Friday, February 02, 2007

GEORGE ORWELL AND PALESTINIAN CEASEFIRES

Sub-editors at various newsagencies around the world are having a field day trying to dream up headlines to describe the sagging ceasefire put in place between warring Palestinian factions Hamas and Fatah.

The Guardian - as always good for a laugh - has this one:-

CEASE-FIRE HOLDING IN GAZA, MORE OR LESS

Here are a few more:-

The Toronto Sun - KILLING OPENS GAZA TRUCE

The Scotsman - PALESTINIAN TRUCE, BUT KILLING GOES ON

Reuters - PALESTINIAN TRUCE HOLDS DESPITE ATTACKS

USA Today - HAMAS, FATAH DECLARE NEW CEASE-FIRE; FIGHTING CONTINUES

Some classic British understatement from the BBC - MIDEAST PRESS SCEPTICAL OF PALESTINIAN TRUCE

Even Israel's Ha'aretz can't help getting in on the act:-

GAZA TRUCE NEAR COLLAPSE AS SIX KILLED IN CLASHES

The story is about how six Palestinians were killed and at least 65 were wounded (including two children) yesterday during renewed clashes in the central Gaza Strip between armed Hamas and Fatah militants.

One wonders how many people have to be killed in clashes before a truce has really collapsed rather than being "near collapse"?

How different would the above headlines and the stories have been had two Palestinian children died in fighting between Palestinian terrorists and Israeli troops during the course of a ceasefire?

And the Melbourne Age's Ed O'Loughlin - is he in the thick of things inside Gaza with some on the spot reporting from deep inside some refugee camp or is he still sipping pina coladas in an Eilat Hotel?

So where the hell is Ed?

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Is there a newspaper called the Irishman?

Anonymous said...

Rather than ask where's Ed, you should be asking where's his stringer and who else is his stringer working for?

My bet is that Ed hasn't left the cocktail bar in the Dan Eilat at this point in time.

Anonymous said...

THEY CALL THIS A UNIVERSITY?

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/821015.html

Fatah: 7 Iranian weapons experts arrested in Gaza by Avi Issacharoff, Haaretz Correspondent and The Associated Press

The Fatah-affiliated Palestinian Security Force arrested seven Iranian weapons experts working in the service of Hamas during a raid at the Islamic University, a Hamas stronghold in Gaza City, a senior Fatah official reported late Thursday, and another committed suicide during the raid.

The Fatah forces apprehended some 1,400 firearms and missiles found at the site.

Six Palestinians were killed and at least 65 were wounded, including two children, on Thursday during renewed clashes in the central Gaza Strip between armed Hamas and Fatah militants.

Anonymous said...

Universities, schools, mosques and hospitals in the Palestinian territories (and other parts of the world) are dual purpose facilities. They often double up as armouries and meeting places for the troops. When Palestinians attack each other in such places then it's taken for granted. It's only when Israelis defend themseleves against people who use these places to store weapons and to fire at them that the media are up in arms in shock and horror.

Anonymous said...

The newspapers with the fractured fairytale headlines have let Palestinian murderers off the hook for so long that they can't bring themselves to realise what these cutthroat hoodlums are really all about.