A rose by any other name

On a number of occasions, we've noted Reuters use of the propagandistic lede "Analysis" to tag its op-eds with a pseudo-scientific-sounding term and enable the agency to peddle spin as dispassionate investigation for subsequent syndication to hundreds of other media outlets.

Reuters has adopted a new propaganda mantra to disguise these type of agenda-driven stories: Insight.  So, when you come across this banner attached to a Reuters story in the future, you'll know immediately you are about to read a piece of one-sided claptrap masquerading as cool, trenchant reporting.

The Insight format is a perfect vehicle for Reuters kingpin propagandist Tom Perry.

When we last visited Perry, he was busy lying about the Muslim Brotherhood, asserting that the group had only announced it was going to reconsider Egypt's peace treaty with Israel in response to suggestions that U.S. financial and military aid to the country might be reviewed (if Americans currently detained in Egypt are not released).  In fact, the Brotherhood has been issuing threats to reconsider the treaty since it first became clear the group was going to accede to power in Egypt.

Here's what the Brotherhood said in early January, weeks before U.S. aid became a contention:

According to Essam al-Erian, deputy head of the Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice party, the accords "are under the responsibility of the people and state institutions, and it would not be right for anyone to speak on behalf of the Egyptian people."
Speaking to the London-based Arabic newspaper Al-Hayat, al-Erian said, "We are not in a position to give assurances."
Rashad al-Bayoumi, the Brotherhood's second in command, told Al-Hayat las week that "the Muslim Brotherhood will not recognize Israel under any circumstances and might put the peace treaty with the Jewish state up to a referendum."
The Brotherhood, he added, "did not sign the peace accords… We are allowed to ask the people or the elected parliament to express their opinion on the treaty, and (to find out) whether it compromised the people's freedom and sovereignty. We will take the proper legal steps in dealing with the peace deal. To me, it isn't binding at all. The people will express their opinion on the matter."

And here's Perry serving as mouthpiece for the Brotherhood, conveying the false message (again) that the group's threats to renege on the treaty have only arisen as a result of the U.S. aid issue:  

While saying it will respect Egypt's international obligations, including the peace deal with Israel, the group has said Cairo could review the treaty if Washington were to hold back the aid that came with the agreement.
"We don't owe anyone any favors," said Hishmat, the lawmaker on the foreign relations committee. "Even with the threat to the U.S. aid, we are not intimidated in the way the previous regime used to be," he said.

Whether packaged as "news", "analysis", or "insight", a lie remains a lie.

And whether Reuters gives Tom Perry a beat in Ramallah, Cairo, or Timbuktu, a liar remains a liar.

Reuters certain where Islam was born; isn't telling about Judaism

In a story published last week noting a report by Human Rights Watch which took to task the Gulf Arab states for discrimination against women, particularly in sports, Reuters correspondent Mary Slosson writes:

The Human Rights Watch report outlined systematic discrimination against women in sports in Saudi Arabia, a conservative Islamic kingdom where gender segregation is strictly enforced. Women in Saudi Arabia, the birthplace of Islam, are banned from driving and need permission of a close male relative to work or travel.

Reuters consistently whitewashes institutionalized misogyny and other medieval practices in Saudi Arabia by characterizing the kingdom, euphemistically, as "conservative".

But what we find most interesting, is the news agency's implied apologism for Saudi oppression with reference to Arabia as "the birthplace of Islam".

We have never seen, and a search on the Reuters websites does not produce, a single instance of Reuters reporting on the birthplace of Judaism: Judea, (the "West Bank"), including Jerusalem.

Indeed, a Reuters story published in 2007 about the Saudis condemning Israel for conducting an archeological excavation in Jerusalem, a story that also prominently cites Arabia as the "birthplace of Islam", fails to even mention that Jerusalem was founded by the Jews as their sovereign capital over three millennia ago.

The reason for this double-standard is obvious: Reuters is committed to erasing, as are the Arabs, the three-thousand-year-old Jewish connection to the city of Jerusalem and surrounding territory of Judea and Samaria (the "West Bank").  This, to justify and facilitate hoped-for Arab sovereign control over the area.

A graphic illustration of Reuters long-standing propaganda campaign against the Jews.

Reuters, public relations wing for Iran

Reuters continues with its ludicrous and journalistically indefensible efforts to downplay the Iranian nuclear weapons program and conceal explicit Iranian threats to commit genocide.

The agency runs three stories, two by self-censoring Iranian correspondent, Parisa Hafezi, the third by hardcore propagandist, Alistair Lyon, employing a combination of euphemisms, egregious factual omissions, and sanitized reporting to portray a fantasy world where Iran is merely pursuing electrical power and where the regime's military threats are solely a defensive response to Western aggression.  Here's Hafezi running interference:

Still, a top U.S. intelligence official said last week that while U.S. spy services believed Iran would respond if attacked, they thought it was unlikely to start a conflict.
Israel and the United States do not rule out military action against Iran if sanctions and diplomacy fail to rein in its nuclear energy campaign.
Senior U.N. inspectors have begun their second round of talks in Tehran in three weeks, seeking Iranian explanations with respect to intelligence about "possible military dimensions" to the Iranian nuclear program.
Iran denies Western accusations that it is covertly seeking the means to build nuclear weapons and in recent weeks has again vowed no nuclear retreat, but also voiced willingness to resume negotiations with world powers without preconditions.
Iran says it is enriching uranium solely as fuel for a future network of nuclear power stations, not for bombs.

And again here after Iran refused yesterday to allow U.N. inspector access to its nuclear sites:

As sanctions mount, ordinary Iranians are suffering from the effects of soaring prices and a collapsing currency. Several Iranian nuclear scientists have been killed over the past two years in bomb attacks that Tehran has blamed on its arch-adversary Israel.

In response, Iran has issued a series of statements asserting its right to self-defense and threatening to block the Strait of Hormuz, a vital oil tanker route.

