10-Jan-08: The growing daily toll

Yet another Palestinian-Arab Qassam was fired into Israel by Gaza Strip-based terrorists today, the second day of the Bush visit. This one struck the grounds of Kibbutz Yad Mordechai, almost landing on top of its cafeteria building. Light damage was caused to several of the kibbutz's buildings, including the cafeteria and the medical clinic. Fortunately there were no injuries this time - not the intention of the terrorist thugs.

Yesterday, very far from the headlines and the action around the Bush entourage, southern Israel absorbed a barrage of at least 10 Qassams and 12 mortar shells. Two Qassams scored direct hits on residences in Sderot, damaging the buildings. A woman and her two-year-old son were in one of the houses at the time of the attack; they managed to take shelter in the building's mandatory protected room. The Pal-Arab Qassam penetrated the ceiling and landed on the boy's bed causing extensive damage.

You'll only get so far looking for coverage of these, and earlier, terrorist attacks on Israel in parts of the mainstream media. The BBC, for instance, has virtually ceased reporting on Palestinian rocket attacks while continuing to focus close, frequent attention and detailed coverage on Israeli military operations against the terrorist forces in Gaza. Honest Reporting points out that "in 2007, there were almost 1,500 rocket and mortar attacks targeting Israeli civilian populations, resulting in on average, one strike every ten hours. The BBC chose to publish only six articles focused on the attacks during the entire year. During the same period, fifty-six articles concerning Israeli military operations against Gaza were published."

It's called agenda-driven reporting. And any connection with the fine art of objective journalism is entirely accidental.