From: Ali Abunimah
To: morning@npr.org, nprnews@npr.org
Subject: NPR fails to report killing of Palestinian child in news bulletins

August 24, 2001

Dear NPR News,

I listened to the hourly news bulletins this morning at 7 and 8 AM Eastern Time. Both carried reports about Israeli occupation forces rampage through the Abu Sneinah neighborhood in Israeli-occupied Hebron. In the 7 AM, the news reader read copy, while the 8 AM had a news spot from reporter Jennifer Ludden.

Both reports said that the Israeli assault was ostensibly carried out in response to the wounding of two Israeli settlers, one of them an 11 year-old boy by Palestinian sniper fire. Both also said that Palestinians were wounded in the Israeli attack. Ludden further reported another Israeli incursion into Khan Yunis refugee camp in the occupied Gaza Strip.

Neither item reported, however, that yesterday, the same day that Israel carried out a massive attack on Hebron to avenge the wounding of an 11-year old Israeli child, Israeli troops shot dead an 11-year old Palestinian boy in occupied Gaza.

The Haaretz website reported: "Witnesses said that Mohammed Zurub was shot in the heart after throwing stones at IDF troops guarding the Neve Dekalim settlement. The sources added that five other Palestinians were wounded during further clashes in the area with IDF troops. The IDF has not yet responded to the reports." Zurub was reportedly on the way home from the funeral of another Palestinian shot dead by the occupation forces on Wednesday.

Also unreported in the news spots was Israel's second failed attempt yesterday to carry out an extrajudicial executio in as many days. Occupation forces attack helicopters fired missiles at the car of Palestinian police Colonel Jihad Al Masimi, missing him but injuring bystanders.

Peter Kenyon in his longer report for Morning Edition did mention the killing of Muhammad Zurub and the attempted assasination, but omitting this information from the hourly news bulletins, while reporting on the injuring of two Israelis is a serious material distortion which totally changes the listener's perception of the balance of terror and violence and who it victimizes. After such an intense amount of violence in such a short period, the news bulletins can and should be complete.

If Israel can assault an entire neighborhood, dynamite houses and kill two people as reports say they did because one Israeli child and one adult were injured, what by that logic would Palestinians be entitled to do in response to the shooting dead of a boy who had the courage to confront occupation tanks with nothing but rocks, and for the at least seven other Palestinians killed by Israel in the past three days?

Sincerely,

Ali Abunimah
http://www.abunimah.org