The collapse of the nuclear talks came as Iran seems increasingly isolated, with some experts seeing the Islamic republic's mounting defiance in response to sanctions against its oil industry and financial institutions as evidence that it is in no mood to compromise with the West.

Elections on March 2 are expected to be won by supporters of Khamenei, an implacable enemy of the West.

The failure of the two-day visit by the International Atomic Energy Agency could now hamper any resumption of wider nuclear negotiations between Iran and six world powers as the sense grows that Tehran feels it is being backed into a corner.

And here's Reuters correspondent Lyon, writing of Iran's Supreme Leader (we love the Orwellian ring of that sobriquet):

This month Khamenei said sanctions would not alter Iran's nuclear course, military threats would "harm America" and any nation or group fighting Israel, thought to be the Middle East's only nuclear-armed power, would have Tehran's backing.
"In response to threats of oil embargo and war, we have our own threats to impose at the right time," he declared.
Khamenei has in the past denied that Iran seeks atomic bombs, saying: "It is against our Islamic thoughts."
But he has shown little interest in genuinely assuaging Western worries about Iran's activities, authorizing what the U.N. nuclear watchdog regards as only incomplete cooperation, as well as intermittent talks with six world powers that Western officials suspect Tehran pursues primarily to gain more time to attain nuclear "breakout" capability.
The bespectacled cleric, who ultimately decides all matters of state, including nuclear and foreign policy, simply does not trust the United States, once described by his late mentor Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini as a wolf to Iran's lamb.

Ah yes, poor Iran is being unfairly persecuted for a perfectly innocent "nuclear energy campaign" (to which it refuses to allow independent inspection under its NPT obligations) and only "in response", has the country "issued a series of statements asserting its right to self-defense".  You know, like threatening to commit genocide against the Jews.

The Iranian lamb.  And its Reuters udder.

Reuters quick to report, blame Jews for vandalism. No word on daily Arab vandalism

When anti-Arab or anti-Christian graffiti is spray-painted in Israel, Reuters correspondents leap to their keyboards to report it, alleging vandalism by Jewish settlers.  While no one has been arrested for the graffiti and there is evidence that in a previous incident reported by Reuters, it was actually an Arab villager that did the defacing (to incriminate settlers), the propagandists at Reuters continue to highlight these property crimes so as to demonize Jews in the eyes of the public.

After all, everyone knows that the words "price tag" can only be inscribed by Jews.

By contrast, Reuters fails miserably to report on the daily Arab vandalism and desecration of Jewish property, including that taking place at the oldest and most revered of Jewish cemeteries, the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem.

Demonstrating, that for Reuters, there is no news value in stories of dogs biting men.

Parisa Hafezi continues to self-censor; the truth continues to suffer

In a piece about inspectors from the United Nations IAEA arriving in Iran to try, yet again, to obtain cooperation for their investigation into the country's nuclear weapons program -- er, sorry -- disputed medical isotopes program, Reuters correspondent Parisa Hafezi ties herself into knots to avoid stating the obvious:

Iran says its nuclear program is entirely peaceful but its refusal to curb uranium enrichment, which can have both civilian and military ends, while shifting a key part of it to a remote mountain bunker protected from air strikes and continuing to restrict IAEA access, has raised concerns.

As everyone knows, medical isotope programs are routinely moved to mountain bunkers to protect them from air strikes.

Nothing to see here; move along.

Crispian Balmer & Maayan Lubell get a history lesson

Crispian Balmer, who treks between France and Jerusalem to peddle his malodorous wares, and Maayan Lubell, who agitates for ethnic cleansing of the Jews, are back with a classic piece of antisemitic propaganda on behalf of Reuters.

Flying under the presumptuous banner, "Insight" (more like the blind leading the blind), Balmer and Lubell employ a combination of unsupported assertions, lies by omission, and testimony from a group found liable for publishing false information, to demonize Jews who choose, as is their right under international law, to live in the territories of Judea and Samaria (the "West Bank") and are now facing the prospect of having their homes demolished:

(Reuters) - The Jewish settlement of Migron perches high on a blustery hill in the occupied West Bank. Its inhabitants pay taxes, are hooked up to the electricity grid and get round-the-clock protection from Israeli soldiers.
Over the past decade the government has spent at least 4 million shekels ($1.1 million) on establishing and maintaining the cluster of squat, prefab bungalows, even building a neat tarmac road up the steep incline to the treeless ridge.
Yet despite all that state help, Migron is an illegal outpost, even under Israeli law, and its time is running out.
In an unprecedented ruling in August 2011, Israel's Supreme Court told the government to evacuate Migron by March 31, 2012. The land, the court said, belonged to Palestinians.

In fact, the Palestinian Arabs withdrew their claim to the land because they couldn't prove that it belonged to them, but the court responded to a motion by the libeling left-wing group Peace Now to order the Jewish home demolitions anyway.

Balmer and Lubell get a multitude of historical details deliberately wrong in their story but an erudite commenter has left a comprehensive riposte:

