AND ON AND ON IT GOES...: There was another suicide bombing today, this time in Jerusalem; as of now 9 are dead and at least 40 wounded. Oddly, the New York Times describes this attack with a neutral headline: "At Least 9 Die as Suicide Bomber Hits Bus in Jerusalem." As opposed to yesterday's strike by Israel against the leader of Hamas, which the same paper described in a headline as "Israeli Attack Wounds Top Hamas Aide in Blow to Peace Bid." Trying (unsuccessfully) to kill an admitted terror bigwig is a "blow to peace," yet blowing up a busful of civilians somehow isn't? When Hamas last week walked away from peace talks at the same time Ariel Sharon was using the word "occupation" and talking about dismantling settlements?
The Star Tribune's headline of the AP story this morning is even worse: "Roadblock to Peace: Israel, Palestinians Trade Deadly Attacks." The "deadly attack" perpetrated by Israel "killed two Hamas officials." The bus bombing in Jerusalem wasn't aimed at Israeli officials, or even soldiers: it was civilians and only civilians.
The Israel side isn't perfect; I don't pretend that they are. But the way many parts of the US media have covered today's already sickening events has been sickening in and of itself.
Another note about the Times: now, I know that website story headlines aren't written by top editors, and probably not by the reporters either. But you may remember that the major complaints about the Times' not-fair-to-Israel tilt started in the mid-late '90s, when Joseph Lelyveld was Executive Editor. Now that he's all of a sudden back in charge, it's happening again. Coincidence?