Ceasefire, broken so soon – and how it is reported in the media

Damage caused by Grad missile in Netivot

A truce was declared last night between Israel and the various terrorist factions in Gaza, yet as seen after every round of fighting, the terrorists broke the ceasefire very shortly after its announcement.

A Grad rocket (Grads are similar if not identical to Katyushas, much more deadly and with greater range than Kassams) exploded in the parking lot of a residential building in Netivot, injuring one man and putting another 11 into shock. The IAF returned fire after which the situation seems to have quietened down.

A rocket fired from the Gaza Strip exploded in a parking lot in Netivot on Tuesday hours after the introduction of a truce between Israel and Palestinian terror groups. A man was lightly hurt by shrapnel and 20 people suffered from anxiety.

Most of them were taken to the Soroka Medical Center in Beersheba. Rescue forces said it was a miracle there were no serious injuries. Damage was caused to several vehicles and an apartment building.

The IDF Spokesperson’s Unit said Israeli aircraft attacked two terror hubs in north Gaza overnight Wednesday in retaliation for the rocket fire.

Since I complain so often about international media bias against Israel, especially when the chronology of events is reversed, I was upset to see our very own center-right media committing the same “sin”.

The Jerusalem Post’s headline reads “Despite cease-fire: IAF hits Gaza after rocket in Netivot“. Technically the headline is correct, but first impressions always count the most, and seeing the words “IAF hits Gaza” leaves the erroneous impression that they were the aggressors. It woudl not have harmed the JPost’s headline writers to state “Despite ceasefire, rocket launched at Netivot; IAF hits Gaza”.

Similarly I was disappointed to see the Times of Israel’s story headlined “Israeli air force hits two terror targets in Gaza” even though it had a sub-heading reading “Despite ceasefire, several rockets landed in Israel on Tuesday”.  Again, as with the JPost, the headline writers should have taken care to make the right impression with the first impression.

Davka Haaretz, the extremely leftist-oriented Israeli paper, had an accurate heading “Gaza militants fire rocket at Israeli town, despite truce“. Although I am not keen (to put it mildly) at the use of the word militant instead of “terrorist” the chronology expressed in the title is accurate.

Similarly, Ynet had a suitable headline with “Rocket hits Netivot parking lot; IDF strikes in Gaza“.

How can we expect the world media to correct its bias if we don’t pay attention to our own?

http://anneinpt.wordpress.com/2012/03/14/ceasefire-broken-so-soon-and-how-it-is-reported-in-the-media/