... exclusive political rights to the land in Judea, Samaria and East Jerusalem was granted to the Jews in trust in 1920 in the San Remo Convention. The British Mandate was in fact a trust agreement as shown by the first two paragraphs of Article 22 of the League of Nations Covenant. The Mandate had adopted the policy of Lord Balfour. That was to give the Jews exclusive political rights to Palestine in trust, to become vested not until the Jews had attained a population majority in all Palestine. Arnold Toynbee and Lewis Namier exlained the reason for this in a memorandum of the British Foreign Office dated September 19, 1917. The chief argument against the award of political rights to the Jews was that in 1917 they only constituted 10% of the population of all Palestine, even though they had had a plurality in Jerusalem since 1845 and a majority since 1863. Article 4 of the Mandate authorized the Zionist organization to advise the staff of the trustee. The Arabs tried to obtain permission to form an advisory panel, but its application was rejected. The Mandate was also an integral part of the 1924 Anglo-American convention, making it the domestic law of the UK and the US as well as International Law. England abandoned its trusteeship and guardianship in 1948. Prior to that time, the Arabs were threatening violence so the General Assembly recommended that Israel give up part of its remaining grant. (transJordan had been eliminated in 1922 for England’s political reason to avoid a quarrel with the French. Ben Gurion was agreeable, in the UNSCOP hearings to give up part of the Jew’s political or national rights to even the remaining part of Palestine, 22%, if the UN would OK enough land so that a workable state could be reconstituted. Since 1920, the Arabs, by violence and threats of violence have been using extortion to obtain the political rights to Palestine granted in that year. In 1939, in a White Paper, as stated by Winston Churchill, Britain reneged on its promise to the Jews by denying them the right of immigration so that they could become a majority population. Nevertheless, after the war of Indepence in 1948, 700,000 Arabs fled, most without ever seeing a Jewish soldier, and that was much immigration from Europe, giving the Jews a majority of population. Now the Jews constitute 80% of the population within the Green Line and if the West Bank were added it would still have a majority. It has agreed with Jordan not to claim Jordainian land, and it unilaterally gave away the Gaza strip to the Gazans, withdrawing all Jewish population from that area. There is no illegality in Jewish settlement in the West Bank as stated by US Presidents after Carter and before Obama.

We would only add that, contrary to previous false claims by Reuters correspondents, even Obama has not had the chutzpah to suggest that Jewish settlements are illegal.

Tom Perry fabricating again

Reuters hardcore propagandist Tom Perry claims:

The [Egyptian] military council has repeatedly pledged to honour Egypt's international obligations, including the peace deal with Israel, a position the [Muslim] Brotherhood has shared until now.

In fact, the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt has been threatening for months to "review" the 1979 Camp David Accords, i.e., the peace agreement with Israel.  That is, when the group is not praying for Israel to be wiped off the map or vowing to kill all Jews.

Perry is serving as handmaiden for the Brotherhood here, prevaricating on the group's position so as to suggest that Brotherhood threats to trash the peace treaty have only come about as a legitimate retort to the possibility that the United States may reduce military aid to Egypt.

What do they teach these guys at Reuters school?

Reuters continues sympathetic vigil for terror group leader

Last week, we commented on a Reuters appeal to pity for one of the leaders of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad terror group, Khader Adnan, who is on hunger strike in an Israeli hospital, ostensibly to protest his detention.  Reuters expends only 16 words of the story for a background profile on Islamic Jihad, depersonalizing the group's many murdered and maimed victims by characterizing them as "Israeli targets".

That story was published on Day 55 of the hunger strike.  Yesterday was Day 62 and Palestinian Arabs in Gaza rallied in support of the terror group leader; so of course, Reuters runs yet another story about him:

"We will pursue our Jihad and resistance. We will sail in the sea of blood and martyrdom until we land on the shore of pride and dignity," top Islamic Jihad leader Nafez Azzam said during a Friday sermon at Gaza's oldest al-Omari mosque.

The Physicians for Human Rights group in Israel (PHR), which has been monitoring Adnan's condition in an Israeli hospital, said Friday he was "in immediate danger of death," adding that he had suffered "significant muscular atrophy." [...]

Adnan owns a bakery and a fruit and vegetable shop in his West Bank village, Arabeh. He has served as a spokesman for the Islamic Jihad, which describes him as a local leader.

Our hearts bleed for Adnan.

As do the hearts of the hundreds of victims of his group's murder campaign.

Nidal al-Mughrabi and Crispian Balmer searching for fuel

In a wildly off-base effort to blame Israel for fuel shortages and blackouts in Gaza, Reuters correspondent Nidal al-Mughrabi, who is apparently vying for title of Reuters Dishonest Reporter Of The Week, along with Reuters Jerusalem (France) Bureau Chief, Crispian Balmer, neglect to inform readers that Palestinians in Gaza could receive fuel from Israel by simply requesting it:

Israel provides the Mediterranean territory with at least 35 percent of its energy needs, but closed off its own fuel pipeline into the enclave in January 2010.
Abu Al-Amrain said Israel bore overall responsibility for the ongoing crisis, but Mustafa Ibrahim, a human rights researcher and writer, said Hamas's administration had failed to provide the territory with an energy safety net.

As noted by Elder of Ziyon:

This is an artificial problem. Gaza can get fuel for the power plant today. Hamas refuses to accept fuel from Israel for whatever reason (it still accepts tons of aid coming from Israeli crossings every day.) As a result, Hamas is purposefully endangering its own people.

We understand that Reuters will be correcting this story as soon as the agency has cleaned up what remains of Nidal and Crispian following their spontaneous combustion.

Reuters and self-censorship

Reuters correspondent Parisa Hafezi has written literally hundreds of stories about Iran's nuclear program.  In next to none of them, does she acknowledge that scientists at the United Nations International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) have concluded that Iran has engaged in all aspects of developing a nuclear bomb.  Rather, the Reuters' reporter is bent on obfuscating the matter, characterizing the conflict as merely a he said, she said dispute between two equally credible partisans:

The West accuses Iran of covertly trying to develop the means to produce nuclear bombs with its uranium enrichment program. Iran, the world's No. 5 crude oil exporter, says its nuclear facilities are part of a peaceful energy program and it would retaliate for any attack on them.

Hafezi is based in Tehran with 16 Reuters employees and according to this story, "the Reuters offices are under constant surveillance and have experienced several break-ins; staffers are convinced that e-mails and telephone lines are bugged".

Hafezi is also reported to have "endured beatings, interrogations and raids on her office and home for critical reporting [of the Iranian regime]".

If these accounts are true, Hafezi and Reuters clearly fear reprisals for any perceived failure to toe the Iranian government line in the agency's coverage of the country's nuclear weapons program.

While we sympathize with Hafezi's plight, Reuters should be informing readers that its reporting in Iran is subject to self-censorship due to concerns for the safety of their staffers there.

