In one of its latest reports on the spiraling violence that has plagued Israel and the West Bank for the past year-and-a-half, the Associated Press (AP) presented an extremely skewed and misleading take on several violent incidents that have taken place over the past couple weeks.
This one-sided treatment included the AP’s discussion of a recent IDF arrest raid in Aqabat Jabar, the fatal clash between Israeli settlers and Palestinians in the village of Burqa and the attempted firing of a Palestinian rocket at a Jewish community in the West Bank.
The AP “Buries the Lede” on Aqabat Jabar Raid
In the early morning hours of August 15, undercover Israeli Border Police entered the Aqabat Jabar refugee camp to arrest a wanted Palestinian man and search his home for weapons.
During this raid, Israeli forces came under fire from Palestinian assailants. While returning fire, Israeli soldiers reportedly killed two of the assailants.
However, anyone perusing the AP would be hard-pressed to glean all this information from the wire service’s muddled report on the raid.
Terrorists opened fire on Israeli troops conducting a counterterrorism arrest operation near Jericho. Soldiers returned fire and eliminated two terrorists. The Palestinian Islamic Jihad terror group has reportedly claimed both men as members. https://t.co/vnIDueWkja
— Israel War Room (@IsraelWarRoom) August 15, 2023
First, by headlining the piece “Israeli West Bank raid kills 2 Palestinians,” readers are left with the impression that the two Palestinians killed were innocent bystanders, not gunmen who opened fire on Israeli forces.
Then, while the first and fourth paragraphs elaborate on the identities of the killed Palestinians, it is not until the fifth paragraph that readers are informed that a firefight ensued during the arrest raid. Further, the AP never even states that the two killed Palestinians were reported to have been gunmen involved in the firefight.
Lastly, throughout this whole piece, the AP never makes a single mention of the fact that Israeli forces were conducting an arrest raid when the gunfire broke out.
By burying the lede and not sharing the full context necessary to understanding what took place in Aqabat Jabar, the AP has provided their readers with a one-sided and misleading report.
It's rare that the updates @AP make to articles leave the story less accurate than before. 🧵
1️⃣ The headline still ignores that these Palestinians were gunmen and this fact has been moved from the lede to 5 paragraphs in.
2️⃣ Headline misses this was an arrest raid. https://t.co/MCtYvEG2eM pic.twitter.com/QFclcXG1ut
— HonestReporting (@HonestReporting) August 15, 2023
AP Presents Half the Story on Burqa Violence
The other focus of this piece concerns the release to house arrest of the two Jewish suspects in the shooting death of a Palestinian teen during clashes at the village of Burqa earlier this month.
In its description of the events that led up to the attack, the AP claims that “armed Israeli settlers” entered the town, setting fire to cars and shooting at local residents. It then goes on to quote the IDF as saying that the shooting happened after an altercation between local Palestinians and the settlers.
Through its description of these events, the AP makes it seem as if a band of Israeli settlers just stormed a Palestinian village and began shooting at locals willy nilly.
However, it is alleged by the army that the incident actually began when Israelis attempted to shepherd their flock near the town and clashes broke out between them and local Palestinians.
The AP knows this part of the narrative, as they have reported it in previous pieces about this incident.
By starting its report in the middle of the story, the AP has drawn a skewed picture of the events in question and has deprived its readers of the complete context.
Related Reading: It’s Time For A Fact-based Conversation About Israeli ‘Settler Violence’
West Bank Rockets: Much Ado About Nothing?
Further on in this piece, the AP reports that Israeli security forces were inspecting a recent failed rocket launch by Hamas in the northern West Bank, aimed at a Jewish community.
However, the AP then seems to dismiss the threat posed by this rocket and similar ones that were fired recently, writing that they “have been rudimentary and do not appear to have caused any damage.”
Rudimentary or not, a rocket is a rocket. The first ones to be fired from Gaza were rudimentary Qassam rockets and they were still responsible for several Israeli deaths over time.
As a large proportion of Israel’s population lives within a short distance from the Green Line, the AP should not be so dismissive of the threat that West Bank terror groups with rocket capabilities (no matter how rudimentary) pose to Israeli civilian centers on both sides of the Green Line now and in the future.
As at least one rocket has been aimed as far as the northern city of Afula, this threat to Israeli civilians is not a theoretical idea but a very relevant reality.
3️⃣ Rockets are still rockets and shouldn’t be taken lightly. pic.twitter.com/5hv96fmaOo
— HonestReporting (@HonestReporting) August 15, 2023
The AP: Legitimizing Palestinian Terrorism?
Near the end of this piece, the AP writes in regard to Palestinian terror attacks, “The Palestinians see the violence as a natural response to 56 years of occupation, including stepped-up settlement construction by Israel’s government and increased violence by Jewish settlers.”
By uncritically citing the Palestinian justification for terrorism, the AP is essentially legitimizing it in the eyes of its readers.
Over the past year, terror attacks targeting Israeli civilians have taken place outside a Jerusalem synagogue, on busy Tel Aviv streets, at bustling restaurants in the communities of Eli and Maaleh Adumim and on Jordan Valley highways.
For the AP, does the “occupation,” the building of settlements or settler violence justify these indiscriminate and deadly attacks?
5️⃣ Such a sentence seems to be justifying terror attacks, including those against Israelis in pre-1967 Israel.
All attacks against innocent civilians, including those committed by settlers in the West Bank, remain absolutely abhorrent and unjustifiable. pic.twitter.com/CBa0IlLQWo
— HonestReporting (@HonestReporting) August 15, 2023
Is Israel Solely Responsible for “Fueling Tensions”?
According to the AP, Israeli counter-terror raids in the West Bank are “fueling tensions in the region and sending the death toll soaring.”
Despite the article mentioning ongoing Palestinian terrorism and an “uptick” in the firing of West Bank-based rockets, only Israel is accused of “fueling tensions in the region.”
It appears that for the AP, Palestinian violence and terrorism seemingly have no effect on the deterioration of the situation in the region while Israel’s efforts to protect its civilians and put a stop to anti-Israel terror attacks are solely responsible for exacerbating the regional discord.
Such a framing of the situation is not only dangerously misleading, it also rewards those who provoke violence while punishing those who are trying to put a stop to it.
4️⃣ Only Israel is accused of “fueling tensions.”
Why is ongoing Palestinian terrorism and violence not treated the same way? pic.twitter.com/NTkdoD1mHy
— HonestReporting (@HonestReporting) August 15, 2023
By burying the lede, failing to report the full story and downplaying Palestinian terrorism, the Associated Press has neglected to maintain its journalistic integrity and has also done a disservice to the many readers who turn to it for a comprehensive account of what is happening in Israel and the West Bank.
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Photo Credit: Ahmad Hasaballah via Getty Images
