces ever entered Gaza. In fact, it is usually not reported, except on Maan. It is not clear to this writer, who reviews the news daily, when the IDF started making such regular incursions into the Gaza Strip. Usually the Israeli papers [evasively or unprofessionally? -OH] write "The soldiers were operating near the security fence...," when, in fact, they were operating from the Gazan side. Yedioth mentioned in today's story that the IDF jeep that was hit was indeed inside Gaza and showed it in an illustration. But there was no questioning of the issue. Maariv made no mention of where the soldiers were when they were attacked and Israel Hayom's Hebrew edition actually wrongly wrote that they were "some 150 meters inside Israel." The English edition just writes that they were "patrolling the border." It also reported that Hamas took responsibility for the fire, but did not say why.
They all write that the recent round of violence began when Palestinians fired on the soldiers' jeep on Saturday. Only Haaretz quoted Hamas' military wing saying the attack on the jeep was in retaliation for the death on Thursday of a Palestinian child by IDF fire. \ It was Maan that reported that the killing of 13-year-old Hamid Younis Abu Daqqa happened when four Israeli military vehicles briefly penetrated the southern Gaza Strip on Thursday morning, leading to clashes with Palestinian militants. "Abu Daqqa was killed on Thursday after Israeli forces targeted houses and farms east of Khan Younis, according to Ashraf al-Qidra, a medical spokesman in Gaza," Maan wrote. IDF forces also entered Gaza on Wednesday, Maan reported, noting that 'an army spokeswoman said the vehicles were conducting "routine activity" and she was not aware of the incident of tank fire. A Palestinian man was moderately injured by tank fire in central Gaza on Wednesday, a medical official said.'
There has been no examination or discussion in the Israeli media of this "routine activity." Could Israel's actions inside Gaza perhaps be provoking the Palestinians? Is Israel not responsible for escalation if it enters Gaza and clashes with local militants? If Israel considers the border with Gaza an international border and Gaza an independent entity, then what does it mean that it freely (or not so freely, in light of the response) enters Gaza for "routine (military) activity"? We know what Israel's reaction would be were the tables turned.
News Summary:
The Israeli headlines read: Four IDF soldiers injured by an anti-tank missile. The Maan News Agency headline was that four civilians were killed and 25 were injured when Israeli tank shells hit a funeral tent. Following the killing of four Palestinian civilians, more rockets were launched over the fence into Israel. Reading the Israeli papers about the escalation between Gaza and Israel, one would never think that the Palestinians may be responding to Israeli killings as well as incursions into their territory. Maariv illustrates the escalation by listing four events between October 23 and November 8th in which Palestinian road mines and rockets injured Israeli soldiers. There is not a word about the killings of two civilians last week, one a 13-year-old boy, who wask killed when IDF moved forces into Gaza sparking a firefight with local militants.
But, then again, on review of today's reports and those from last week, there is almost no mention that Israeli forces ever entered Gaza. In fact, it is usually not reported, except on Maan. It is not clear to this writer, who reviews the news daily, when the IDF started making such regular incursions into the Gaza Strip. Usually the Israeli papers [evasively or unprofessionally? -OH] write "The soldiers were operating near the security fence...," when, in fact, they were operating from the Gazan side. Yedioth mentioned in today's story that the IDF jeep that was hit was indeed inside Gaza and showed it in an illustration. But there was no questioning of the issue. Maariv made no mention of where the soldiers were when they were attacked and Israel Hayom's Hebrew edition actually wrongly wrote that they were "some 150 meters inside Israel." The English edition just writes that they were "patrolling the border." It also reported that Hamas took responsibility for the fire, but did not say why.
They all write that the recent round of violence began when Palestinians fired on the soldiers' jeep on Saturday. Only Haaretz quoted Hamas' military wing saying the attack on the jeep was in retaliation for the death on Thursday of a Palestinian child by IDF fire. \ It was Maan that reported that the killing of 13-year-old Hamid Younis Abu Daqqa happened when four Israeli military vehicles briefly penetrated the southern Gaza Strip on Thursday morning, leading to clashes with Palestinian militants. "Abu Daqqa was killed on Thursday after Israeli forces targeted houses and farms east of Khan Younis, according to Ashraf al-Qidra, a medical spokesman in Gaza," Maan wrote. IDF forces also entered Gaza on Wednesday, Maan reported, noting that 'an army spokeswoman said the vehicles were conducting "routine activity" and she was not aware of the incident of tank fire. A Palestinian man was moderately injured by tank fire in central Gaza on Wednesday, a medical official said.'
There has been no examination or discussion in the Israeli media of this "routine activity." Could Israel's actions inside Gaza perhaps be provoking the Palestinians? Is Israel not responsible for escalation if it enters Gaza and clashes with local militants? If Israel considers the border with Gaza an international border and Gaza an independent entity, then what does it mean that it freely (or not so freely, in light of the response) enters Gaza for "routine (military) activity"? We know what Israel's reaction would be were the tables turned.
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