Self-censoring, in this case, appears to be a reflection of Reuters correspondents' instincts for self-preservation.

Failure to disclose that self-censorship is unethical and a reflection of Reuters instincts for corporate preservation.

Reuters carries the propaganda flag for the Palestinian team

In a story about four Arabs -- from Cairo, Jerusalem, and Judea and Samaria (the "West Bank") -- preparing to compete in the London Olympics, Reuters correspondent Nidal al-Mughrabi, employs the agency's favorite racist propaganda mantra:

GAZA, Feb 13 (Reuters) - Gaza runner Bahaa al-Farra treads carefully, braving the elements and potholed roads ravaged by years of conflict between Palestinian militants and the Israeli army, as he prepares to race at the London Olympics.
The 19-year-old trains for three hours a day in Gaza's Yarmouk soccer stadium, along the dusty streets and on the beach in well worn trainers that were donated to the Palestine Olympic Committee by wealthy Gulf state, Qatar.
Palestinian athletes complain of a paucity of financial support at home and a lack of vital equipment and coaches that are crucial for success and to nurture talented youth, but by competing in London, a national dream will be realised.
The Gaza Strip is a narrow coastal enclave in the eastern Mediterranean that borders on Israel and Egypt and which Palestinians want as part of a future state along with the Israeli-occupied West Bank and Arab East Jerusalem.

Al-Mughrabi, whom we recently caught lying again about Palestinian violence, seeks here to drum into the minds of his audience members, the notion that Jerusalem belongs to the Arabs.

Jerusalem, a city founded and built by the Jewish people over three thousand years ago; a city with a majority Jewish population in the modern era from 1840; and a city branded with the racist epithet, Arab East Jerusalem for a mere 19 years after the area was ethnically cleansed of its ancient Jewish community by the Arab Legion in 1948, is expediently daubed with the same racist brushstroke by al-Mughrabi so as to irrationally and unethically persuade readers that the city is by rights or title, Arab. 

This is one sick media company.

Pathological liars@Reuters

Several Palestinian rockets were fired into Israel over the past 24 hours.  As usual, Reuters refused to report on this -- until Israel struck back:

(Reuters) - An Israeli air strike on the Gaza Strip killed a Palestinian civilian Sunday, hospital officials said, and the military described the operation as retaliation for a cross-border rocket launch.

Then comes the bald-faced lie Nidal al-Mughrabi and his colleagues at Reuters have been repeating for years now: 

Hamas, Gaza's ruling Islamist movement, has tried to rein in attacks on Israel as it seeks political accommodation with its secular Palestinian rivals. But violence has continued sporadically, often going unclaimed.

Over 700 rockets and mortars fired into Israel by Palestinian terrorists in 2011.  Many claimed by Hamas itself.
  
What do they teach these guys at Reuters school?

Reuters issues appeal to pity for Islamic Jihad member; dehumanizes group's victims

Reuters correspondents frequently write sympathetic human interest stories about Palestinian Arabs -- and almost never do the same about Israeli Jews.

In an often savage Arab war of attrition over the past century which has sought to kill and displace as many Jewish families in the region as possible, the public rarely hears from Reuters about Israeli suffering.  Other than quotes from government officials, maliciously adulterated by Reuters correspondents, Israeli Jews typically remain voiceless, nameless, faceless.  This alone, graphically demonstrates Reuters relentless reporting bias.

This bias can be particularly vile.

Take for example, this Reuters story about a member of the Palestinian terror group, Islamic Jihad, currently held in detention in Israel and on a hunger strike:

Khader Adnan, 33, a member of the Islamic Jihad militant group, has been refusing to eat since mid-December, shortly after his arrest in the occupied West Bank, and has only drunk liquids since then." He is not in good shape. People on a hunger strike for more than 50 days are in real danger. [...]

Randa told Reuters she had visited her husband on Tuesday and that he was shackled to his hospital bed and had lost 35 kg (77 lb). She said his skin was discolored, his hair had fallen out and he had sores around his mouth. "He couldn't pick up our daughter. He has no strength in his arms," she said, adding that he had started to vomit blood.

Reuters of course, barely mentions the bloody history of Islamic Jihad, referring only to the fact that "the group is committed to Israel's destruction and has been involved in numerous attacks on Israeli targets".

Since Reuters refuses to identify or humanize those Israeli "targets", even as the agency identifies and seeks audience sympathy for Adnan and his family, we will provide this information.  Here's a partial list of Israelis (and other nationals) murdered by Islamic Jihad over the years.  (Our apologies to the families of the hundreds of other victims, killed or maimed, not included in the list below):

