While Israel celebrates its 60th birthday, Palestinian refugees mourn the 1948 Nakba (catastrophe) when they lost their homeland.

Perhaps the word “refused” would be more accurate than “lost”?

Often ignored in Middle East peace talks, they cling to a “right of return”.

Ignored? They have been held up as the major issue by Arab leaders for sixty years!

Alia Shabati was 12 when she fled Jewish attacks on her village of Kabri, captured a few days after Israel’s creation….

The fate of Kabri was part of what Palestinians — and some Israeli scholars — say was systematic ethnic cleansing ordered by Zionist leaders to clear the way for the Jewish state.

Israel rejects this, saying the refugee problem resulted from a war launched by Palestinians opposed to the U.N. partition plan adopted on November 29, 1947, and by Arab states which invaded as soon as the British Mandate expired on May 15, 1948.

Notice that Reuters cannot say that any historians agree with the Israeli version of history. No, all historians in the Reuters universe agree with the “ethnic cleansing” slander – even “some Israeli scholars,” and the only people who cling to a narrative where Israel is not completely evil is the Israeli government itself.

The bias is stunning, if not unexpected.

Israel firmly opposes letting any refugees return to their original homes, on the grounds that this would effectively destroy the Jewish state by threatening its Jewish majority.

And possibly because the Arabs who left are the ones who want to see a genocide of Jews in the Middle East.

In recent years, camp conditions have worsened everywhere as UNRWA, the cash-strapped agency that helps Palestinian refugees, becomes less able to provide adequate health and education.

“Palestinian refugees now, more than at any time in the last 60 years, face a serious decline in services,” said Sayigh.

Any chance that Reuters will mention that the word “refugee” has a completely different meaning that is unique to Palestinian Arabs, that UNRWA created?

Another day, another piece of garbage masking as “journalism” from Reuters.

Whose fault is it?

AFP writes:

The UN relief agency for Palestinian refugees is to suspend its food aid distribution in Gaza on Monday because of a lack of fuel caused by the Israeli blockade, a spokesman said on Sunday.

Sounds like Israel’s fault, right?

Reuters adds a little more info:

The United Nations is set to halt delivery of humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip on Monday because its vehicles have run out of fuel, a U.N. official said. Gaza has been facing a fuel shortage because of Israeli restrictions on supplies and a strike by Palestinian fuel distributors.

Slightly better , but go down a few more paragraphs to the end of the article and all of a sudden you learn a couple of tiny, salient facts:

An Israeli official said some diesel fuel intended for Gaza’s power station had passed through on Sunday, but the transfer was halted when militants attacked the Nahal Oz fuel depot on the Israeli side of the Gaza border with mortar bombs.

The official added that as well as diesel for electricity and cooking gas, Israel was prepared to transfer petrol and diesel for vehicles but he said Gazans were not able to take delivery.

The Gaza fuel association said it went on strike to protest over Israel’s supply limits which were cut back sharply after Palestinian militants attacked the Nahal Oz depot last month killing two Israeli civilians.

One would think that Gazans, supposedly so desperate for fuel, shooting mortars at their fuel suppliers would be somewhat more newsworthy than a throwaway paragraph at the end of a story implying Israel is withholding fuel to cause a humanitarian crisis. In fact, Israel tried to send the needed amounts over and were stopped by terrorists. Shouldn’t that be made clear in the lede?

But then again, AFP and Reuters might have a little bit of an agenda.

Hundreds of flag-waving Palestinian troops took up positions in the former militant stronghold of Jenin on Saturday, part of President Mahmoud Abbas’ attempt to assert control over once lawless West Bank towns and encourage an Israeli withdrawal.

The Israeli military and Abbas sharply disagree over whether the Palestinian forces are ready to replace Israeli troops in the West Bank, the only area Abbas controls following the June 2007 violent takeover of the Gaza Strip by Hamas militants.

The West Bank city of Nablus, which several months ago became the test case for Abbas’ forces, is still raided regularly by Israeli troops searching for fugitives. Palestinian officials say such raids undermine their security forces, but Israel says Palestinian troops too often co-opt, rather than confront militants.

Jenin is the second town in which newly trained Palestinian troops were deployed in large numbers, and the city of Hebron is next.

“I hope this will be a step in the direction of restoring full (Palestinian) security jurisdiction in these areas,” said Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat. “So far this has not been done, and if the Israelis continue coming … to Nablus and Jenin, this would undermine our effort.”

About 480 officers from the National Security and the Presidential Guard, dressed in black and khaki uniforms, marched into Jenin. Thousands flocked to the town’s center to cheer on the forces, which will beef up the area’s existing force of 1,500 officers.

The deployment of the security forces is part of Palestinian commitments under the U.S.-backed “road map” peace plan. Abbas is to rein in and disarm militants, while Israel must freeze settlement expansion and remove dozens of illegal settlement outposts.

In violation of its commitment, Israel has issued construction bids for hundreds more homes in settlements since the relaunch of Israeli-Palestinian peace talks in November. It also has failed to remove the outposts. On Friday in London, the “Quartet” of Mideast mediators — the U.S., Russia, the European Union and the United Nations — again demanded that Israel halt construction.

Of course, there’s no mention of the PA’s abject failure – and refusal – to deal with palestinian terrorism. Just the apportionment of blame to Israel.

But the bias here goes even further. The report presents the PA’s deployment as a genuine attempt to “rein in and disarm militants.” Yet, as (the Left-wing) Ha’aretz reports:

The forces, some of whom received U.S.-funded training in Jordan, will focus on capturing criminals, primarily car thieves.

And while it is true that the Jerusalem Post report includes this paragraph..

PA security commanders told The Jerusalem Post that no one would be spared during the security operation, including members of Fatah’s armed wing, the Aqsa Martyrs Brigades. “Anyone who refuses to surrender his weapons will be severely punished,” they said. “No one is above the law.

..it is a photograph (ironically) from the AP itself that makes me very much doubt the willingness of the PA security forces to act against the terrorists.

A new member of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’ security forces checks his uniform in a mirror as posters showing Palestinian militants can be seen on a wall after arriving in the West Bank city of Jenin, Saturday, May 3, 2008. Hundreds of Palestinian forces took up positions in the West Bank town of Jenin, a former militant stronghold Saturday.The 480 newly trained forces with crisp uniforms and shiny weapons entered the town on Saturday. Thousands of residents flocked to the town’s center to cheer them on. (AP Photo/Mohammed Ballas)

And they sure as hell don’t look like “Wanted” posters.

Palestinians take part in a play in commemoration of Nakba Day “The Day of Catastrophe” during a rally in Gaza May 1, 2008. Palestinians will mark Nakba on May 15 as a day of mourning for the establishment of Israel after the 1948 Arab-Israeli war which led to the displacement of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians. REUTERS/Suhaib Salem (GAZA)

Apparently, the palestinians believe that in 1948, they were attacked by Zionist mafia dwarfs.

AP’s Ibrahim Barzak is now reporting Israel’s side of the story, but very skeptically:

In a statement, the military said explosives carried by the militants were detonated by an Israeli airstrike, and the blast from the explosives hit the house, not a tank shell, “and uninvolved civilians were hit.” Palestinians said the militants were at least 400 yards from the house and none of the fighters were killed near the structure.

But the most detailed Gaza based account of the events, from PCHR which blames Israel for the explosion, show that this last sentence is a lie:

At approximately 8:15, an IOF plane fired a rocket at a group of resistance members near Abdallah Azzam Mosque, southwest of Izbit Abd Rabbou, approximately 1000 meters away from the main area of the incursion. The rocket fell 10 meters away from the house of Ahmad Eid Hassan Abu Me’tiq, seriously injuring a resistance member. Less than a minute later two rockets were fired at the same area and landed at the door of the same house, killing another resistance member: Ibrahim Salem Suliman Hajouj (20). Shrapnel from the rockets destroyed the house door and spread inside the house. Meyasar Metliq Abu Me’tiq (40) and her 6 children were eating breakfast only 2 meters away from the door. The shrapnel killed four of the children immediately. The mother was seriously injured; and the other two children were moderately injured. The mother later died of her wounds. In addition, 10 bystanders were injured, some of them sustaining moderate to serious injuries.

The AP cannot do basic fact-checks to show that their Palestinian Arab sources are, simply, liars, and by quoting them credulously they make it appear that the evidence supports the Palestinian Arab story and not the Israeli version. They are doing a better job than the thousand-odd “news” stories that don’t even acknowledge Israel’s claims, but they still fail basic journalism principles.

Meanwhile, I cannot find any pictures of the house to see whether it looks like some shrapnel went through the door or if a major blast occurred right outside.

An Israeli tank shell fired during a clash with Palestinian gunmen tore into a tiny Gaza Strip home on Monday, Palestinian officials said, killing a Palestinian woman and four of her children and threatening efforts to arrange a truce between the warring sides.

No presentation of the IDF version of events, and bonus chutzpah points for mentioning Hamas’ so-called efforts to arrange a truce.

Meanwhile, Reuters are still not even reporting the IDF version.

Israeli strike kills 7 Palestinians

An Israeli tank shell slammed into a tiny Gaza Strip home Monday during a skirmish with gunmen, killing a Palestinian woman and four of her children as they prepared to sit down for breakfast, officials and relatives said.

The new violence threatened to hobble Egyptian attempts to bring a cease-fire to the area.

A militant and an unidentified man were also killed in fighting in Beit Hanoun, a northern Gaza border town Palestinian militants frequently use to fire rockets and mortars at southern Israel.

Palestinian medics identified the dead children as sisters Rudina and Hana Abu Meatak, ages 6 and 3; and their brothers 4-year-old Saleh and 15-month-old Mousad. Their mother, Miyasar, was in her late 30s. Her two older children were critically wounded in the strike, the officials said.

The Israeli military said forces entered the town early Monday after gunmen approached a border patrol. During ensuing clashes between gunmen and Israeli forces, tank shells were fired, and one struck the Abu Meatak home.

The force of the blast scattered clothes and other household items outside the two-room home. A single white children’s shoe, flattened by the explosion, lay on the ground near a blue pair of shorts covered in sand. A green baby chair also sat outside, one end bent by the force of the blast.

A large crowd of people gathered outside, milling about as rescue crews cleaned up the debris and washed away bloodstains in the sand.

“What a black day. They killed my family,” said Ahmad Abu Meatak, father of the children, wailing outside the local hospital where the bodies were taken. Abu Meatak, dressed in a traditional Arab white robe and headcovering, said he was on his way to a nearby market to shop when the tank shell hit.

Beit Hanoun farmer Omar Abdel Nabi said he was driving his tractor in a nearby field when two or three explosions shook the ground.

“People were screaming that a tank shell landed in the next street,” he told The Associated Press. “I carried two people covered in blood out of a house.”

The children were taken to a local hospital morgue, where family members stood over the bodies, wailing and flailing their hands in the air.

“I feel sick. I want to throw up the blood that is boiling inside me, into the face of the occupation,” said Ibrahim Abu Meatak, the children’s 24-year-old half-brother. He said Miyasar Meatak was fixing breakfast for the family when the tank shell struck.

Israeli officials said they were investigating the incident, but made clear that they held Gaza’s Hamas rulers responsible for the bloodshed. Israel says Hamas permits militants to carry out attacks from residential areas, putting civilians at risk when Israel strikes back.

“We see Hamas as responsible for everything that happens there, for all injuries,” Defense Minister Ehud Barak said during a tour of an Israeli weapons factory. “The army is acting, and will continue to act, against Hamas, including inside the Gaza Strip. Hamas is also responsible, by way of its activity within the civilian population, for part of the casualties among uninvolved civilians.”

The Israeli army frequently operates in the Gaza Strip against Palestinian militants, who have fired thousands of rockets into southern Israel since the Hamas militant group took control of Gaza last June. Militants claimed to have fired rockets at Israel before the Abu Meatak house was hit.

And of course the Foreign Press photographers are there to publish gruesome photos like this to expedite Israel’s conviction in the court of public opinion.

What I am not seeing in the mainstream media is this version reported in the Jerusalem Post (hat tip: Shy Guy):

The Palestinian mother and her four children who were killed Monday during IDF ops in Beit Hanun were not hit by a tank shell but rather were killed when ammunition carried by gunmen exploded, Army Radio quoted an IDF source as saying.

