It’s hard to believe, but the CBS News story, filed from Jerusalem, describing a bloody event in which three Arabs pulled out knives, pipe bombs and sub-machine guns and critically injured two Israeli policewomen, one of whom later died, was given the headline: “3 Palestinians Killed as daily violence grinds on” (The editors at CBS have since shamed into changing the headline into the begrudging, “Palestinians kill Israeli officer, wound another before being killed.”). There wasn’t even a mention in the headline of the fact that, just before those three Palestinian victims of Israeli brutality went to pick up their 216 virgins, they spread untold terrorism in a central Jerusalem street with many civilians, Jews and Arabs, walking to and fro.
The story itself does acknowledge that, according to the version of Israel’s police, allegedly, those three young Palestinians were carrying automatic weapons, explosive devices and knives, and were shot dead after one of them opened fire and wounded the two officers.
Even the Palestinian news agency Ma’an’s headline was more honest: “3 Palestinians shot dead after Jerusalem attack wounds 2 Israeli officers.” They only neglected to mention they were women officers.
The grotesque CBS News headline was probably posted over in NY City and not by the reporter on the ground in Jerusalem. It is part of the western media’s attempt to remain “impartial” and offer a “balanced” reporting, which is why the violence that’s “grinding on” is not pinned squarely on those three murderous terrorists, but the blame is somehow divided between them and the anonymous officers who asked them to show their ID, on account of the funny bulges under their jackets.
Back in August 2011, the NY Times ran the immortal “Casualties on both sides as Israel and Gaza trade fire,” pinning equal blame on the Gazans who started the skirmish and the Israelis who defended themselves.
These headlines are filed under the epic “It all started when Israel retaliated.” No one knows who coined it, but it describes accurately Israel’s chances for a fair hearing.
H/T Amichai Stein