Shlomo Atzmon, 60, of Lod

Kinneret Cohen, 14, of Jerusalem

Shimon Dahan, 27, of Herzliya

Emil Gorbman, 54, of Jerusalem

Dr. Shelley Volokov Halpenny, 32, of Vancouver, Canada

Rita Susan Levin, 39, of Philadelphia, United States

Tova Maimon, 19, of Or Yehuda

Nahum Mizrahi, 63, of Tel Aviv

Isaac Na'im, 47, of Holon

Esther Na'im, 45, of Holon

Matityahu Gershon Resnik, 25, of Givat Haim

Mordechai Rosenberg, 50, of Sha'arei Tikva

Fern Rykiss, 17, of Winnipeg, Canada

Ya'akov Shapira, 73, of Jerusalem

Shaul Chai Tzur, 21, of Netanya

Miriam Tzerafi, 41, of Jerusalem

Vered Mordechai, 13, of Afula

Asher Attia, 48, of Afula

Maya Elharar, 17, of Afula

Ilana Schreiber, 45, from Kibbutz Nir David

Meirav Ben-Moshe, 16, of Afula

Ayala Vahaba, 40, from Afula

Fadiya Shalabi, 25, of Iksal

Ahuva Cohen Onalla, 37, of Afula

Yehazkel Sapir, 36, of Kfar Sava

Yotam Rahat, 31, of Tel-Aviv

Elad Dror, 24, of Kibbutz Nahshon

David Ben-Zino, 20, of Ashdod

Adi Rosen, 20, of moshav Bitzaron

Yuval Tuvya, 22, of Jerusalem

Anan Kadur, 24, of Daliyat al-Karmel

Damian Rosovski, 20, of Kadima

Yehiel Sharvit, 21, of Haifa

Yaron Blum, 20, of Jerusalem

Maya Kopstein, 19, of Jerusalem

Daniel Tzikuashvili, 19, of Jerusalem

Avi Salto, 19, of Rishon Lezion

Rafael Mizrahi, 19, of Ramat Gan

Eran Gueta, 20, of Ashkelon

Soli Mizrahi, 18, of Ramat Gan

David Hasson, 18, of Ashkelon

Amir Hirschenson, 18, of Jerusalem

Gilad Gal-On, 18, of Herzliya

Ilie Dagan, 18, of Kochav Yair

Eitan Peretz, 18, of Nahariya

Eyal Levy, 20, of Ashdod

Yaniv Weiser, 18, of Givatay

Shabtai Mahpud, 34, of moshav Tnuvot

Giora Balash, 60, from São Paulo, Brazil

Zvika Golombek, 26, from Karmiel

Shoshana Yehudit (Judy) Greenbaum, 31, from Passaic, New Jersey, USA

Tehila Maoz, 18, from Jerusalem

Frieda Mendelsohn, 62, from Jerusalem

Michal Raziel, 16, from Jerusalem

Malka Chana (Malki) Roth, 15, from Jerusalem

Mordechai Schijveschuurder, 43, from Neria

Tzira Schijveschuurder, 41, from Neria

Ra'aya Schijveschuurder, 14, from Neria

Avraham Yitzhak Schijveschuurder, 4, from Neria

Hemda Schijveschuurder, 2, from Neria

Lily Shimashvili, 33, from Jerusalem

Tamara Shimashvili, 8, from Jerusalem

Yocheved Shoshan, 10, from Jerusalem

Samuel Miloshevsky, 45, of Herzliya

Yehiav Elshad, 28, of Tel Aviv

Inbal Weiss, 22, of Zichron Ya'akov

Mogus Mahento, 65, of Holon

Bella Schneider, 53, of Hadera

Alon Goldenberg, 28, of Tel Aviv

Aharon Revivo, 19, of Afula

Shimon Edri, 20, of Pardes Hanna-Karkur

Mikhael Altfiro, 19, of Pardes Hanna-Karkur

Meir Fahima, 40, of Hadera

Keren Franco, 18, of Kiryat Yam

Noa Shlomo, 18, of Nahariya

Shlomi Ben-Haim, 26, of Kiryat Yam

Nir Danieli, 24, of Kiryat Ata

Ze'ev Henik, 24, of Karmiel

Michael Weissman, 21, of Kiryat Yam

Shimon Stelkol, 34, of Kiryat Yam

Avinoam Alafia, 26, of Kiryat Ata

Liron Avitan, 19, of Hadera

Avraham Barzilai, 19, of Netanya

Dennis Blumin, 20, of Hadera

Eliran Buskila, 21, of Hadera

Zvi Gelberd, 20 of Hadera

Violetta Hizgayev, 20, of Hadera

Ganadi Issakov, 21, of Hadera

Sariel Katz, 21, of Netanya

Vladimir Morari, 19, of Hadera

Yigal Nedipur, 22, of Netanya

Dotan Reisel, 22, of Hadera

David Stanislavksy, 23, of Netanya

Sivan Wiener, 19, of Holon

Zion Agmon, 50, of Hadera

Adi Dahan, 17, of Afula

Shimon Timsit, 35, of Tel-Aviv

Eliyahu Timsit, 32, of Sderot

Sharon Tubol, 19, of Arad

Aiman Sharuf, 20, of Isfiya

Nir Nahum, 20, of Carmiel

Eliezer Moskovitch, 40, of Petah Tikva

Ilona Hanukayev, 20, of Hadera

Liat Ben-Ami, 20, of Haifa

Esther Pesachov, 19, of Givat Olga

Ofra Burger, 56, of Hod Hasharon

Iris Lavi, 68, of Netanya

Suad Jaber, 23, of Taibe

Indelou Ashati, 54, of Hadera

Anat Shimshon, 33, of Ra'anana

Osnat Abramov, 16, of Holon

Sergei Shavchuk, 35, of Afula

Mazal Orkobi, 20, of Azor

Mordechai Evioni, 52, of Holon

Moshe (Maurice) Aharfi, 60, of Tel-Aviv

Igor Zobokov, 32, of Bat Yam

Lilya Zibstein, 33, of Haifa

Amiram Zmora, 55, of Holon

Meir Haim, 74, of Azor

Hannah Haimov, 53, of Tel Aviv

Boris Tepalshvili, 51, of Yehud

Sapira Shoshana Yulzari-Yaffe, 46, of Bat Yam

Ramin Nasibov, 25, of Tel-Aviv

Ilanit Peled, 32, of Azor

Andrei Friedman, 30, of Tel-Aviv

Avi Kotzer, 43, of Bat Yam

Viktor Shebayev, 62, of Holon

Ion (Nelu) Nicolae, 34, of Romania

Mihai Sabau, 38, of Romania

Li Peizhong, 41, of China

Steven Arthur Cromwell, 43, of Ghana

Krassimir Mitkov Angelov, 32, of Bulgaria

Ivan Gaptoniak, 46, of Ukraine

Guo Aiping, 47, of China

Zhang Minmin, 50, of China

Nir Regev, 25, of Nahariya

Zvi Bahat, 35, of Haifa

Mark Biano, 29, of Haifa

Naomi Biano, 25, of Haifa

Hana Francis, 39, of Fassuta

Sharbal Matar, 23, of Fassuta

Mutanus Karkabi, 31, of Haifa

Osama Najar, 28, of Haifa

Irena Sofrin, 38, of Kiryat Bialik

Lydia Zilberstein, 56, of Haifa

George Matar, 58, of Haifa

Ze'ev Almog, 71, of Haifa

Ruth Almog, 70, of Haifa

Moshe Almog, 43, of Haifa

Tomer Almog, 9, of Haifa

Assaf Staier, 11, of Haifa

Brurua Zer-Aviv, 59, of Kibbutz Yagur

Bezalel Zer-Aviv, 30, of Kibbutz Yagur

Keren Zer-Aviv, 29, of Kibbutz Yagur

