(Note: This post was corrected on March 14, 2016. CAMERA, relying on a report from Israel National News, erred in saying that Peace Now’s General Director, Yariv Oppenheimer, criticized terror victim Yonatan Azarihab for defending himself. In fact, Oppenheimer was criticizing those who, after Azarihab neutralized the Palestinian terrorist, killed him. CAMERA regrets the error)

The head of Peace Now, an Israel-based organization that repeatedly has opposed the policies of the Israeli government, has condemned Israeli responders to a Palestinian terror attack for committing an “extrajudicial” killing by shooting the terrorist.

Yariv Oppenheimer, the head of the organization, accused Israelis responding to the scene of an attack in Petach Tikva on March 8, 2016 of “executing” the terrorist without trial.

Eleven persons were wounded in terror attacks that day in Jaffa and Petach Tikva. The Jaffa attacks took the life of tourist and U.S. Army veteran Taylor Force, 29, a graduate student at Vanderbilt University.

During the assault in Petach Tikva, one of the victims, Yonatan Azarihab fought back. After being stabbed in the neck, the Israeli removed the knife from his own body and then used it to stab the terrorist who reportedly had set about to find other victims.

According to Israel National News (Artuz Sheva), Oppenheimer took to the social media platform, Twitter, claiming Israeli responders executed the terrorist:

“This is how it goes [,] from neutralizing terrorist to execution without trial.”

Contrary to numerous instances of poor and biased anti-Israel media coverage (for a list of some examples, see “Wave of Palestinian Violence Accompanied by Spate of Bad Writing, ”CAMERA, Oct. 14, 2015), Oppenheimer claimed “in the present atmosphere, no one in the media dares to report and deal with the issue.” Perhaps this is because in reality the “issue” of Israeli extrajudicial killings as covered by news media has been minimal, unlike the wave of Palestinian Arabs wantonly trying to murder Israelis.

CAMERA has previously noted (“Israeli Court: Peace Now Lied, Must Pay Now,” Dec. 23, 2008) Peace Now’s credibility problem. Among other instances, the advocacy group falsely claimed that “a large proportion of the settlements built on the West Bank are built on privately owned Palestinian land,” including 86.4 percent of the Jewish community of Ma’ale Adumim and 35.5 percent of Ariel. After repeatedly refusing to address concerns with these numbers raised by CAMERA and others, the group was forced to admit that only 0.54 percent of Ma’ale Adumim’s land was privately owned by Palestinian Arabs—an error of nearly 16,000 percent.

In 2008, a similar failure by the group to admit another false claim regarding Israeli settlements and Palestinian-owned property led to a successful libel suit, in which Peace Now and some staffers were ordered to compensate aggrieved parties and to issue public apologies.

Despite this court decision, some media outlets still treat Peace Now as an unquestionably credible source, failing to provide details of the group’s history to their readers (see, for example, “Post-Watch: Washington Post Discredits Itself on Israel,” CAMERA, Dec. 9, 2011).

If Peace Now can document extrajudicial killings of terrorists already incapacitated by would-be victims, passers-by or police or other members of security forces, it should detail the evidence, not take to 140-character tweets.

Munir Kakish, President of the Council of Evangelical Churches in the Holy Land (Photos: Dexter Van Zile)

The Christ at the Checkpoint Conference concluded today, March 10, 2016. The stated goal of the conference was to give Christians the information they needed to address religious extremism as it relates to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

The conference, which is organized by Bethlehem Bible College, a non-denominational Christian institution of higher learning in the West Bank, got off to a rough start.

Invitees said some things that they shouldn’t have during the opening night of the conference, Monday, March 7, 2016.

For example, the Christian mayor of Beit Jala, where the conference was held, compared Israel to ISIS. That’s not a good way to establish the credibility of Palestinian Christian leaders in the West Bank.

Also, an official from the Palestinian Authority (who spoke in Arabic) used conference director Rev. Dr. Munther Isaac as a puppet to tell the audience that the Palestinians have embraced the principle of coexistence, a tough thing to believe in the midst of a five-month stabbing spree that has cost dozens of Israelis their lives.

That’s not all. A prominent Palestinian Evangelical leader said explicitly what many people believed all along: Palestinian Evangelical churches are dedicated to the cause of anti-Zionism.

Yes, that’s what he said.
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Yukiya Amano, head of the United Nations’ International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) admitted on March 7, 2016 that the Iran nuclear deal limits public reporting on potential violations by Tehran.

