Airbrushing the facts

Even when Reuters makes an ostensible effort to write a balanced story, its choice of language betrays its compulsive bias.  Correspondent Nidal al-Mughrabi reports on Arab League chief Amr Moussa visiting the Gaza Strip today.  In an early version of the story, al-Mughrabi writes:

But Cairo reopened its Rafah crossing with the territory after Israeli marines killed nine pro-Palestinian Turkish activists during a raid on a Turkish-flagged vessel in the aid convoy on May 31.

In a subsequent revision, al-Mughrabi (or his editor) makes the following change and addition:

But Cairo reopened its Rafah crossing with the enclave after Israeli marines killed nine pro-Palestinian Turkish activists in a May 31 raid on a Turkish-flagged aid vessel where passengers with metal rods and knives confronted the boarding party.  [emphasis ours]

Note that the "Turkish-flagged vessel in the aid convoy" in the first generation story has become the "Turkish-flagged aid vessel" in the update.  As we know (no thanks to Reuters which has yet to report on the development), the Mavi Marmara carried no humanitarian aid whatsoever; the passengers -- members of the terror-linked IHH -- were on a singular mission of provocation and violence.

The updated story adds a reference to the weapons carried by the passengers but while explicitly mentioning those killed by Israeli marines, sanitizes the precipitating bloody assault perpetrated by the passengers with a reference only to the boarding party being "confronted".  No mention of the vicious beating, knifing, and ransoming of Israeli marines by members of the Turkish IHH which Reuters has attempted to airbrush from history.