Liran Zer-Aviv, 4, of Kibbutz Yagur

Noya Zer-Aviv, 1, of Kibbutz Yagur

Rachel Ben Abu, 16, of Tel Aviv

Nofar Horowitz, 16, of Tel Aviv

Julia Voloshin, 31, of Netanya

Anya Lifshitz, 50, of Netanya

Moshe Maor Jan, 21, of Tel Aviv

Michael Koifman, 68, of Hadera

Perahiya Makhlouf, 53, of Hadera

Sabiha Nissim, 66, of moshav Ahituv

Jamil Mohammed Ka'adan, 48, of Baqa al-Gharbiyye

Ya'akov Rahmani, 68, of Hadera

Genia Poleis, 66, of Hadera

Larissa Grishchenko, 39, of Hadera

Daniel Golani, 45, of Nahariya

Alexandra Garmitzky, 65, of Netanya

Haim Amram, 26, of Netanya

Keinan Tsuami, 20, of Petah Tikva

Elia Rosen, 38, of Bat Hefer

Philip Balhasan, 45, of Ashdod

Rozalia Beseneyi, 48, of Romania

Piroşca Boda 50, of Romania

Marcel Cohen, 73, of Nice, France

Ariel Darhi, 31, of Bat Yam

Victor Erez, 60, of Givatayim

Binyamin Haputa, 47, of Lod

David Shaulov, 29, of Holon

Lily Yunes, 43, of Oranit

Lior Anidzar, 26, of Tel Aviv

Daniel Wultz, 16, of Weston, Florida, USA

Our understanding is that the above individuals will be, as is apparently the case with Islamic Jihad member Khader Adnan, unable to pick up their daughters.

The West, yada, suspects, yada, Iran, yada

In a nearly 1,700-word magnum opus about Iran and the impact international sanctions are having on its economy, Reuters correspondents Niluksi Koswanage and Parisa Hafezi tell us:

The sanctions have been imposed to halt Iran's nuclear programme, which the West believes is being used to develop a nuclear bomb. Iran's leadership says the nuclear programme is peaceful, and it is willing to endure sanctions to maintain it as a national right.
Last month, Iran took the important step of beginning production of highly enriched uranium at a new facility hidden deep under a mountain, where it would be difficult for U.S. or Israeli warplanes to destroy it.
Israel and Western countries have accused Iran of working to develop a nuclear bomb, a charge dismissed by Tehran.

For the 700th+ time, Reuters attempts to obfuscate reality by stating that Israel and the amorphous "West" merely suspect Iran is developing a nuclear bomb and that of course, Iran denies this.  To Reuters, a perfectly symmetrical claim and rebuttal between two partisans.

Nearly 1,700 words of blather and nary a mention of the United Nations International Atomic Energy Agency and its many independent reports concluding that Iran has engaged in all aspects of developing nuclear weapons:

The information indicates that Iran has carried out the following activities that are relevant to the development of a nuclear explosive device:
• Efforts, some successful, to procure nuclear related and dual use equipment and materials by military related individuals and entities (Annex, Sections C.1 and C.2);
• Efforts to develop undeclared pathways for the production of nuclear material (Annex, Section C.3);
• The acquisition of nuclear weapons development information and documentation from a clandestine nuclear supply network (Annex, Section C.4); and
• Work on the development of an indigenous design of a nuclear weapon including the testing of components (Annex, Sections C.5–C.12).

These are the facts Reuters correspondents are desperate to conceal from public view, even as they drum into the minds of their readers, a stale and meaningless propaganda mantra intended to misinform and confuse.

This is one sick media company.

The disappearing line between fantasy and reality

Reuters correspondent and propagandist Douglas Hamilton lives in a fantasy world.

In this world, a reporter can write absolutely anything, no matter how mendacious or utterly absurd, and the public will buy it, unreservedly.  Moreover, there will never be any consequences for the reporter arising from his or her assiduous use of propaganda because the reporter's employer assumes the roles of accomplice and alibi in the string of lies and distortions perpetrated by the reporter.

Regrettably, we erred in our first sentence.

Reuters correspondent and propagandist Douglas Hamilton lives in the real world.

But there are major obstacles to overcome, chiefly that Hamas is still formally pledged to the destruction of Israel whereas the Palestine Liberation Organisation, Fatah and the Palestinian Authority - all headed by Abbas - recognise the Jewish state and have interim "roadmap" accords with it.

None of the Palestine Liberation Organisation, Fatah or the Palestinian Authority recognize the Jewish state.  Indeed, notwithstanding the fact that these groups demand a Palestinian Muslim state, ethnically cleansed of Jews, they adamantly refuse to ever accept a Jewish sovereign in their midst.

This is the lie of the "two-state solution".  This is the lie of peace and reconciliation with a deeply racist and totalitarian Arab regime.

And this is the lie that Reuters is an independent news agency with its reporters committed to holding accuracy sacrosanct, guarding against putting their opinion in a news story, and striving for balance and freedom from bias.

A fantasy world that has become all-too real.

Meanwhile, in Jerusalem....

