Terror Attack in Netanya
December 05, 2005 | Aussie Dave | Comments 8
A suicide bomber has murdered 5 people, with 50 so far wounded, in a terror attack in Netanya this morning. And it could have been worse – a heck of a lot worse – if not for the quick thinking of a woman, and the courage of some guards.An eye-witness said that he spotted a man walking “like a robot” to the mall. He said that another woman who saw him shouted to the security guards at entrance to the shopping center: “Suicide bomber, suicide bomber!”The guards stopped the man and pushed him up against the wall, and nearby police officers rushed to help. At that point, the bomber detonated the explosives he had in his bag. One of the security guards was killed and the the policemen were wounded.
Some of the responses to this latest atrocity are predictable.
PA leader Mahmoud Abbas has, as usual, condemned the attack on the basis that it doesn’t serve palestinian interests. Not because murdering innocent people is immoral and evil.
The terrorists once again blame it on Israel, but cannot keep track of their lies. On one hand, a senior Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade member implied that if the attack was perpetrated by his organization, then it was retaliation for Israel’s killing of palestinians (I assume he means terrorists we have killed in the last few weeks).
“Israeli escalation and the shedding of Palestinian blood cannot occur without a response of the Palestinian resistance, at any time and in any place,” he added.
He also implied that if Israel refrained from going after terrorists, there would be no such attacks.
Abu-Mahmoud said that when the organization committed itself to the period of calm, it also stated that the calm depended on Israel’s approach, and that any Israeli violation would provoke retaliation.
However, Islamic Jihad took responsibility for the attack, claiming that these attacks would continue “as long as there is occupation.”
Imad Abu Diab, a leader of the Islamic Jihad in Tulkarm, told The Jerusalem Post that “the tahdiya (or “calm”) no longer exists and that operations against Israel will continue as long as there is occupation.
The Associated Press have, like last time, decided to portray the grief – of the suicide bomber’s family – with pictures such as this one:
The brother of Lotfi Abu Saada, 23, a suicide bomber who blew himself up Monday in the Israeli city of Netanya, is seen in the family house in the West Bank village of Illar near Tulkarem, Monday Dec. 5, 2005. Abu Saada blew himself up killing five Israelis. At left is a picture of the bomber when he was a child. (AP Photo/Nasser Ishtayeh)
Notice how AP attempt to pull at the heart strings by showing the picture of the terrorist as a small child (and mentioning this in the caption). And in case you missed it, they have a separate close-up picture.
Funny, but I don’t seem to recall the mainstream media ever running with a childhood picture of a terror victim.
Updates: Obviously not content with the extent of sympathy that could be generated from the above pictures, AP crank it up a notch, depicting more grief from the bomber’s family..
Aminah, center, the mother of Lotfi Abu Saada, 23, a suicide bomber who blew himself up Monday in the Israeli city of Netanya, and unidentified family members react at her house in the West Bank village of Illar near Tulkarem, Monday Dec. 5, 2005. Abu Saada blew himself up killing five Israelis. (AP Photo/Mohammed Ballas)
..and a close-up of the close-up of the photo of the bomber as a child.
Filed Under: General
About the Author: An Australian immigrant to Israel, Aussie Dave has been blogging since early 2003.
The consistency in showing only pictures of the terrorists’ family and never the victims’ frightens me.
Does anybody else that the victims are dehumanized when never shown? Is it easier to support the slaughter of faceless people?
I miss the “good old days” when people at least looked at the Jews they thought it was acceptable to kill.
How ’bout showing photos of the victims everytime this happens, rather than the perpetrators…
That’s the mail I just wrote to AP:
“I just wanted to let you know that your organisation is a group of anti-semitic scum. The way you cover suicide attacks against Israelis is truly disgusting, showing pictures of the suicide bomber as a child, but not showing a single picture of the victims or their families. Goebbels would be really proud of you.”
I know it won’t change a thing, but I am truly so disgusted by this shit. What’s wrong with those people? Is the whole world going insane?
Sven
Germany
Emails like that will make things worse not better. Sure there is a porblem in the media, with palestinian bias. But it is also facts on the ground. The stringers in the Palestinian controled areas are followers of the palestinian narrative, but the ones on the other side of the green line are more likely to be unbiased(but not following the Israeli narrative). This creates an imblanace.
unbias + bias = bias always
What we can do is find ways to sed pictures of the grieving victims. We don’t want to cry for the cameras an lie, but we still can find a way to get the media to focus on th real tradgedy.
Its the first time I’ve ever seen a photograph (the one of the bomber) hung on a washing line with clothes pegs.
I don’t suppose that photo of the grieving brother could be a set-up?
Nah, what am I thinking, those poor, honest, opressed peace-seeking “Palestinians” would never do a thing like that…
The German media went even further. The most important news outlet published a heartbreakting picture of a crying woman: an Israeli woman mourning. Ynet showed the same woman but with the correct subtitle: the mother of the terrorist mourning.
I published an angry post on my blog, one of my readers sent an angry email to the website, and they changed it – the picture is now simply called mourner.
http://www.tagesschau.de/aktuell/meldungen/0,1185,OID5017960_TYP6_THE_NAV_REF1_BAB,00.html
Disgusting stuff, truly disgusting.
??? HUH? I thought the world’s media was all controlled by the JOOOOS!
you mean it’s not?
The media coverage of this attack seems to have hit the new low that even I cann’t believe. Have you seen these “honest mistakes” in the headlines?
AP- Israeli Suicide Bomber Kills Five at Mall
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20051205/ap_on_re_mi_ea/israel_explosion_17;_ylt=Auqib9gAn7ssWKYPXW2VQaQUewgF;_ylu=X3oDMTA2ZGZwam4yBHNlYwNmYw
Scotsman- Five killed in Israeli suicide bomber attack
http://news.scotsman.com/international.cfm?id=2355432005
Two media sources making a mind bogglingly unlikely, identical “honest mistakes” on the same story? What is the likelyhood?
P.S. Dave, you might want to have a look at AWK’s blog, post titled “Border will follow barrier”. I’ve exposed some juicy lies of the Stop The Wall campaign there.