Unsettled in Reuterville
Here's how Reuters describes the latest attempted terror attack by a Palestinian:
Jewish settlements, hated symbols of occupation to Palestinians, have also been targeted. On Friday, an armed Palestinian infiltrated Shavei Shomron settlement north of Nablus and was shot dead by a settler, military sources said.
Now, here's what happened, according to Israel's Arutz Sheva:
An Arab terrorist infiltrated the community of Shavei Shomron this morning, throwing grenades and shooting at residents, including kindergarten children. Fortunately, his attacks failed and he was ultimately killed by an armed shopkeeper who chased him down. There were no injuries.
At about 8:30 AM, an Arab infiltrator managed to open fire and throw at least one grenade at the Shavei Shomron kindergarten before setting off on a shooting spree through the town. He opened fire at several residents and homes before David Elbaz, owner of the local mini-market, gave chase and killed him with gunshots. In addition to several grenades and the weapon the terrorist carried on him, security sweeps revealed several explosive devices that he had intended to detonate during the thwarted attack.
Reuters apparently doesn't regard it as newsworthy that the terrorist included kindergartners among his targets. Also telling is the wire service's use of the loaded words settlement and settlers. To be sure, some Israeli newspapers use this terminology too, but Reuters claims to hold itself to an almost absurd standard of objectivity. It refuses to call even the destruction of the World Trade Center terrorism, on the ground that that is an "emotive term," banned by Reuters' editorial policy except "when we are quoting someone directly or in indirect speech."
Yet the dispatch quoted above not only uses an emotive term but spells out that it is such a term--"settlements" are "hated symbols of occupation to Palestinians." Reuters' "objectivity," it seems, does not deter it from identifying with Palestinian hatred.
In other news, we heard from Reuters spokeswoman Nancy Bobrowitz, who sent along a Monday Reuters dispatch on Suhaib Salem, the Reuters photographer arrested in Gaza last Wednesday and released five days later. (We noted the story Tuesday, though we didn't realize at the time that Salem had been released.) We couldn't find the Monday dispatch on Reuters' Web site, but we did find a copy (which, oddly, doesn't credit Reuters) here. Ha'aretz had reported that Israeli military sources said Salem "was in possession of a hand grenade when he was seized." Here's Salem's version of the story:
Soldiers initially refused Mr Salem and his driver permission to pass through the checkpoint, saying there must be at least three people in the vehicle.
That measure is thought to reduce the risk of suicide bombings at checkpoints following a wave of attacks as part of the Palestinian uprising against Israeli occupation.
When Mr Salem and the driver returned with two extra passengers whom they had picked up near the checkpoint, he said soldiers searched the car and produced a plastic bag with a grenade inside.
"I had never seen it before, I don't know where it came from," Mr Salem said as he was reunited with friends and relatives following his release. [ OpinionJournal ]
3:13:43 PM 
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