I fear this post will turn into a roll call of excuses for a most brutal and revolting deed. Put any more you find in the comments, I’ll add them.
First up, the UK’s former Senior Minister at the Foreign Office, Baroness Warsi. I’m not sure what intimidation on Har Habyait, the Temple Mount, she’s referring too because all the people I know who’ve been up there recently were greeted with screams of Allah Huakbar and vociferous abuse from Muslims. Regardless: intimidation is not the same as shooting and stabbing people to death while they prayed.
Update 12:03: In a closed group on Facebook, Greta Berlin has replied to me with Palestinian claims that the Arab bus driver who was found hanged in his bus yesterday was murdered. Every reputable News source is reporting it as a suicide.
Update 12:18: Naftali Bennet on BBC News holds up a picture of one of the Jews murdered while praying. Listen to the anchor’s reaction:
Update 12:43: A few of the more despicable media reactions. Honest reporting has this major caption fail from CNN:
Update 12:50: More from twitter. Avi Mayer reporting excuses from Greek Orthodox Archbishop Theodosios:
Update 12:56: in FrontPage Mag, Daniel Greenfield links to some of the many celebratory Palestinian tweets. I won’t embed because many show pictures. Quite a few call the murdered Jews “settlers” of course.
Update 13:08: looks like the UK’s ITV News has found the relatives of today’s terrorists. Here come the excuses.
And of course, it wouldn’t be a terrorist atrocity without the passing out of sweets among the majority of moderate, peace seeking, Palestinians.
Update 13:15: This is a bit of a conundrum: Jon Williams, the foreign editor for ABC in New York has tweeted out that there has never been an attack inside a synagogue. There have, of course, been attacks on other places of worship and including Yeshivot (plural for Yeshiva). A Yeshiva is a place specifically for studying religion. It’s very much splitting of hairs to say a Synagogue has never been attacked.
There have been a couple right outside (the one on Motzash in Geulah/Mea Shearim); Park Hotel bombing was during a seder; Merkaz HaRav shooting was in a yeshiva.
Update 13:38: Jonathan Sacerdoti is watching the BBC in London
Jeremy Bowen, BBC News: “Yes it’s a horrendous attack of course you know I’ve seen pictures from the scene with meat cleavers used and four dead, it’s er, it’s a ghastly scene, but…”
BBC’s Jeremy Bowen thinks it important to mention “a Palestinian bus driver killed yesterday as well.”
So far most news sources have reported this as a suicide. He was found hanged in his own bus, and the post mortem which declared it suicide was carried out with Palestinian representation present.
Update 14:43: I guess we should point out what Hamas are sending out to their followers.
Update 15:00: From the Reuters correspondent in Palestine/Israel (note the word order) Noah Browning comes this side by side comparison of burning the Koran with the slaughtering of praying Jews (I guess some books were harmed in the murdering of these people). Stay classy Reuters.
Update 15:18 (Aussie Dave): More of this:
Update 15:24 (Aussie Dave): Abumination does not disappoint:
Violence today shows that Israel’s policy of terror, land theft, collective punishment & mass murder of children can never bring “security.”
— Ali Abunimah (@AliAbunimah) November 18, 2014
Update 17:00 (Aussie Dave): I am not sure if this was deliberate, but this Dutch Reporter uploadeded his report of the events in the category ‘Comedy’ on Youtube, and, despite being informed of this, has not changed it over 4 hours later.
Update 21:55 (Aussie Dave): New shameful reactions posted here.
