The media’s disproportionate focus on the death of one US citizen caught in Israeli-Palestinian crossfire suggests that in the eyes of the press, some American lives matter more than others.
Thursday marks one year since the tragic death of Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh during an IDF raid in the terror hotbed of Jenin. An extensive internal inquiry, released on September 5, 2022, concluded that Israeli forces probably fired the deadly shot, but that there was no indication troops intentionally targeted the Al Jazeera reporter, who obtained a US passport through family on her mother’s side.
After the months-long probe, which included interviews with those involved and the review of visual material, the IDF Military Advocate General determined that “soldiers only aimed fire at those who were identified as armed terrorists during the incident.” The Biden Administration, following an independent and “extremely detailed” forensic analysis monitored by the US Security Coordinator, has supported these findings, reiterating last week that Abu Akleh died “due to incredibly tragic circumstances.”
Despite the clear consensus between Jerusalem and Washington on the issue, and Israel’s immediate willingness to conduct a joint investigation with the Palestinian Authority (PA), the press launched an all-out assault against the Jewish state. Case in point: Since May 11, 2022, prominent US news outlets have produced over 650 articles about the tragic incident in the West Bank, with some going as far as to accuse Israel of “murdering” Abu Akleh.
Sadly, these same media organizations have all too often buried the cold-blooded murders of US citizens by PA-abetted terrorists, exposing a nauseating double standard. This article tells the stories of six innocent Americans whose brutal killings you probably haven’t heard about.
Matthew Eisenfeld and Sara Duker (1996)
Matthew Eisenfeld, 25, a native of West Hartford, Connecticut, and his fiancee Sara Duker, 22, of Teaneck, New Jersey, were traveling on a crowded bus in Jerusalem’s city center when suicide bomber Majdi Abu Wardeh set off his 22-pound explosives vest. The February 25, 1996 attack killed 26 people, including the two students, and wounded 80 others.
Hamas, the US-designated terrorist group which would take control of the Gaza Strip in 2007, soon claimed responsibility for the bombing, which was reportedly masterminded by Iranian-trained Hamas operative Hassan Salamah and Mohammed Deif, who now serves as the supreme commander of the organization’s Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades.
However, in his 2014 book “The Bus on Jaffa Road: A Story of Middle East Terrorism and the Search for Justice,” Mike Kelly corroborates claims that Yasser Arafat, who led the Palestinian Authority until his death in 2004, was also aware of Deif’s plans. According to the New Jersey journalist, Arafat had warned UN special envoy Terje Rød Larsen to “stay away” from Jerusalem. “Arafat’s message to stay away from Jerusalem on the day the Number 18 bus was attacked bothered Larsen greatly,” Kelly wrote, clarifying: “Larsen knew Arafat often spoke in cryptic ways–not always explaining clearly what was on his mind but nevertheless sending signals.”
Moreover, six years ago, the Palestinian Authority’s ruling Fatah faction praised Hassan Salamah, who is serving 46 life sentences in an Israeli jail, as a “heroic prisoner.”
While a federal judge ruled in 2000 that the Islamic Republic of Iran was liable for sponsoring the attack that killed the young American couple, and awarded their relatives $327 in damages, justice remains elusive. Successive US administrations have stalled the families’ efforts to collect Iranian government-owned assets.
On this #YomHazikaron, I pay tribute to my friend Matthew Eisenfeld and his fiancee Sarah Duker, murdered in a palestinian bus bombing over 23 years ago. May their memories always be for a blessing pic.twitter.com/m7hEdT3et2
— (((David Lange))) (@Israellycool) May 7, 2019
John Branchizio, John Linde and Mark Parsons (2003)
On October 15, 2003, a Palestinian roadside bomb targeted a US embassy convoy in the northern Gaza Strip. Security contractors John Eric Branchizio, John Martin Linde, Jr., and Mark Parsons were killed in the blast, and a fourth diplomat sustained injuries. According to then Secretary of State Colin Powell, the team was on a “mission of peace” and had planned to “interview Palestinians for Fulbright scholarships to study or teach in the United States.”