The IAEA is tasked with ensuring Iranian compliance with the agreement between six countries—Germany, the United Kingdom, France, Russia, China, the United States—and Iran over the latter’s purported illegal nuclear weapons program.

According to The Washington Free Beacon, an online newspaper, Amano “told reporters that his agency is no longer permitted to release details about Iran’s nuclear program and compliance with the deal (“IAEA: Iran Nuke Deal Limits Public Reporting on Possible Violations,” March 7, 2016).” Amano made his remarks after questions arose about the February IAEA oversight report not being transparent.

The IAEA head stated that the report was purposefully vague because the nuclear agreement prevents the watchdog from publishing critical data about the Iranian program that had been disclosed previously.

National Review Online noted that this is the result of a Dec. 15, 2015 IAEA Board of Governors resolution that directed the agency to “cease reporting on Iran’s compliance with its Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty obligations and past Security Council resolutions (“In Yet Another Secret Side Deal, Iran’s Nuclear Violations Won’t Be Publicly Disclosed,” March 9, 2016).” The magazine notes that this also means that the possible military dimensions of the nuclear program no longer will be publicized by the IAEA—despite a December 2 report that “raised several serious unresolved questions about Iran’s nuclear weapons-related activities.”

The February IAEA report did not provide information about Iran’s stockpiles of low-enriched uranium or Iran’s nuclear centrifuges, the machines responsible for enriching uranium.
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Yahoo News carried reports from both the Associated Press (AP) and Reuters on the fatal stabbing of American West Point graduate and combat veteran, Taylor Force.

The AP report included the following discussion of the official Palestinian response:

Biden criticized the Palestinians for failing to condemn the stabbing, after Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’ political party posted a statement online praising the stabber.

A statement from Abbas’ office following his meeting with Biden on Wednesday night said Abbas offered his condolences for the American’s death, but stressed that Israel has killed nearly 200 Palestinians during the current round of bloodshed.

The Reuters report included the following:

“Let me say in no uncertain terms, the United States of America condemns these acts and condemns the failure to condemn these acts,” Biden said, with Netanyahu at his side, in remarks that appeared critical of Palestinian leaders.

Palestinian leaders say many Palestinian attackers have acted out of desperation in the absence of movement towards creation of an independent state. Israel says they are being incited to violence by their leaders and on social media…

Abbas expressed his condolences over Force’s death, according to the official Palestinian news agency WAFA, and said the establishment of a Palestinian state was key to ending the violence.

Notice that Reuters employs obtuse wording that fails to clearly convey that Vice President Joe Biden’s remarks were directed at the Palestinian leadership for failing to condemn the murder and the Reuters report makes no mention at all of the ruling Fatah party’s praise for the stabber.

It seems whenever there is a rise in Palestinian terrorism, there is a concomitant rise in bad headlines attempting to reverse the roles of victim and perpetrator.

Yesterday, we told you that New Zealand TV originally headlined an AP story about three of the day’s terror attacks against Israelis perpetrated by Palestinians as follows:

But as soon as we contacted them about the problematic headline, they immediately amended it to the more accurate:

The International Business Times similarly weighed in with a role reversing headline and an article that erroneously minimized Palestinian aggression. The original IBT headline:

The article by Priyanka Mogul downplayed Palestinian violence by erroneously stating that

The attempted stabbings by Palestinians and shootings by Israeli forces occurred hours before US president Joe Biden arrived in Israel.

Contrary to her statement Palestinians did not just “attempt” to stab Israelis, nor was it only Israeli forces who “shot” with guns. Palestinians critically injured Israelis with guns and seriously wounded Israelis and murdered an American tourist by stabbing them.

We contacted the editors at the International Business Times, pointing out that their headline and article distort the news even as they claim to be “a trusted source of real-time news, intelligence and analysis.” The story and headline were subsequently updated to accurately reflect the facts. The headline now reads:

And the article now accurately relays the facts and identifies the perpetrator in the lede paragraph as follows:

An American tourist was killed and several others wounded in a series of attacks by Palestinians targeting civilians as well as Israeli security forces. The incidents took place on 8 March in Jerusalem’s Old City, in Jaffa, south of Tel Aviv and in the central city of Petah Tikvah, Israeli police said. Three Palestinians attackers were shot dead by Israeli security forces.

