It's been a busy few days around here, so blogging has been light. I wanted to mention a few things before I slam into full gear prep for the big party tomorrow.
Meryl has posted a very sharp and detailed critique of Reuters' extreme bias in its coverage of the war going on in Israel. The articles to which she links (here and here) are so thick with it that it's hard to pick it all up in one pass. Or two. So even if you try to read this stuff critically, some of the bias is bound to seep in. They're counting on it.
I have one additional comment because this represents a pattern with Reuters and other reporting services, as well, that's insidious. We hear in these two reports about two palestinian school children who were accidentally (though the articles don't bother to mention that) killed by Israeli gunfire. According to "witnesses" and "Palestinian security sources," anyway. We're told the names and ages of these children. Abdel-Karim Salameh, 11. And Hanin Abu Suleiman, 9. Reuters is careful to give identities, a human face, to the "victims" of the IDF. But where in the article on the attack at Othniel do we learn the names or ages of the "settlers" who were murdered there in cold blood? Nowhere, that's where. Well, here they are:
Staff-Sgt. Noam Apter, 23
Pvt. Yehuda Bamberger, 19
Tzvi Ziman, 18
Gavriel Hotev, 18.
Sgt. Apter died saving the lives of perhaps dozens of his fellow students. As Charles has so aptly put it, a true martyr. But Reuters doesn't deem him worthy of a name. He's a "settler." That tells you everything you need to know about him.
And speaking of Charles, he dropped a remark yesterday that sent chills up my spine.I fear that attacks like this one and the Bali nightclub bombing, as horrific as they are, are merely rehearsals for the main event. They’re refining their techniques, testing our defenses, learning what works and what doesn’t work.
I certainly hope he's wrong, but my gut tells me he's right.
Not a happy note to close out 2002. Nevertheless, I'm optimistic about the coming year. It's probably going to be full of bumps, potholes and detours but I think, I pray, that we'll stay the course, move in the right direction, strive onward and upward. While I can't even wish for peace in 2003, I hope that we'll do what has to be done to move toward true and lasting peace for the future. And I wish to all of you a most happy, healthy and prosperous New Year.
