Today's main
New York Times article on Israel's massacre of Gazan demonstrators - the lead front-page story in the print edition - is a masterpiece of deceit. The article, by David Halbfinger, employs the time tested tools of distortion, including classic Orientalism, dueling narratives, one-sided use of sources, and hiding the perpetrators behind passive sentences, topped off by outright dishonesty.
The distortion starts in the first sentence. "Across the Gaza Strip on Monday morning, loudspeakers on minarets urged Palestinians to rush the fence bordering Israel. . ." An Orientalist gem, insinuating that Gazan protesters are motivated by religious primitivism, instead of Israel's crushing blockade and regular armed attacks.
". . where they [the Gazans] were met by army snipers."
"Met" is hardly the appropriate word here, especially after another
Times correspondent, Declan Walsh, has
already described how far off Israeli snipers shot a woman in the stomach right in front of him on Sunday night.
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