Post scanted early coverage of Gaza fighting

The Washington Post covered the first four days of renewed Palestinian Arab in-fighting in the Gaza Strip, in which reports said at least 40 people were killed and scores more wounded, with a two-paragraph news brief (May 14), a three-paragraph news brief (May 15) and an 11-paragraph Associated Press dispatch (“Deadly Fighting Resumes Between Hamas and Fatah,” May 16).

In contrast, its smaller local rival, The Washington Times, reported on the resignation of Palestinian Authority Interior Minister Hani Kawasmeh and resumption of Hamas and Fatah clashes with a four-paragraph brief (May 14), a 16-paragraph news story by the paper’s Israel correspondent, Joshua Mitnick (“Palestinian security minister quits as clashes flare; Blames both Hamas, Fatah for lack of authority to make reforms,” May 15) and a 15-paragraph article by special contributor Ismail Rabah in Gaza City (“Hamas kills 10 in factional ambush; Escalating violence between Palestinians threatens unity government,” May 16).

On May 16, The New York Times published a 28-paragraph news report (“Palestinian Violence in Gaza Kills at Least 16”) and a 23-paragraph news analysis, “Reality Overtakes the Illusion of Unity in Gaza”), both by Steven Erlanger of the paper’s Jerusalem bureau.

Post Jerusalem bureau chief Scott Wilson was visiting the States when Hamas and Fatah resumed fighting. He filed two extensive articles on the story’s fourth- and fifth-day developments (“Gaza Fighting Intensifies, Leaving at Least 21 Dead; Israel Attacks Hamas After Rocket Strikes,” May 17) and “FatahTroops Enter Gaza With Israeli Assent; Hundreds Were Trained in Egypt Under U.S.-Backed Program to Counter Hamas,” May 18). The latter was featured on page one.

But for the first three days of renewed violence, the paper could have relied on other correspondents in the Middle East and nearby in Europe and/or more extensively on its wire services.

Illustrating Wilson’s May 17 article were two color photographs of Arabs reacting to Israeli operations in the Strip. A black-and-white photo of Israeli bomb damage accompanied the May 18 dispatch. The Post used no photos illustrating Palestinian attacks on Israel from May 13 – 18 like the Reuters picture above, although Wilson reported more than 80 rocket strikes from May 15 – 17 alone. During the fighting, terrorist attacks seriously injured two people in the town of Sderot and halted normal life there. A May 16 AP dispatch covered the rockets’ effect on Sderot in detail. Post reporting May 13 – 16 appears to be the latest example of downplaying news about Palestinian Arabs in which Israelis don’t feature as the main problem.