THE MEDIA LIES- CIVILIANS IN GAZA MYSTERIOUSLY APPEAR IN DESOLATE WARZONES, REAPPEAR IN MEDIA COVERAGE

We wish we could just invent things that make no sense and get them treated as "our side" of the story. "Omri Ceren today claimed to have the best-read blog on the planet, but other bloggers cast doubt on that claim". That would be awesome. But alas, we're not Palestinians:

An air strike was called in near the Karni crossing between Gaza and Israel after gunmen were spotted approaching Israeli forces in the area. The army said the activity was against "terror threats" in Gaza, where Hamas fighters overran security forces loyal to Western-backed Palestinian president Abbas on June 15, effectively creating an Islamic enclave on Israel's doorstep. Medics said 11 Palestinians were killed, including eight fighters in the armed Islamic Jihad, Hamas and the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades linked to Abbas's Fatah party. Three civilians were killed, including a 12-year-old boy.

Naturally, this is a lie. All the Palestinians killed in the firefight were gunmen. Now why would we believe Israel and not the Palestinians? Mostly because we're able to ask questions like "hey, how would a 12 year old end up in the no-man's land next to the Gaza fence?" Unless he was actually one of the gunmen, which isn't exactly unheard of.

It is nice to see that the international media is paying attention to Gaza civilians though. For some reason that phrase hasn't come up much in the last two weeks - apparently no civilians in Gaza were getting killed during that time, huh? Oh - and it's also nice to see that the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades still have some fight left in them. Not enough to prevent Hamas from rolling over them, killing their leaders and dragging their bodies through the streets, and destroying their schools and homes. But enough to try to kill Israelis.

[Cross-posted to Mere Rhetoric]