Thursday, September 29, 2005

If I had a dime...

... for every time Honest Reporting cried wolf, I'd have too many dimes. Today's over-reaction:
From an AP article by Sara El Deeb:

"... in an unprecedented step, Israel set up five artillery pieces on the border, and fired test-rounds into empty fields in northern Gaza in preparation for a possible artillery strike, causing no injuries. The Israeli soldiers danced in a circle after firing the artillery and sang a biblical song of revenge."

To anyone familiar with the professionalism of the IDF, this scene of a bloodthirsty 'circle dance' appears highly unlikely. Upon reporting such an unusual event, standard journalistic practice prescribes stating a reliable source within the article itself, which El Deeb did not do.
First let's note HR's use of the word "bloodthirsty." Does it appear in El Deeb's article? No. So what is it doing in HR's charecterization of said article? Isn't that just the sort of trick HR claims to disdain?

And though I am as familiar as anyone with the IDF's professionalism (a clue!!) I don't think this scene is unlikely, and certainly it isn't impossible. I can even guess which song they were singing. I know they play it at weddings. They even sing it at Simchat Torah. Why should I doubt that they play it at army bases, too? (If you can find a link to the song itself, I'll give you some of my dimes)

Reading HR's complaint again, I'm not sure they even object to El Deeb's story per say. What they appear to dislike, is the fact that she chose to reveal an ugly little truth about Jews: Some of us hate Arabs just as pathologically as some of them hate us.