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AP on child deaths
 Arnold Roth, whose daughter Malki was killed by a suicide bomber in the Sbarros pizzeria in 2001, was asked by the journalist to respond to this AP article released today. Roth, who was quoted and also pictured in some editions, had this response:
I got back from the second international congress of terror victims in Bogota yesterday, so you'll understand why I feel especially sensitive right now to the way terrorism is represented and misrepresented.
It upsets me very much to see the agonizing story of child murders largely reduced to an AP statistical analysis. Counting bodies - whether it's factually correct or incorrect - ignores the central reality of terrorism. The terrorists want as many bodies as possible, and they don't make any effort to hide it. Counter-terrorism warfare causes innocents to lose their lives. This is awful - but it's not the same as the cold-blooded, deliberate viciousness that motivates people like the murderers of my daughter.
From personal experience, I have a better-than-average sense for how complex the journalism profession is. Still, you'll understand why I am so infuriated when an article which purports to compare the deaths of Israeli children with the deaths of Palestinian Arab children ignores the fundamental issue at the heart of the carnage: the Palestinians have a huge number of people interested in seeing more and more dead Israeli children.
If Israel failed to take the pro-active and energetic steps it does, many, many more Israeli children's lives would end in murder. The statistics in your article would then look very different. Israeli lives are saved every single day because of the work of the Israeli security forces. This is a reality of the asynchronous war of the past four years and for anyone aware of the facts, irrespective of political viewpoints, there's no room for doubt on the issue. The post-Arafat Palestinian political leadership acknowledges it. But instead of doing what moral and responsible people would - that is, forcefully preventing terror -they claim they prefer to 'discuss' and 'persuade' and not take the risk of arousing internal conflict within their own ranks. This is why it now falls to the Israeli security forces to police the Palestinians, with all that that entails.
There should have been some place found for this fundamental difference of standpoint in the article. Since it wasn't, the message is misleading and in my opinion false: [open italics] poor Israeli families weeping over their misery; poor Palestinian families weeping over their misery; how tragic - but what can civilized people (meaning we readers of American newspapers that buy their stories from AP's wire service) possibly do? The cycle of violence continues. [close italics]
But there is no cycle of violence in reality - not here. You know yourself, from living in the thick of things in Jerusalem, that if civilized people don't do everything in our power to stop the terrorists, they will spread their terror wider and wider. Understanding the flow of events is not about statistics - it's about terror. Almost every important thing in the way civilized society tries to regulate and manage itself today is about terror. Yet the word 'terror' did not appear even once in the article.
I'm responding in what I hope is a constructive fashion because (a) you invited me to, and (b) because this is an important article, reflecting months of journalistic and editorial work and likely to be quoted. I appreciate that you showed it to me, and since you have I will ask that you consider changing it before it goes out. Assuming it's too late for that to happen, you'll understand when I say it disappoints me to see such a critically important issue being presented in a way that plays to unhelpful stereotypes.
Sincerely, Arnold Roth
Posted at
05:03 PM
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Beautifully written.
Stan
Posted by: Stan at Mar 7, 2005 2:53:30 AM
She was a beautiful girl.
Posted by: Jane YIS at Mar 8, 2005 6:44:22 PM
My letter to the local paper in Springfield, IL. Seems we see this similarly:
It is ironic that The State Journal Register chose to run this article
with the back drop of the killing of 5 "young" Israelis outside a
night club on the beach of Tel Aviv. Ironic because during the months
of killing by Palestinian terrorists of Israelis no effort was made by
your paper to clarify the issues and analyze the data. Now AP comes
along and finds a way to show that many more young Palestinians have
died than young Israelis. Granted that the article does point out
without contradicting the fact that Palestinian terrorists and
military operatives choose to make their attacks in densely populated
areas making the deaths of inocent bystanders more likely.
We do know that young Palestinians even ones 16 or younger have been
selected to carry explosives in to populated Israeli areas. Did the AP
gather any statistics on that? No. We know that the Palestinian
Authority does not tolerate a free press, so gathering such statistics
from investigative reporters in the Palestinian areas is suspect. We
also know that Palestinian Ambulances have been used to carry
explosives, so even the reports of Medical staff becomes suspect.
The major Human Rights organization, Human Rights Watch, has produced
reports laying out the case that Palestinian organizations abuse and
misuse children in their intifada against Israel[Suicide Bombing
Attacks Against Irsraeli Citizens, 10/2002,
http://www.hrw.org/reports/2002/isrl-pa] & [Occupied Territories:Stop
Use of Children in Suicide Bombings,11/3/2004,
http://hrw.org/english/doc/2004/11/02/isrlpa9591.htm].
The State Journal Register should know that cold numbers don't tell
the story. Don't inform the public that Palestinians make it a policy
to target civilians no matter what the age. Palestinians attack from
densely populated areas increasing the risk that their inocent
civilian population may suffer. Israel must above all protect their
citizens and provide security for their people. When unprovoked
attacks take place, lives of everyone on both sides are disrupted. In
2000, Arafat could have accepted or at least countered the Israeli
offer of peace. He chose not to do either. He chose to begin the
Intefada. Israel is still seeking a partner for peace. Just as the
Palestinian people seek peace. It is time for people in the street to
insist that their leader close down the terror and get to the table.
Sincerely,
Posted by: Bokappy at Mar 10, 2005 4:42:55 PM
in august of 2001 i was traveling throughout israel. the day the sbarros was blown up in jeruselum i happened to be in the vicinity. by 0900 i had been attacked by two arabs with knives near the damascus gate of the old city. because of my military and police training i only received a two inch cut to my forearm. my dliemma was also that i was surrounded by at least 200 other arabs. fortunately the assault was handled quickly and with precision allowing me to get away. later that morning i wound up in the underground cardo (shopping bazaar) and had wandered WAY too far and was in the middle of the arab quarter. were it not for an arab butcher and later a jeweler i would not have known i was in the wrong place and an extremely angry arab might have attacked me in the jewelers store. by then it was a little after 1300 and i was deciding to go to lunch and chose to go to the sbarros a short walk from the old city and my hotel. by 1330 i had changed my mind and went instead to the police unit by the wailing wall to visit with the unit commander and a seargent whom i met a day earlier. while we were comisserating the radio suddenly began to crackle furiously and everyone around me began to mobilze - i knew something bad had happened and excused myself so they could attend to business. i left and headed back to my hotel 2 blocks past the sbarros. when i approached the area there were throngs of people and i pushed my way through the crowd. if someone was hurt i could also help as i am a registered nurse with ER experience. suddenly, i came upon the carnage that was done. bodies being treated and transported; blood stained sidewalk; charred interior; broken glass; people weeping; rescuers looking for more dead or injured, body parts, perhaps other bombs. you see, the reason i chose that place for lunch is that i ate there for dinner the previous evening. some of the same employees who i interacted with the previous evening - some also arab- were wounded and killed in the attack. this wasn't all done by someone who didn't get what they ordered or whose food was cold instead of hot. this was done by a cold blood thirsty killer who had no regard for the men, women, and children who would be effected. he and his cohorts didn't care about the man who had to bury his wife but not his daughter because the latter was vaporized leaving no trace of her to find for burial; or the infant thrown out into the middle of the street by the blast, or the countless others who were wounded both inside and outside the sbarros. but for one moment of hesitation and a change in mind, i, too could have fallen victim. shortly after i reurned to the states i received an email from a friend who forwarded an email they received. in it the writer describes how he survived but the man sitting at the next table was blown into the back wall and killed. the man was sitting at the same table i sat at when there the previous night, and likely would have sat at had i returned in time to sit down to eat. so much to happen in one day yet israelis live it constantly because of these murders. i returned again in sept. 2003 to see the sbarros open for business a testament to the strength of israeli spirit, of the jewish triumph over evil. america got hit because our arrogant sloppy and complacent attitude toward evildoers. what the rest of the world is now doing to protect itself it learned from israel. when will they finally get it!!! stop trying to kill us. rather, embrace us for what we can offer the world.
Posted by: norm g. at Mar 10, 2005 6:59:45 PM
well said - i am one of the few brits arguing israels cotner.
keep going!
Posted by: cam at Mar 11, 2005 12:27:14 AM
Arnold: first, I would like to offer my condolences on the loss of your beautiful daughter. I admire you for continuing to carry on "the good fight" through responses such as this one in spite of your loss.
Additionally, thank you for your well-stated response to the AP. We need more people like you putting some perspective out there.
Faye
Posted by: Faye at Mar 17, 2005 4:56:22 PM
The false equivalency drawn by the AP and many other media between civilians deliberately murdered by terrorists and civilians killed unintentionally by anti terrorist soldiers, is sickening. We all need to let the news media know that such false equivalencies are morally repugnant and won't be tolerated. That is not real journalism.
Posted by: Ken at Mar 27, 2005 6:53:34 PM
The false equivalency drawn by the AP and many other media between civilians deliberately murdered by terrorists and civilians killed unintentionally by anti terrorist soldiers, is sickening. We all need to let the news media know that such false equivalencies are morally repugnant and won't be tolerated. That is not real journalism.
Posted by: Ken at Mar 27, 2005 6:54:09 PM
When will the people in Europe realise ?
Arab terrorism in other countries is not caused by the actions of Israel,not only do Arabs want to destroy the state of Israel,they also want to destroy Western culture and Democracy.
Palestinian terrorists deliberately target civilians,Israels forces kill civilians by accident,as the terrorists work from highly populated areas with no regard for palestinian civilians.
I recall one instance when a Palestinian was shot by a palestinian terrorist,and tried to make it look like Israel had killed the boy.
I cannot see the media bias against Israel changing,mores the pity.
Posted by: Warren at Mar 31, 2005 4:20:51 PM
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