The Tel Aviv stabbings: What the media left out

Last October, a young Palestinian girl was killed after an Israeli settler hit her with his vehicle.

If Americans Knew

January 22, 2015



Yesterday in Tel Aviv, a 23-year-old Palestinian man stabbed and injured as many as 12 Israelis who were riding a public bus during morning rush hour. No deaths were reported, although three people were hospitalized with serious injuries.

U.S. mainstream media coverage of this attack painted a picture of Israeli citizens living in fear of deranged Palestinian terrorists. The media rarely mentioned that Israeli forces have maintained a 48-year military occupation that profoundly impacts and virtually imprisons 4 million Palestinian men, women, and children in the West Bank and Gaza. The media also omitted significant information on Palestinians killed and injured by Israel during the period reported on.

Below are some examples and charts:

CNN’s coverage of the incident reported details of the deaths of 10 Israelis who were killed by Palestinians last October and November. Yet CNN neglected to mention that just three days ago Israeli police killed a 47-year-old Palestinian man when the police stormed the funeral procession of another Palestinian shot and killed by Israeli police. Since October of 2014, at least 19 Palestinians have been killed by Israelis (5 of them children). Only three of these deaths were mentioned in CNN’s article.

(Note: There is usually a far larger disparity between Israeli and Palestinian deaths. See chart at bottom of page or click here)

The New York Times said that yesterday’s stabbings “broke a period of relative calm that followed a spate of attacks against Israelis” in recent months, perpetrated by “Palestinians armed with knives, cleavers and guns.” The Times seems to think a period is “calm” as long as no Israelis are harmed. Since October 1, 2014, at least 1,677 Palestinians (approximately 250 of them children) have been injured by Israeli forces or settlers living on confiscated Palestinian land. During this time period, 196 Israelis were injured by Palestinians.

(The Times also fails to divulge that its reporters for the story, Isabel Kershner and Irit Pazner Garshowitz, are both Israeli citizens and that Kershner’s husband is a spin doctor for the Israeli military establishment.)

*Source for Palestinian deaths: UN OCHA weekly reports and a news report. This number does not include Palestinians who have died as a result of Israel's siege on Gaza. Four babies and an adult have died from severe cold this month. Source for Israeli deaths: Jewish Virtual Library and UN OCHA.

The Associated Press and NPR’s coverage similarly provided largely Israeli-centric context. The AP described yesterday’s attack in graphic detail, and both AP and NPR made sure to remind readers of last November’s attack on a Jerusalem synagogue that left 5 Israelis dead. They did not, however, mention recent Israeli attacks on Palestinians. Among the thousands of incidents since last October: