Israelis have just suffered at least three terror attacks in under 24 hours. Details are still coming in, but here’s what we know so far:
- In the predawn hours of Thursday morning, an as-yet-unidentified assailant rammed his car into a group of Golani Brigade soldiers standing outside Jerusalem’s First Station, a popular entertainment hub. The troops were visiting Jerusalem ahead of an early morning swearing-in ceremony at the Western Wall. Twelve soldiers were injured in the attack, one of them seriously and the rest lightly. Nine have already been released from the hospital. The severely wounded serviceman sustained injuries throughout this body and underwent surgery. The terrorist’s car, which had Israeli license plates, was found abandoned in the Palestinian village of Beit Jala outside of Bethlehem.
- A Border Police officer was lightly injured in a shooting attack in the Old City of Jerusalem, outside the Temple Mount near the Lions Gate. The assailant, who was shot and killed by responding security personnel, was identified as an Arab Israeli from Haifa in his 40s who recently converted from Christianity to Islam.
- A drive-by shooting attack along a West Bank highway near the Dolev settlement. One soldier was lightly injured.
Join the fight for Israel’s fair coverage in the news
It took time for the foreign press to catch up with the day’s Israeli media reports . When the Associated Press eventually published an article, it began with the words:
Israeli forces killed two Palestinians…
Reuters began with the phrase:
At least two Palestinians were killed and 16 Israelis hurt…
They did not clarify that the Palestinians who had been killed were reportedly carrying out acts of violence when they were shot: at least one was in the act of throwing a Molotov cocktail at Israeli troops.
An AFP article was constructed similarly to the AP and Reuters stories.
As these are wire services, we expect to see their coverage echoed by many news outlets throughout the world in the coming hours.
Is this normal? Is it appropriate? Is it too soon to expect meaningful and properly researched coverage?
No.
Just in recent weeks alone, stories of attacks from Streatham, London to Burkina Faso saw almost immediate international coverage that emphasized the horrific impact of terrorism on innocent civilians.
Yet even though the attacks against Israelis are being widely covered in Israeli and Jewish press, and even though all of the relevant information has been widely available throughout the day, the international press has said very little, and what it has said has been horribly misleading. This stands stands in stark contrast to coverage of other terror attacks around the world.
Why does this matter? Because without proper context, it is impossible for news readers, international leaders, or even journalists themselves to understand events as they unfold.
For example:
- Last Tuesday the White House announced its long awaited peace plan to widespread criticism in the international press, in particular with respect to its provisions for Israeli security and demilitarization of a Palestinian state.
- Later that same day, a furious President Abbas gave the green light to a Palestinian national “day of rage,” which expressed itself on Wednesday in the form of riots, burning tires, and rocket-fire from Gaza into Israeli communities.
- The events of Wednesday’s rage gradually escalated over the hours: and now, on Thursday, Israelis are being rushed to hospitals as a result of car rammings and shootings.
- The next step, which almost always escapes the attention of the international press, is that the Palestinian government will pay the attackers and their families a cash reward: in amounts equal to several times the average Palestinian income, for the rest of their lives. We know this will happen because it is required by Palestinian law: it’s called the “Martyrs Fund” and often referred to as “Pay for Slay.“
Anyone who truly cares about peace, about understanding the world or even about the most basic fundamentals of ethical journalism, absolutely must have access to this information, to this context and to the full story.
As I write this, our entire team at HonestReporting is working furiously to get the message out to the public, and to encourage international press stationed in Israel to live up to their professional obligations and cover this critical story.
Watch this space.