The Knoxville News provided a brief biography of the American graduate student, Taylor Force, who was murdered in Jaffa, Israel by a Palestinian terrorist. The article’s lead sentence stated, “A West Point graduate who served tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan was the Vanderbilt University student stabbed to death during a series of attacks in Israel, officials said.” It also provided a photograph of Force (above).

A Reuters article identified Force as the victim of the attack, but offered no information except that he was a “tourist.”

The Huffington Post, relying upon the Reuters report supplied no further information.

An Associated Press (AP) report appearing on Yahoo News identified Force as a graduate student at Vanderbilt, but did not mention his military service or that he was a graduate of West Point.

National Public Radio had not covered the tragic murder at all at the time this blog item was posted.

PBS’s Gwen Ifill reported “In the day’s other news: An American tourist was killed and a dozen Israelis wounded in a fresh wave of Palestinian attacks. The tourist, identified as a Vanderbilt University student, died in Jaffa, where an assailant stabbed seven people, before being killed by police.”

Evidencing a disturbing detachment from the shocking incident, the Newshour proceded with an interview by Judy Woodruff of New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman about Vice President Biden’s trip to Israel. After briefly noting the stabbing attack, the interview moved on and never mentioned it again. Friedman demonstrated exquisite poor timing with an analogy about the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, stating,

It’s actually been dead for a while. I just called it by its real name. It’s clear to me, Judy, that both sides have conspired. This was like “Murder on the Orient Express.” There were so many stab wounds in this body, hard to tell exactly which one was the fatal blow.

Friedman closed the interview with his oft-repeated and tired analogy, “friends don’t let friends drive drunk, and we have been letting a lot of people drive drunk.”

In contrast, CBS News ran a segment providing information about Force, his military service and a photograph.

The BBC report identified Force as a Vanderbilt graduate student but did not mention his military service or that he was a graduate of West Point.

A USA Today report provided the information that Force was a graduate student at Vanderbuilt and that he was a graduate of West Point who had served as an Artillery officer in Iraq.

The International Business Times published a report at approximately the same time as the other sources listed above identifying Force as a veteran of both Iraq and Afghanistan and also noting that a pregnant woman was among the other seriously injured victims of the stabbing attack. The article included a photograph of Force.

London’s Daily Mail carried the most extensive report on the incident. Its coverage included photographs of Force and his sister. Force’s wife was also seriously injured in the attack. It included numerous photographs and video footage of the attack.

None of the early reports appear to have included statements by Fatah, the ruling party in the West Bank, praising the attacker as a hero and martyr. A New York Times article published around 9:00 AM on March 9, quotes Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as stating, “But unfortunately President Abbas has not only refused to condemn these terrorist attacks, his Fatah party actually praised the murderer of this American citizen as a Palestinian martyr and a hero.” The Washington Post also reported on Abbas’s praise for the attack. It will be interesting to observe which, if any, of the above-mentioned sources will provide updated articles with this information.

Like CNN, The Los Angeles Times opts for the passive voice in a headline about the murder of American tourist Taylor Force, obscuring Palestinian culpability for violence. In print, today’s headline is:

Similarly, the online version reads:

Both of the headlines are in passive voice and neither identifies the Palestinian assailant who murdered Taylor Force on a peaceful street.

Now, let’s compare with a recent case involving a Palestinian fatality. After two Israeli soldiers last week took a wrong turn into a Palestinian refugee camp, and residents pelted their vehicle with firebombs and rocks, forcing them to flee for their lives, the Israeli army sent in troops to rescue them. Residents battled the troops trying to save the soldiers, and in the course of the violent clash, there was one Palestinian casualty, Iyad Sajadiyya.

When it comes to a Palestinian killed as he participated in a gun battle, does The Los Angeles Times resort to the passive voice, as it did in the case of Force’s murder? Hardly. The Times’ headline in print was:

Here, Times headline writers find the active voice. If they can write “Israelis kill Palestinian” (even though the killed Palestinian was involved in clashes with Israeli troops trying to rescue soldiers at the time he was killed), why can’t they say a “Palestinian killed U.S. tourist”?
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Yet again, CNN obscures the identity of another Palestinian attacker. Yesterday evening, Bashar Masalha, a 22-year-old Palestinian from the northern West Bank, went on a stabbing spree in the mixed Arab-Jewish city of Jaffa, killing Taylor Force, and wounding several more. As of this writing, CNN’s headline about the attack is: “American fatally stabbed in Israel terror attack that wounds 10 others.”

