In the hills of Israel, it's just another day in the Middle East

Stephen Flatow’s 20-year old daughter was murdered by an Iran-inspired ‘Palestinian’ terrorist attack in a 1995 bombing in Israel. Since then, Flatow has gone on the offensive. He sued Iran for its support of the terror attack that killed his daughter--and won.  He has worked with the US government to find banks that have supported terror. 

He also writes about terrorism--often.  Here’s a recent essay of his, “Another Day, Another Attempt to Burn Jews Alive”, jns, March 29, 2017. It's worth your time.

I’ve edited/rewritten the essay to fit my format. You can read the original at jns.org:

“On March 23, 2017, four Palestinians tried to burn some Israeli Jews to death. It was just another day in the Middle East.

The four attackers drove up to the perimeter of the Jewish community of Beit El, situated in the hills of Israel north of Jerusalem. They began hurling firebombs toward homes there.

It was just another day in the Middle East.

A firebomb, also known as a Molotov cocktail, is of course a deadly weapon. It explodes on impact and unleashes a torrent of flames. We can all easily imagine what would have happened if those firebombs had struck people or homes in that Jewish community.

Fortunately, Israeli soldiers immediately fired at the would-be murderers, killing one and wounding three others. It was just another day in the Middle East.

That should be the end of the story. But it wasn't. Here's why. The fact that a Palestinian died, while no Israelis were burned to death, meant that many news outlets portrayed the attacker as the victim. This is in accordance with the theory that the Arab who dies in an anti-Israel attack must be the victim and the Jew who kills him must be the aggressor. (Good thing the media didn't use that measuring stick during World War II!)

Consider, for example, the story as presented by AFP, a major supplier of international news. Here's how it began: "Israeli troops shot dead a Palestinian teenager Thursday in the occupied West Bank and seriously wounded three other Palestinians, the Palestinian health ministry said in a statement."

Since a significant number of readers don't get past the first paragraph of a news article, the opening sentence is crucial. This opening sentence strongly suggests that the Israelis killed a Palestinian teenager, and injured three others, for no reason. 

Here's how the AFP story explained the broader context: "A wave of violence that broke out in October 2015 has claimed the lives of 257 Palestinians, 40 Israelis, two Americans, one Jordanian, an Eritrean, and a Sudanese national, according to an AFP count." Notice how the violence just "broke out," like a mysterious illness with no obvious culprit.

Here's something else that few in the mainstream media will report: the Palestinian Authority (PA) immediately endorsed the terrorists who tried to burn Jews alive.

It was just another day in the Middle East.

According to the Palestinian news agency Ma'an, the governor of de facto PA capital Ramallah, Laila Ghanam, called the dead terrorist "a martyr." She also tried to spread some fake news, declaring that the gang of four "had been driving peacefully" when cruel Israelis attacked them. "This is another crime," the PA governor proclaimed. She also said "we wish a quick recovery" to the three wounded terrorists, presumably so they can resume trying to set Jews on fire.

You won't read Ghanam's remarks in The Washington Post or hear them quoted on CNN. That would remind the American public that Palestinian leaders support burning Jews to death--and publicly lie to cover for would-be killers.  That must never be revealed because it would undermine the campaign to give the firebomb-throwers a sovereign state--in Israel's backyard.

This was just another day in the Middle East. ‘Palestinians’ tried yet again to kill Jews, the PA lied about the attackers—and the media misrepresented the attack.