Within seconds, Jerusalemites were thrown back to the dark days of the Second Intifada, the wave of Palestinian suicide attacks that killed over 1,000 Israelis in the early 2000s.
Just after 7 AM, as rush hour got underway in the capital, a bomb went off at a bus stop near Jerusalem’s western entrance. Soon after, another explosion rocked the neighborhood of Ramot.
Hospital officials told local media that there are at least 23 victims, including one person who was killed. The fatality was identified as 16-year-old Aryeh Shechopek, an Israeli-Canadian student studying at a Jewish religious school in the Jerusalem hills. Several others remain in critical or serious condition.
Authorities believe the two terror attacks were carried out with near-identical, “high quality” explosive devices that were detonated remotely. The bombs were reportedly packed with nails, ball bearings, and other shrapnel to cause maximum damage.
A child. pic.twitter.com/of8iegbNe2
— Anna Ahronheim (@AAhronheim) November 23, 2022
The Hamas terrorist organization praised the perpetrators, calling the bombing a “heroic operation” while threatening more bloodshed. Iranian proxy Islamic Jihad likewise issued a statement in support of “the strikes of our people’s resistance.” Both groups stopped short of claiming responsibility, leading Israel to suspect an independent cell planned the attack.
In response, Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank distributed candies in celebration of what they called “Jerusalem’s World Cup.”
For months, Israel has been coping with a wave of deadly Palestinian violence: since the March 22 attack in Beersheba, 28 Israelis have been murdered in shooting and stabbing attacks throughout the country. Yet Wednesday’s attacks marked the first bombing in Jerusalem since April 2016, security sources reportedly said, raising fears of further escalation.
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How the Media Covered the Attacks
Reuters claimed that the terror attacks were somehow linked to “unauthorized Jewish worshippers at the Al Aqsa mosque complex.” Notably, the outlet’s take on events echoed Hamas’ statement, which blamed Israeli “crimes and aggression against our people and the Al Aqsa Mosque.”
Two terror attacks in Jerusalem this morning and @Reuters believes it is linked to "unauthorized Jewish worshippers at the Al Aqsa mosque complex." https://t.co/MEUvAMfdeB
Seriously? pic.twitter.com/IK8j8aL65T
— HonestReporting (@HonestReporting) November 23, 2022
(UPDATE: Reuters has responded to our tweet by removing the offending paragraph.)
Associated Press consistently spoke of “suspected attacks by Palestinians” and referred to the “apparent attacks,” blatantly ignoring the fact that the Israeli Police had already confirmed, before the publication of the AP story, that both explosions were, in fact, set off by terrorists. In the same story, the AP falsely asserted that the northern Jerusalem community of Ramot is a “settlement.”
.@AP got it right the first time when it referred to Ramot as a "neighborhood" in Jerusalem's north. So why did it later change its copy to a "settlement" in the city? pic.twitter.com/JeqzApFRgy
— HonestReporting (@HonestReporting) November 23, 2022
The New York Times, for its part, told its readers that the bombings were “the first bomb attacks on Israeli civilians since 2016.” In a widely-shared tweet, HonestReporting reminded the “newspaper of record” that 17-year-old Rina Shnerb was murdered in a bomb attack near Dolev in 2019.
No @nytimes, this was not the first bomb attack on Israeli civilians since 2016. 17-year-old Rina Shnerb was murdered in a bomb attack near Dolev in 2019. https://t.co/bLFWO5Sw33
Or do you not count her as an Israeli civilian because the attack happened over the Green Line? pic.twitter.com/ktTYijIFNA
— HonestReporting (@HonestReporting) November 23, 2022
(UPDATE: Within hours of receiving our complaint, The New York Times removed the erroneous reference in its sub-header.)
In an attempt to contextualize the murder of Aryeh Shechopek, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported that “violence has flared this year, particularly in the occupied West Bank, where the Israeli army has launched near-daily raids since a series of deadly attacks on Israeli targets earlier this year.” [Emphasis added.] Apparently, AFP regards the innocent civilians slaughtered in malls and bars as “targets.”
"Israeli targets."
This is how @AFP describes innocent civilians murdered and injured by Palestinian terrorists. https://t.co/p6g1eF1vRT pic.twitter.com/Q5D1npBpfn
— HonestReporting (@HonestReporting) November 23, 2022
As Palestinian terrorists continue to spread death and destruction in their quest to destroy the world’s only Jewish state and annihilate its 9.5 million citizens, it is imperative that journalists around the world accurately convey the facts on the ground.
HonestReporting has requested that Reuters, the AP, The New York Times, and AFP update their articles to reflect the truth. We also encourage our subscribers to monitor their local media for imbalanced reporting and notify us of anti-Israel bias. Together, we will make sure that media outlets are held to account.
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Featured Image: Mostafa Alkharouf/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