According to the unofficial source, the forces operating in the Gaza Strip town identified two gunmen who were carrying large bags. When the soldiers opened fire on them the bags exploded, causing the deaths of the family members.

While this does not constitute proof regarding who killed the palestinians, it certainly provides an alternative explanation worthy of investigation. And given there is doubt regarding how they were killed, the mainstream media should not be reporting their death at the hands of Israel as fact (even if they are including the important IDF explanation that Hamas terrorists are putting civilians at risk by carrying out attacks from residential areas).

Elder of Ziyon adds: As a followup to Aussie Dave’s mentioning the Jerusalem Post’s cautious tone about the source of the fire that killed the Gaza family this morning…

First of all, Beit Hanoun has been the site of numerous Qassam rockets falling short of their targets, and they have damaged many houses and killed people as well.Secondly, Israel did target and kill two terrorists 400 meters from the family home. While sometimes Israel makes mistakes and misses its targets (as apparently happened with the Reuters photographer) this is a pretty wide miss, especially in a populated area where Israel is much more careful.

More interesting is the fact that there were many mortars and rockets shot today from Gaza towards Israel.

Most intriguing is this paragraph from a Ma’an dispatch (that is missing some words in the beginning):

Palestinian fighters unleash barrage of projectiles and mortars at Israeli targets

responsibility on Monday afternoon for launching five homemade projectiles and three mortar shells at the Israeli towns of Sderot and Netiv Ha’asara and at Israeli forces invading Beit Hanoun.

Separately, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine’s (PFLP) military wing, the Abu Ali Mustafa Brigades, said their fighters fired four homemade projectiles at Sderot. They also said they shot and injured an Israeli soldier.

Moreover, the PFLP’s and Fatah’s military wings said their fighters fired mortar shells at Israeli military vehicles in the northern Gaza Strip.

For their part, Islamic Jihad’s military wing, the Al-Quds Brigades, claimed responsibility for firing five mortar shells at Israeli military vehicles in the northern Gaza Strip.

At least four terror groups are claiming responsibility for shooting rockets and mortars in the northern Gaza Strip- which is exactly where Beit Hanoun is.

Right now, the only people claiming that this was an Israeli strike are Palestinian Arabs who are known to automatically blame Israel even when they are being killed by their own fire.

At the very least, it would seem premature to assume that this was Israel’s fault at all.

Update: AP has now made changes to the headline, as well as the report itself.

4 Palestinian children, mother killed in attack in Gaza

An Israeli tank shell slammed into a tiny Gaza Strip home Monday during a skirmish with gunmen, killing a Palestinian woman and four of her children as they prepared to sit down for breakfast, Palestinian officials and relatives said.

But the Israeli military said explosives carried by militants were detonated in a clash with the Israelis and “and uninvolved civilians were hit.” Palestinians said the militants were at least 400 yards from the stricken house.

Reuters, however, is still reporting that Israel killed the children.

A Palestinian man takes down an anti-Israel Hamas poster after a rally in Gaza, March 4, 2008. Israel dismissed on Friday a Hamas proposal for a six-month Gaza Strip truce during which an embargo on the territory would be lifted, saying the Palestinian Islamists wanted to prepare for more fighting rather than peace. (Mohammed Salem/Reuters)

I think the implication of * the message our friend at Reuters is trying to convey through the picture and caption is clear – Hamas really do want a short-term peace with Israel, and are even willing to cease the anti-Israel incitement. But, alas, it is Israel dismissing Hamas’ genuine peace overtures.

U-huh.

* wording changed due to misunderstanding that I was endorsing the message of the picture and caption

As of the time of this post, the CNN front page is still representing that story with the following headline :

That’s kind of like someone reporting the discovery of one of CNN’s most popular reporters in Central Park after curfew time, with crystal meth, a rope tied around his privates and a sex toy in his car, as follows:

CNN Reporter found unharmed in Central Park

Driven by hunger brought on by Israel’s siege of the Gaza Strip, a Palestinian woman shoots in the air during a march by militants from the Al Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades, in the Balata refugee camp near the West Bank city of Nablus, in an attempt to catch fowl, Sunday, April 20, 2008. (AP Photo/Nasser Biazed)