In a subsequent statement, President George W. Bush accused the Palestinian Authority of having failed to thwart the bombing by the Popular Resistance Committee. “Palestinian authorities should have acted long ago to fight terror in all its forms,” he said, adding: “There must be an empowered prime minister who controls all Palestinian security forces, reforms that continue to be blocked by Yasser Arafat.”
Although the Palestinian leadership condemned the attack “against the peace process and against Palestinian national interests,” the PA did not follow up on its pledge to bring the perpetrators to justice. In fact, immediately following the incident, reporters photographed Palestinian police officers standing by as bystanders celebrated the attack and roamed the crime scene while destroying critical evidence.
After initial suspects were acquitted because of a “lack of evidence,” the head of military intelligence in Gaza told a journalist in 2004 that, though he knew the identity of the terrorists, they would not be arrested. “Clashing with any Palestinian party under the presence of occupation is an issue that will present many problems for us,” Musa Arafat said, declaring that “the Americans have started recently to understand our position.”
Besides offering a $5 million reward for information on the case through the Rewards for Justice program and banning US officials from traveling to the Gaza Strip, Washington has taken little meaningful action to punish the Palestinian Authority for protecting the terrorists that murdered three American diplomats. “While I am sickened by this deplorable act, I am surprised that for too long our State Department and the Palestinian Authority have done little to bring the murderers of these Americans to justice,” Florida Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen stated in 2007.
🧵How Palestinians covered up a murder of Americans
Oct 15, 2003 – 3 American diplomatic personnel – John Branchizio, 37, John Linde, 30, and Mark T. Parson, 31, were killed in the Gaza Strip when a massive bomb demolished a convoy carrying U.S. diplomats.
1/ pic.twitter.com/hN82NQZm7O— Adin – עדין (@AdinHaykin1) March 17, 2022
Ezra Schwartz (2015)
Amid the 2015-2016 “Stabbing Intifada,” which at least partially was sparked by PA chief Mahmoud Abbas’ incitement over “filthy” Jewish feet that were allegedly “desecrating” Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa Mosque, a Palestinian terrorist on November 19, 2015, opened fire at vehicles in a traffic jam near Alon Shvut, south of the capital city.
The submachine attack killed Ezra Schwartz, 18, of Sharon, Massachusetts, who had been asleep in a taxi van and was resting his head on the window. Schwartz, a student at a religious school in Beit Shemesh, had come to Israel as part of a nine-month program and was on his way to volunteer in the area. The other fatal casualties were Yaakov Don, 51, from Alon Shvut (formerly of Toronto), and Shadi Zuhdi Ratib Arafa, a Palestinian resident of Hebron.
Hamas member Mohammed Abdel Basset al-Kharoub was swiftly captured by Israeli security forces and sentenced to four life terms. Yet the PA, as part of its ‘pay-for-slay” policy that doles out “salaries” to Palestinian terrorists, has rewarded Schwartz’s killer with tens and thousands of dollars. Over time, Al-Kharoub’s monthly allowance will rise to NIS 12,000 (almost $3,300).
In the 12 months after his murder, US media outlets published a mere 19 articles about Ezra Schwartz.
Today (19/11) 5 yrs ago a Palestinian terrorist murdered Yaakov Don, an Israeli school teacher & Ezra Schwartz, a US citizen studying in Israel.
As part of the PA's #Payforslay policy, @CFR_org @RichardEngel, today the terrorist gets a 100% rise in salary from 2,000 – 4,000 NIS. https://t.co/14wTUGbQOz pic.twitter.com/MNqEzfApW5— Maurice Hirsch, Adv. 🇮🇱 עו''ד מוריס הירש (@MauriceHirsch4) November 19, 2020
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Featured Image: Meir Azulai / Yedioth Aharonoth / AFP via Getty Images