The headline, in passive voice, fails to identify who stabbed the American, a key piece of information about the incident which was readily available. According to the time stamp, the post was last updated at 6:38 am GMT today. Some 12 hours before then, Israel police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld had already confirmed that the attacker was Palestinian.

In addition, the accompanying article buries the essential bit of information — who carried out the attack — in the 17th paragraph. The relatively few readers who make it that far learn:

Israeli police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld tweeted that the attacker, a Palestinian from the West Bank, was fatally shot by police.

Then, incredibly, several paragraphs later, CNN explains that Israeli authorities blame Palestinians for a spate of terror attacks, as if it isn’t actually certain that Palestinians are responsible for the spate of terror attacks.

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Nicola Khamis, the mayor of Bethlehem (pictured above), took full advantage of his shot at stardom two nights ago. Khamis gave one of the obligatory welcoming speeches on the opening night of the Christ at the Checkpoint Conference that is currently taking place in the Bethlehem suburb where he serves as mayor.

This guy makes Mayor Quimby from The Simpson’s look like an honest politician. During his speech in the ball room of the newly opened Orient Palace (which by the way, is a pretty nice hotel!), Khamis laid on thick and nasty, telling his listeners that the Israeli occupation is reducing Beit Jala, a town where BMWs and Mercedes line the streets, to “starvation.” Really.
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A condolence letter from Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas to the family of a terrorist killed trying to run over Jews expresses “great sorrow and deep anguish.”

According to the Middle East Media Research Institute (MERI), a non-profit organization that translates Arab and Persian media, Abbas sent the letter on March 6, 2016 to the family of Amani Hosni Jawad Al-Sabatin. Two days before, on March 4, Sabatin was killed after she attempted a car-ramming attack against a group of Israeli soldiers at Gush Etzion junction, just south of Jerusalem.

In his letter, Abbas—who has frequently been referred to by press and policymakers as a “moderate”—calls the deceased terrorist a “martyr who quenched the land of Palestine with her pure soul.” After expressing his sorrow and anguish, the PA leader states:

“I beseech Allah the Exalted and the Omnipotent to bestow upon this martyr His many mercies, and may she rest in Paradise. May Allah fill your heart with forbearance and consolation.”

This was not the first instance of Abbas glorifying terrorists, live or dead. As CAMERA has noted (“Where’s the coverage? Abbas is No Angel,” May 20, 2015) Abbas has praised Dalal Mughrabi, a terrorist who helped perpetrate the 1978 Coastal Road Massacre that murdered 38 Israelis, including 13 children. He had similar kind words for Nazi collaborator Haj Amin al-Husseini, the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem. Abbas called al-Husseini—who organized attacks against Jews in British-ruled Mandate Palestine and was wanted by Yugoslavia for recruiting Muslims into Adolf Hitler’s SS during World War II—a “pioneer” on official PA TV on Jan. 4, 2013.

On Feb. 4, 2016, Abbas hosted 11 families of Palestinians killed while attacking Israelis in his office (“Palestinian official takes time off from glorifying terrorists,” The Hill, Feb. 12, 2016).

The Interim Agreement of the Oslo Accords of Sept. 28, 1995 states that the PA and Israel “shall seek to foster mutual understanding and tolerance and shall accordingly abstain from incitement, including hostile propaganda, against each other and, without derogating from the principle of freedom of expression, shall take legal measures to prevent such incitement by any organizations, groups or individuals within their jurisdiction.”

The agreement was signed by Abbas’ predecessor, Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) head Yasser Arafat—who reaffirmed the Palestinian commitment on Jan. 15, 1997 in a Note for the Record attached to the Hebron Protocol.

Abbas also signed the Interim Agreement on behalf of the PLO, having served as the head of group’s Negotiating Affairs Department during talks between Israel and the United States. Yet, unlike his letters in Arabic to the families of terrorists, Palestinian anti-incitement commitments have been better known in English.

The same day that MEMRI’s translation of Abbas’ letter praising al-Sabatin was made public, a senior aide to Abbas named Husam Zomlot told The Wall Street Journal, “Over the next 10 months [of the current U.S. administration], President Obama could be the savior of the two-state solution or bury it (“White House Working on Renewed Mideast Peace Push,” March 8).” When it comes to burying peace, Abbas seems more than ready to affix his signature.