New York Times Headline Fail: Palestinians “Suspected” in Terror Attacks

Two separate terror attacks took place in Israel on Monday. In the first, IDF soldier Almog Shiloni, 20, was fatally stabbed near a Tel Aviv train station by Nablus resident Nur al-Din Abu Hashiyeh. Later, 26-year-old Dalia Lemkus was stabbed to death outside of the Gush Etzion community of Alon Shvut by Islamic Jihad affiliated Maher Hamdi al-Hashalmoun from Hebron.

In both cases, the perpetrators were quickly apprehended and there is ample CCTV footage from both incidents to see exactly what occurred.

The New York Times posted the story of both attacks on its website with the following headline that referred to “Palestinian Attacks”:

Later, however, the New York Times updated its headline, presumably to reflect that Almog Shiloni had succumbed to his injuries. This is what now appears online and in the newspaper’s print edition:

At what point was Palestinian responsibility downgraded? When did the perpetrators become “suspected”? This headline is more understandable as an immediate reaction to unconfirmed breaking news. But the New York Times consciously amended its original headline after it became crystal clear that these were beyond any shadow of doubt, Palestinian terror attacks.

In addition, the statement that the Israelis “Die[d] in Knife Attacks” effectively reduces the impact of the incidents. The Israelis did not simply die. They were viciously murdered by Palestinian terrorists.

[sc:graybox ]You can ask the New York Times why it deliberately chose this headline by writing to Margaret Sullivan, the public editor – [email protected]