In CNN Headline on Jerusalem Terror, Integrity is Another Casualty
As another Palestinian terrorist brutally cuts short the lives of innocent Israeli civilians going about their daily lives — in this case, the victims were Jewish worshippers carrying out their morning prayers in a busy synagogue — yet another major news source publishes a headline casting the murderers as the victims.
Last month, when a Palestinian driver slammed his vehicle into a crowd of pedestrians, killing two, the initial AP headline was:
Similarly, following the brutal terror attack this morning in which two armed terrorists massacred worshippers in their prayer shawls and phylacteries in the Jerusalem neighborhood of Har Nof, the initial headline was:
Shortly later, the relatively improved headline was:
The headline’s passive language, however, still fails to note that Palestinians killed the Israelis.
The New York Times, too, is displaying its usual skittishness about headlines clearly stating Palestinians carried out violence.
Perhaps maybe the roof caved in due to a structural flaw? Or maybe there was a gas leak? The casual reader who only skims headlines is missing the two critical elements a headline is supposed to convey: who (Palestinians) and what (killed).
Of course, Times headlines are not always so oblique about violence in the Israeli-Palestinian context. For instance, last week the paper’s clear headline was:
And so The Times’ double standard lives on through yet another Palestinian attack against Israeli civilians. Palestinians kill, and The New York Times’ obscures.
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