Sir Joseph
05-09-2004, 01:03 PM
Last week, a mother and her four young daughters were brutally murdered in Gaza. Had the family been Palestinian, I have no doubt that the world media would have reported the 'massacre' in detail, with photos of the funeral plastered all over television screens and newspapers. Had they been Palestinian, video clips of the happy children before the murder would have been broadcast steadily so that we can feel we knew them and therefore become angered by the senseless murders. Had they been Palestinian, countless interviews with PA officials would be calling for world condemnation. Had they been Palestinian, the world would have indeed condemned the murders and called on Israel to stop it's occupation.
However, the mother and daughter were not Palestinian. They were Israeli, hence, barely a mention in foreign media. Worse yet, two CNN armored vehicles were hit by bullets from the same Palestinian terrorists and even then, CNN barely gave mention to the young slaughtered family. the CNN report went something like this; "Earlier this morning, Israeli helicopters fired missiles into a supposed militant apartment killing four Palestinians. Also, Israeli soldiers fired on alleged Palestinians militants in Gaza. An Israeli settler and her four daughters were shot at in Gaza."
It would have been more newsworthy if the CNN reporter who was there at the scene would have reported what he witnessed. But that would be honest and even-handed reporting, something which we know CNN would not be part of when it comes to reporting the truth in Israel.
In Israel, we did hear the reports of how the terrorists hid behind illegally built Arab houses on the edge of the road until they were ready to start their planned massacres. They ran onto the road and began spraying cars with bullets. The car with the Hatuel family veered off the road after being hit with gunfire.
The armored CNN vehicles that had been traveling to Gaza to report on the 'disengagement plan' vote, quickly blocked the road, shielding other cars from getting hit. Next, the terrorists ran up to the Hatuel car and one by one, brutally shot each family member twice in the head execution style. The daughters ranged in age from 2 to 11 and the mother, Tali was 8 months pregnant with the first boy. But that wasn't enough for the terrorists. They then sprayed the bodies with their machine gun fire causing body parts to splatter all over the car and the ground around it.
Finally an IDF jeep arrived and shot the terrorist dead, but it was too late. A family was murdered in cold blood and then some. A father and husband is left alone in an epmty home that he built together with his wife and daughters. At the funeral, the bereaved and shocked David Hatuel spoke so lovingly about his wife and daughters, the only other sounds heard were the hushed cries of shocked friends, neighbors and families. The scene was so unlike what we see on TV when it is a Palastinian funeral.
When media films a Palestinian funeral it's as if we are seeing a very overacted show. The screams and cries and gunfire all seem to be played up for the cameras so that the world can see the pain and misery of the 'suffering' Palestinian people. But the multiple Hatuel funeral was filled with genuine grief. There was no performance for the world to see for the world doesn't even care that a young mother and her young daughters were so brutally butchered. The world said, "Too bad, why were they in Gaza to begin with?"
Well what about the murdered Israelis in Tel-Aviv, Netanya, Haifa and every other place in Israel "proper"? Did they also deserve to be murdered by a people so full of hate? It wouldn't make a bit of difference if the Hatuel family had been murdered in Gaza or in Herziliyah, the world doesn't care because they were Jews. The world doesn't even know how many suicide bomb attacks were thwarted this past week. They only care to hear that 'alleged' or 'supposed' Palestinian 'militants' were killed by Israeli forces. The fact that those ''militants' were armed with explosives powerful enough to blow up a building means nothing.
In Israel, we can grieve for the Hatuel family, for the father and husband who is left to survive on his own with only memories. Because, here, we are all we have. We know that no matter how much our politicians try to appease the world, it won't work. The world doesn't care if we exist or not. The smiling faces of the Hatuel family, the video clip of the girls dancing and singing in their living room with their smiling mother watching proudly from the side, was not plastered all over television screens around the world. The photographs from the funeral where 5 slain bodies wrapped in shrouds were buried were not printed in newspapers for the world to see. The world just doesn't care.
However, the mother and daughter were not Palestinian. They were Israeli, hence, barely a mention in foreign media. Worse yet, two CNN armored vehicles were hit by bullets from the same Palestinian terrorists and even then, CNN barely gave mention to the young slaughtered family. the CNN report went something like this; "Earlier this morning, Israeli helicopters fired missiles into a supposed militant apartment killing four Palestinians. Also, Israeli soldiers fired on alleged Palestinians militants in Gaza. An Israeli settler and her four daughters were shot at in Gaza."
It would have been more newsworthy if the CNN reporter who was there at the scene would have reported what he witnessed. But that would be honest and even-handed reporting, something which we know CNN would not be part of when it comes to reporting the truth in Israel.
In Israel, we did hear the reports of how the terrorists hid behind illegally built Arab houses on the edge of the road until they were ready to start their planned massacres. They ran onto the road and began spraying cars with bullets. The car with the Hatuel family veered off the road after being hit with gunfire.
The armored CNN vehicles that had been traveling to Gaza to report on the 'disengagement plan' vote, quickly blocked the road, shielding other cars from getting hit. Next, the terrorists ran up to the Hatuel car and one by one, brutally shot each family member twice in the head execution style. The daughters ranged in age from 2 to 11 and the mother, Tali was 8 months pregnant with the first boy. But that wasn't enough for the terrorists. They then sprayed the bodies with their machine gun fire causing body parts to splatter all over the car and the ground around it.
Finally an IDF jeep arrived and shot the terrorist dead, but it was too late. A family was murdered in cold blood and then some. A father and husband is left alone in an epmty home that he built together with his wife and daughters. At the funeral, the bereaved and shocked David Hatuel spoke so lovingly about his wife and daughters, the only other sounds heard were the hushed cries of shocked friends, neighbors and families. The scene was so unlike what we see on TV when it is a Palastinian funeral.
When media films a Palestinian funeral it's as if we are seeing a very overacted show. The screams and cries and gunfire all seem to be played up for the cameras so that the world can see the pain and misery of the 'suffering' Palestinian people. But the multiple Hatuel funeral was filled with genuine grief. There was no performance for the world to see for the world doesn't even care that a young mother and her young daughters were so brutally butchered. The world said, "Too bad, why were they in Gaza to begin with?"
Well what about the murdered Israelis in Tel-Aviv, Netanya, Haifa and every other place in Israel "proper"? Did they also deserve to be murdered by a people so full of hate? It wouldn't make a bit of difference if the Hatuel family had been murdered in Gaza or in Herziliyah, the world doesn't care because they were Jews. The world doesn't even know how many suicide bomb attacks were thwarted this past week. They only care to hear that 'alleged' or 'supposed' Palestinian 'militants' were killed by Israeli forces. The fact that those ''militants' were armed with explosives powerful enough to blow up a building means nothing.
In Israel, we can grieve for the Hatuel family, for the father and husband who is left to survive on his own with only memories. Because, here, we are all we have. We know that no matter how much our politicians try to appease the world, it won't work. The world doesn't care if we exist or not. The smiling faces of the Hatuel family, the video clip of the girls dancing and singing in their living room with their smiling mother watching proudly from the side, was not plastered all over television screens around the world. The photographs from the funeral where 5 slain bodies wrapped in shrouds were buried were not printed in newspapers for the world to see. The world just doesn't care.