Soccer Dad

Deadly in gaza

From Israel Allows Some Palestinians to Leave Gaza
By Scott Wilson
Washington Post Foreign Service
Thursday, June 21, 2007; Page A12

Hamas's quick military conquest has split the Palestinian Authority -- a provisional government established 13 years ago under an agreement with Israel -- and further divided two territories envisioned as the cornerstones of a future Palestinian state. Israel seized the West Bank and Gaza during the 1967 Middle East war. It eventually evacuated Israeli settlements and soldiers from Gaza in the fall of 2005.

Would it not be objective to rewrite this paragraph:

Hamas's seizure of Gaza has split the Palestinian Authority -- a provisional government established 13 years ago under an agreement with Israel -- and further divided two territories envisioned as the cornerstones of a future Palestinian state. Israel quickly conquered the West Bank and Gaza during the 1967 Middle East war. It eventually evacuated Israeli settlements and soldiers from Gaza in the fall of 2005.

Wilson also wrote:

The fighting Wednesday near the city of Khan Younis killed five Palestinians, including two from the armed Islamic movement Hamas, which controls the government and security services in Gaza after defeating rival Fatah forces last week. Israeli troops in the West Bank killed two more Palestinian gunmen, making the day one of the deadliest in months of conflict between Israel and Islamic groups in the territories.

Let's see if I get this. Israeli soldiers kill two terrorists in a gunfight and Wilson describes it as the "deadliest" day "in months of conflict between Israel and Islamic groups." Last week the Palestinians killed 160 of their own in a single week. I wonder if Wilson described as the "deadliest" week.

The answer is that a search reveals that Wilson never describes Palestinian violence as "deadliest," but two reporters from AP did.

Deadly Fighting Resumes Between Hamas and Fatah

By Ibrahim Barzak and Karin Laub
Associated Press
Wednesday, May 16, 2007; Page A11

In the deadliest battle Tuesday, Hamas gunmen fired rockets, rocket-propelled grenades and mortar rounds early in the day at a training base for Fatah forces guarding the Karni cargo crossing with Israel.

Order Settles in Gaza, but Fears Persist

By DIAA HADID
The Associated Press
Wednesday, June 20, 2007; 7:08 PM

Tensions still remain high between Palestinian militants and Israel, as well. Israel fired missiles and sent tanks into Gaza on Wednesday, killing four Palestinians in the deadliest military action since Hamas militants took control. The Palestinians hit back with a barrage of rockets at the southern Israeli town of Sderot, slightly wounding two Israelis.

I thought the choice of "deadliest" was unusual given that the same paragraph noted that five Palestinians had been killed in internecine violence. Hadid, also uses deadliest to describe fighting between Israel and terrorists but adds four to the death toll that Wilson had not reported on.

One final note on the article:

Scores of Palestinians remain caught at the Erez crossing, which has been almost entirely destroyed by looters since Hamas's takeover. Many of those at the crossing live in the West Bank but have been unable to return home because Israel has kept crossings effectively closed.

Looting? I thought that Hamas was the party of effective government.

gaza, israel, hamas, media bias.