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Hundreds of Hamas Rockets Go Missing for Australian Broadcaster

UPDATE The article referred to in this critique has been amended and now states: “Hamas militants have fired more than 200 rockets into Israel.” * * * The Australian Broadcasting Corporation likes numbers and statistics. It tells…

Simon Plosker
July 9, 2014
12:00 am

Reading time: < 1 minutes

UPDATE

The article referred to in this critique has been amended and now states: “Hamas militants have fired more than 200 rockets into Israel.”

* * *

The Australian Broadcasting Corporation likes numbers and statistics. It tells us that 20 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli air strikes. It tells us that Israel has carried out over 120 strikes. It also tells us:

At least five rockets fired from Gaza were shot down over Tel Aviv by Israel’s Iron Dome defence system, army radio reported.

But what’s missing from the rest of the story?

How about the hundreds of rockets fired from Gaza (some 500 since 2014 began) that led to this military operation?

A reader lacking in background may conclude that with the number of rockets in single digits and clearly harmless, having been shot down, the danger is negligible.

How could ABC leave out possibly the most important and vital statistic of the lot?

[sc:graybox ]You can contact ABC News Online here.

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Tags: ABC, air strikes, Australia, Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Distorting facts, Gaza, Hamas, IDF, Operation Protective Edge, rockets, selective omission, success

Simon Plosker

With over two decades of experience in various non-governmental organizations in the UK and Israel, Simon Plosker returned to HonestReporting in October 2022 as Editorial Director having previously been part of the organization’s management team from 2005 to 2020. Prior to his first spell at HonestReporting, Simon worked in Israel for NGO Monitor, BICOM, and served for a short period in the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit. He was Managing Editor of the Geneva-based NGO United Nations Watch for two years before moving back to the frontline defending Israel from media bias. Simon has a BSoc.Sc in International Studies and Political Science from the University of Birmingham and an MSc in History of International Relations from the London School of Economics. He immigrated to Israel in 2001 from London.

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