Even as Reuters refuses to report on Iran's call and religious justification for the annihilation of Israel and genocide of the Jews as disseminated on the regime's website, the agency's correspondents are busy condemning the Jews for graffiti spray painted in Jerusalem:

(Reuters) - A Jerusalem monastery, built on the site where tradition says the tree used in the making of Jesus's cross once stood, was defaced with "Death to Christians" graffiti on Tuesday.
The words "Price Tag" daubed on a vandalised car parked outside the 11th-century Monastery of the Cross suggested that militant Jewish settlers were responsible and police said they were investigating that possibility as well as other angles.

Keep in mind that Reuters was similarly quick to accuse Jewish settlers of vandalism in the Arab village of Tuba Zangaria last October but has failed to follow up with reported evidence that it was local Arab villagers, not Jewish settlers, who likely committed the crime.

So, all a Muslim has to do to convince Reuters that Jews have vandalized property, and to persuade the agency to commit line space and three correspondents to report on this, is to spray paint "price tag" somewhere -- anywhere.

Whereas, if an Islamic government, heavily engaged in developing nuclear weapons, calls for the genocide of six million people on religious grounds and provides targeting maps pinpointing the greatest population density of that people for maximum kill ratios, Reuters correspondents are out to lunch.  

This is one sick media company.

How are those medical isotopes coming?

An article appearing on an Iranian website endorsed by that country's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has called for the annhilation of Israel and genocide of the Jews.

We're certain Reuters will find some way to downplay the news (if the agency even reports on it).

The article also states:

Israel is a satanic media outlet with bombers

Actually, we thought that was a more apt description of Reuters.

Thomson Reuters flushes its Trust Principles down the loo (Part II)

In our post just below, we cited a hysterical and wholly one-sided opinion piece by Reuters correspondents William Maclean, Peter Apps, Andrew Quinn, Mark Hosenball, and Tabassum Zakaria prophesying virtual Armageddon should Israel launch a military strike against Iran's nuclear weapons facilities -- er, sorry, disputed energy and medical isotope facilities.

Reuters normally disguises its opinion pieces with the ambiguous and scientific-sounding "Analysis" banner so that de facto propaganda can be sold on to hundreds of other media outlets as dispassionate inquiry, but in the case of the aforementioned story, even that banner is conspicuously missing.  With continuing, flagrant violations of their employer's corporate governance charter and handbook of ethical standards, Reuters correspondents simply have no shame.

Yesterday, we attached a few editorial comments to Reuters' biased litany of prophesied events associated with a possible Israeli military strike against Iran, but the central propagandistic message to which we wish to call attention, a message Reuters is intent on peddling to its audience, is that Israel is alone -- both in its assessment of the danger of Iran obtaining nuclear weapons, and in the increasingly-evident reality that it (Israel) will have to act to defend itself against Iranian threats of genocide.

Reuters correspondents embed the propagandistic message of Israeli isolation into their reporting with a barrage of entirely one-sided claims and assertions, while willfully omitting essential countervailing evidence from sources other than Israeli officials.

Correspondents Maclean and Co. for example, want readers to believe that an Israeli strike on Iran, with military or moral support from the United States, will unleash a torrent of anti-Israel and anti-American Muslim sentiment in the Middle East:

- Anti-U.S. sentiment would be inflamed in Muslim countries, especially Syria, Lebanon and the Palestinian Territories. Hamas and Hezbollah would be likely to intensify attacks making a Middle East settlement even more unlikely.

- "If the Israelis think they can attack Iran and remain immune they are living in a fools' paradise," said Farhang Jahanpour of the Oxford University Faculty of Oriental Studies.  He said a raid would create "huge anti-Israeli feeling" and an "Islamic backlash" in the region.

Of course, the United States and Israel have long been considered "Big Satan" and "Little Satan" by Muslims in the Middle East, and Israel in particular, is not interested in winning any popularity contests with Hamas, Hezbollah or Syria.  But the 72 percent of Lebanon's population not Shia would likely be thrilled with the decapitation of Hezbollah's patron.

Moreover, Reuters completely ignores the fear and loathing of Shi'ite Iran demonstrated by Sunni Arabs in Saudi Arabia and Gulf states like the United Arab Emirates, where officials have not only endorsed punishing economic sanctions against Iran but actively solicited the U.S. to pursue military action, i.e., "cut off the head of the snake".

We know that Arab states, including Egypt, have tacitly accommodated the movement of Israeli warships as a signal to Iran and reportedly provided Israel with permission to use their air space in an attack on Iran.

Maclean and Co. predictably mention none of this, cite none of this, in their agitprop because it would distract from their campaign to brand Israel as a lone loose cannon and to solicit public condemnation of the Jewish state for seeking to survive in the face of palpable threats of genocide.

Thomson Reuters flushes its Trust Principles down the loo (Part I)

In a desperately hysterical piece of agitprop and fear mongering engineered to stir up anti-Israel sentiment, Reuters correspondents William Maclean, Peter Apps, Andrew Quinn, Mark Hosenball, and Tabassum Zakaria don't even feign impartial reporting as they assemble every catastrophic scenario ever imagined, a host of inveterate Israel-haters, and a variety of cherry-picked quotes to warn that:

An Israeli raid on Iran's nuclear facilities would deliver a painful shock to the global economy, revive flagging Islamist militancy and possibly drag the United States into a regional war whether it backed its ally's attack or not.

Here's the list, not exhaustive, compiled by Reuters correspondents of those events prophesied to occur if Israel launches a military strike against Iran's nuclear weapons program:

- any doubts Tehran entertained about the wisdom of building a nuclear weapon would vanish the moment the strike occurred [we couldn't agree more, ed].

- Iran would expel International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors and quit the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, ending any possibility of a negotiated solution to the nuclear issue [and after all, negotiations have been so fruitful, ed].

- a raid would only delay, not destroy Iran's program. And once it had recovered, Iran would probably seek to develop nuclear weapons [as if they're not doing this now, ed].

- A strike on Iran and Iran's response, including attempts to close the Strait of Hormuz, which is vital for oil shipments, or an attack on Saudi oilfields, would lead to a sharp rise in oil prices that could seriously harm the U.S. economy, jeopardizing President Barack Obama's chances for re-election [yes, we're certain Reuters correspondents are very much concerned about that, ed].

