Friday, July 01, 2016
Elder of Ziyon
Look at the wording they use:
The demolition orders were given for stabbing attacks perpetrated by individual members of the families outside Jaffa gate, Jerusalem Old City on 23 December 2015. Two Israeli civilians died during the attack while a third civilian was seriously wounded. The perpetrators were shot dead by Israeli Security Forces.Israelis just happen to die by coincidence when they are involved, somehow, in stabbing attacks. But Palestinians who are involved in those same attacks are "shot dead."
The United Nations has repeatedly condemned all attacks against Israeli or Palestinian civilians, including in statements by Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon.This seems to imply that the stabbers were civilians who were "shot dead" by Israel. The only other interpretation is that UNRWA is trying to minimize the targeting and stabbing of Israeli civilians by saying, hey, both sides have people dying. The UN simply cannot condemn an attack on Jews without watering it down.
On 16 November 2015, during a punitive demolition in the same refugee camp, 19 Palestine refugees were displaced and 46 persons were affected. Two Palestine refugees were also killed during the clashes that erupted during the operation.Again, Palestinians who are in the act of throwing rocks are "killed" but Israelis who are stabbed simply "die" during attacks. The passive voice is used to minimize Jewish deaths and Palestinian responsibility while the active voice is used to emphasize Palestinian deaths as well as Israeli culpability.
This is not an isolated incident, either. From an UNRWA report in 2002:
Following the killing by Israeli forces of a leading Palestinian militant on 14 January in Tulkarm, another wave of violence began. Six Israelis died in a suicide attack in Hadera on 17 January, and Israel responded the next day with air attacks against Tulkarm. One Palestinian was killed and 60 were reported injured in the raids.The writers of UNRWA press releases don't do this with malicious intent. They try very hard to ensure that they are seen to be even-handed. But the wording betrays their subconscious bias that Israeli terror victims are somehow culpable for their own deaths while Palestinians are wantonly killed for no reason.
Deep down, they are against the very existence of Israel and they regard the Jewish residents of the land as invaders who do not belong. UNRWA teaches this to generations of students. They try to stifle their true feelings when writing press releases and speaking to the media, but they cannot stop their subconscious feelings.
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