The New York Times turns an errant Hamas rocket into three paragraphs of anti-Israel propaganda

Yesterday, a missile hit the house of the Masri family in Beit Hanoun, Gaza, killing at least seven including three children.

Israeli TV reported that the IDF confirmed that the missile was an errant Hamas rocket that fell short in Gaza.

USA Today reported:

(The article has been updated and no longer has this section.) 

Ashraf has no idea if his family was killed by Israel or Hamas. He just wants to bury them.

But the New York Times later interviewed another relative, Bashir. He is convinced it was an Israeli missile, and Israel is solely responsible for all suffering:

But as the conflict expanded and the airstrikes began, it quickly became deadly.

In Beit Hanoun, northern Gaza, the Masri family was grieving for two young boys who were killed on Monday evening. Ibrahim, 11, and Marwan, 7, had been playing outside their home when a missile struck, according to their uncle, Bashir al-Masri, 25.

For Mr. Masri, the attack showed that Israel had no concern for civilian life.

“They target buildings with children, they target ambulances, they target schools,” he said by telephone. “And all the world, beginning with America, says that people in Gaza are terrorists. But we are not terrorists. We just want to live in peace.”

He also called on Israel to end a blockade on Gaza that has placed heavy restrictions on goods and materials, lest they be used to make weaponry. The blockade, coupled with similar restrictions by Egypt, has crippled Gaza’s economy and led to high unemployment.

“God knows how we live in Gaza — and the number one reason is the Israeli siege,” said Mr. Masri, who is one of the roughly 50 percent of Gazans without work. “They want to kill us. But they cannot.”

Suddenly, the media switches from a grieving relative with no idea how his family was killed into another who is practically a Hamas spokesperson repeating anti-Israel talking points word for word who is certain he knows Israel is behind it.

Hamas makes a point of letting Gazans know that they cannot say anything outside the party line. 

It is also possible that the Gaza stringer for the NYT, Iyad Abuheweila, gave him leading questions like "What do you think about the inhuman Israeli blockade?" The New York Times reporters could not enter Gaza so they fully relied on the local stringer to get the quotes. 

Either way, there is intense pressure from Gaza officials to control the narrative, and threatening residents happens often. 

If the New York Times was truly interested in reporting the truth, they would have mentioned the IDF denial of shooting that rocket, and that many Gaza rockets have killed Gaza kids over the years, and that the other Mr. Masri had no idea where the missile came from. Instead they gave him a platform to propagandize on behalf of those who killed his family.

(CORRECTION: originally I thought both newspapers interviewed the same person. h/t Israellycool.)

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