- Saudi Arabia would be forced to use all its spare output capacity, a crucial safety cushion for oil markets.

- the possibility of Iran mining the straits, attacking ships as it did during the Iran-Iraq war, or challenging the legality of the passage of some vessels through its territorial waters.

- Tehran has warned several times it may seal off the Strait of Hormuz, choking the supply of Gulf crude and gas, if attacked or if sanctions mean it cannot export its oil.

- Possible Iranian actions could include harrying tanker traffic in the Gulf with fast attack boats, seizing uninhabited Gulf islands claimed by other states or grabbing hostages from passing civilian or military ships, stoking trouble in Sunni Muslim-ruled Arab states with restive Shi'ite Muslim communities and orchestrating attacks on U.S. forces in Afghanistan or elsewhere using militant "proxies" such as Hezbollah.

- If the Iranian government interprets the strike as a fully-fledged attempt at regime change, it might adopt a more muscular response could include ballistic-missile salvos on civilian and military targets in the Gulf.

- A study by former senior British intelligence official said the "The US would be assumed complicit, and would become embroiled in defending Israel against a counter-attack. This would stretch the U.S. military."

- In an indication of a divergence in Israeli and Western views, a senior former British intelligence official wrote in a private analysis in 2011 that the West had two objectives: prevent the Iranian bomb, and also "prevent Iran being bombed.  Both outcomes would be potentially disastrous for our national security," he wrote.  Referring to a strike, he went on, "the likely damage (to Iran's program) would outweigh the benefits" [now there's a cogent argument, ed.]

- Anti-U.S. sentiment would be inflamed in Muslim countries, especially Syria, Lebanon and the Palestinian Territories. Hamas and Hezbollah would be likely to intensify attacks making a Middle East settlement even more unlikely.

- "If the Israelis think they can attack Iran and remain immune they are living in a fools' paradise," said Farhang Jahanpour of the Oxford University Faculty of Oriental Studies.  He said a raid would create "huge anti-Israeli feeling" and an "Islamic backlash" in the region.

- Former U.S. National Security Adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski said in a January interview with The Real News website a strike would be a "disaster for us more than for Israel in the short run, and a fundamental disaster for Israel in the long run."  Neither the Russians or Europeans would side with America in any resulting conflict. He said that the United States could be "forced out of the region," a development he suggested would imperil Israel's existence.

My, we're breathless.  The only analysis provided by Maclean and Co. to ostensibly balance their frantic handwringing, is that of Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon, a piece of journalistic legerdemain executed quite deliberately of course, to give readers the false impression that Israel stands alone against Iran.

We'll tackle that fabrication in Part II.

'Critics' blow up Egyptian gas pipeline to Israel

Sometimes, the boilerplate rhetoric Reuters teaches its correspondents to employ in their stories doesn't quite fit.

For the twelfth time since the fall of the Mubarak regime in Egypt, the pipeline bringing Egyptian gas to Israel has been bombed.  Reuters isn't certain exactly who committed the sabotage but does tell us:

Egypt's 20-year gas deal with Israel, signed in the Mubarak era, is unpopular with some Egyptians, with critics accusing Israel of not paying enough for the gas.

Too funny.

Reuters: Israeli leaders making 'provocative' comments about Iran

Formerly with Newsweek magazine and Dateline NBC, correspondent Mark Hosenball was hired by Reuters in September of 2011.  Hosenball, who is described in bios as an "investigative reporter" is covering international politics for Reuters and has already penned several tendentious stories about Iran where he has sought to shift attention away from that country's clandestine and illegal nuclear weapons program, and onto the country being targeted by it.

In a conflict which has seen the International Atomic Energy Agency report that Iran has engaged in all aspects of developing and delivering a nuclear bomb, the United Nations impose sanctions against Iran for defiantly refusing to cease uranium enrichment and open its nuclear sites to inspection, and explicit American and European threats to pursue military action against Iran if it continues on its path to nuclear weapons, Hosenball attempts to portray Israel as a loose cannon and spoiler:

(Reuters) - The Obama administration is increasingly anxious about Israeli leaders' provocative public comments on Iran's nuclear program but does not have hard proof that it will strike Iran in the next few months, U.S. and European officials said.

Right.  It is Israeli leaders who have been making "provocative" public comments about Iran.

Apparently, Hosenball was busy checking out the employee cafeteria yesterday when Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, stated:

The Zionist regime is a cancerous tumor and it will be removed.

Hosenball looks to fit right in with the Reuters Trust Principles.

The exception that proves the rule

In a "man bites dog" story, Reuters correspondents Jihan Abdalla and Allyn Fisher-Ilan tell the tale of an Israeli soldier, inadvertently separated from his battalion in Judea and Samaria (the "West Bank") where they had been confronting Palestinians throwing rocks.  The soldier was apparently escorted out of the territory by a local villager:

In the stormy weather, a soldier charged with guarding a street ended up isolated from his peers and was unaware when they withdrew from the area, reports and witnesses said.
A Palestinian man identified as Mohammed said he went to tell a soldier he noticed standing alone on a village road that the others had withdrawn.
The soldier "seemed confused and his face turned red," Mohammed said, adding he then escorted the soldier toward his own home where other soldiers later picked him up.
Israeli media said the soldier, armed with a personal weapon, had been isolated from his unit for half an hour. A military spokeswoman called it "a matter of minutes" before he was reunited with other troops.
Ayyed Morrar, a local activist in Boudros, told an Israeli television station of the assistance given the soldier:
"We oppose the occupation and are willing to pay the price for freedom, but not in a way that leads to killing."

Abdalla and Fisher-Ilan don't disclose why such a mundane occurrence is worthy of a column by the largest multimedia news company in the world.

So we will.

It's because this story belies all of the "dog bites man" stories Reuters correspondents have witnessed over the years and deliberately hidden from public view: