What a difference 16 hours makes in the life of a New York Times headline about Palestinian violence.

Shortly after a Palestinian stabbed to death Israeli soldier Almog Shiloni yesterday outside a Tel Aviv train station, the straightforward headline was “Palestinian Stabs Israeli Soldier at Tel Aviv Train Station.” The headline clearly identified the perpetrator (a Palestinian), what he did (stabbed), and his victim (an Israeli soldier).

The headline in today’s International New York Times, an edition which has an earlier deadline, is consistent with the original, clear wording:

Apparently, the clear identification of a Palestinian as being responsible for a violent attack was uncomfortable for one or more Times editors.

The article’s headline now appears online as:

This is also the headline that appears in print in the domestic edition of The New York Times, which has a later deadline than the international paper.

A glance at the Newsdiff site, which tracks changes made to news headlines, reveals the striking evolution of The Times headline. A snapshot of the Newsdiff log tracking the changes is below, with the newer headlines at the top:

The first, clearer headline is active (“Palestinian stabs”), while the passive language in the newest headline (“Palestinians are suspected”) downplays Palestinian culpability. The first headline states as fact that a Palestinian was responsible for the stabbing. According to the latest version , Palestinians are only “suspected.”

In the current headline, Israelis “die,” they are not “killed,” language which again downplays Palestinian responsibility for violence.
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The official statement released by the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court:

Following a thorough legal and factual analysis of the information available, I have concluded that there is a reasonable basis to believe that war crimes under the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court (“ICC” or the “Court”) were committed on one of the vessels, the Mavi Marmara, when Israeli Defense Forces intercepted the “Gaza Freedom Flotilla” on 31 May 2010. However, after carefully assessing all relevant considerations, I have concluded that the potential case(s) likely arising from an investigation into this incident would not be of “sufficient gravity” to justify further action by the ICC. The gravity requirement is an explicit legal criteria set by the Rome Statute.

The Israeli government welcomed the decision to close the case although it expressed

reservations with respect to some of the legal reasoning and several incautious statements in the Prosecutor’s report.

For years now, Palestinians and Muslims have been attempting to erase the perception among the public of Jewish connection to the Temple Mount and to Jerusalem. Their latest attempt involves a directive from the PLO National Affairs Department to journalists directing all international media to desist from using the term “Temple Mount” and replace it instead with the term “Al Aqsa Compound”:

All international media representatives are advised to adhere to international law and correct any other existing terminology used. The Al-Aqsa Mosque compound is not a disputed territory and all other terms, therefore, are null and void.

It remains to be seen which international media outlets will dutifully follow these marching orders.

Last year, the media ignored the fact that Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh’s granddaughter was treated for a serious illness in Israel. Since then, Haniyeh’s daughter was hospitalized at Tel Aviv and his mother-in-law was treated in Jerusalem.

Similarly, the press paid no attention to the fact that Mahmoud Abbas’ wife underwent surgery in Israel even as the search was ongoing for the three Israeli teens kidnapped by terrorists and later found murdered.

And now again, the mainstream media refuses to report another story of extraordinary Israeli compassion, even for the families of the Jewish state’s most vociferous enemies. The Jewish Press reports that the sister of deputy Hamas leader Moussa Abu Marzouk is receiving medical care in Israel:

Halamiya Shecata, age 60, is currently in critical condition at an Israeli hospital where she has been treated several times before for her cancer, military sources said.

For years, the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) has allowed Palestinian Authority Arabs from Gaza, Judea and Samaria to enter Israel for humanitarian and medical reasons. Each week a list of those with special needs is approved after review of each individual case.

Family connections do not apply, claims the COGAT in speaking with media.

Only the Jewish, Israeli and some niche press outfits have covered this news.

Remember, Hamas is a terrorist group sworn to the destruction of Israel and Jews around the world. It engaged in armed conflict with the Jewish state only a few months ago, continues to fire missiles and mortars at Israel and has created a labyrinth of underground tunnels intended to launch terrorist attacks against Israeli soldiers and civilians. Further, the group’s charter states:

• “Israel will exist, and will continue to exist, until Islam abolishes it, as it abolished that which was before it.” [From the words of] The martyr, Imam Hasan al-Banna’, Allah’s mercy be upon him.

• …our fight with the Jews is very extensive and very grave, and it requires all the sincere efforts. It is a step that must be followed by further steps; it is a brigade that must be reinforced by brigades upon brigades from this vast Islamic world, until the enemies are defeated and Allah’s victory is revealed.

• The Islamic Resistance Movement is a distinct Palestinian movement that is loyal to Allah, adopts Islam as a way of life and works to raise the banner of Allah over every inch of Palestine.

• …the Islamic Resistance Movement aspires to realize the promise of Allah, no matter how long it takes. The Prophet, Allah’s prayer and peace be upon him, says: “The hour of judgment shall not come until the Muslims fight the Jews and kill them, so that the Jews hide behind trees and stones, and each tree and stone will say: ‘Oh Muslim, oh servant of Allah, there is a Jew behind me, come and kill him,’ except for the Gharqad tree, for it is the tree of the Jews.”

• In the face of the Jewish occupation of Palestine, it is necessary to raise the banner of jihad.

• “Say to the unbelievers: You will surely be defeated and gathered in Hell. Most terrible shall be your resting-place.” (Koran, 3:12)

And yet, Israel provides medical and humanitarian treatment to even the families of the terrorist leaders. What other nation does this? And… where’s the coverage?

Israel’s announcement it planned to construct new apartments in existing Jewish neighborhoods of eastern Jerusalem, building that would not displace nearby Arab residents, drew a Palestinian-Jordanian call for a U.N. Security Council “emergency meeting,” a State Department reprimand and some full-blown news coverage. One example appeared in The New York Times (“Netanyahu Expedites Plan for More Than 1,000 New Apartments in East Jerusalem,” online Oct. 27, 2014, in print the following day).

Never mind that Jerusalem has been the religious and national heart of Judaism and the Jewish people for 3,000 years, or that since reunification under Israeli control in 1967 the city’s Arab population has grown faster than its Jewish sector. New housing for Jews is controversial, and therefore newsworthy.

No so controversial or newsworthy, apparently, was Egypt’s demolition of dozens of homes by explosives and bulldozers along the Egyptian-Gaza Strip boundary. Cairo’s military government acted after Islamic extremists killed 33 soldiers at a Sinai Desert checkpoint and, according to some accounts, escaped by tunnel into Gaza.

The action reportedly signaled removal of 10,000 residents from approximately 800 houses in a few days. In mainstream news media it generally rated a news brief—when covered at all. For example, The Washington Post’s print edition (“Egypt: Army razes homes along Gaza border,” October 30) reduced a 742-word, 17-paragraph Associated Press’ dispatch and accompanying photograph (“Army blows up homes, Egyptians evacuate near Gaza,” online at The Post October 29) to 157 words and five paragraphs in print, with no picture.

Apartments for several thousand Jews in eastern Jerusalem, to be constructed as part of a years’-long process—headlines. Dynamiting and bulldozing the homes of 10,000 Egyptians so Cairo can establish a buffer zone against Islamic terrorists alleged supported from the Gaza Strip—small print and not much of it.

Where’s the coverage?

Nov. 19 Update: WSJ Responds, the Report is Correct

Today, an editor from The Wall Street Journal gave a detailed response to CAMERA’s correction request. The editor points out that this UNRWA reports cites 100,000 damaged or destroyed homes. In addition, the OCHA report that CAMERA previously cited (see below for our original, mistaken report) noted that, according to the initial assessment, 20,000 housing units, or six percent of the housing stock was damaged or destroyed. In addition, the report stated, “Current estimates indicate that 29 per cent of Gaza’s total housing stock has been affected, which is more than double the initial estimate.” CAMERA regrets the error.

Nov. 4 — In an Oct. 30 article (“100,000 Gazans still homeless as winter approaches, Says U.N.”), The Wall Street Journal overstates the United Nations’ figure for the number of homes destroyed or severely damaged this summer in Gaza by 500 percent.

The Journal reports:

In fact, the September 2014 Humanitarian Bulletin for the U.N.’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs states, “According to initial estimates, 20,000 housing units, nearly six per cent of the housing stock, were severely damaged or destroyed during the hostilities. . . ”

Stay tuned for an update about a correction.