That "emergency public relations" campaign Israel announced – just prior to Saturday’s attack on Gaza, which has killed over 200 so far – has been quite effective. Take, for example, the Huffington Post, which begins its "coverage" with this lede:
"Israeli warplanes retaliating for rocket fire from the Gaza Strip pounded dozens of security compounds across the Hamas-ruled territory in unprecedented waves of airstrikes Saturday, killing more than 200 people and wounding nearly 400 in the single bloodiest day of fighting in years."
It was all about "retaliation" – no mention of the Israeli blockade, which keeps vital medical and other supplies out of Gaza. The Palestinians, according to Huffpo, are getting their just desserts. And Fox News – the mouthpiece of the Bush administration and their neocon enablers, has an identical take on the situation:
"Israeli warplanes retaliating for rocket fire from the Gaza Strip pounded dozens of security compounds across the Hamas-ruled territory in unprecedented waves of airstrikes Saturday, killing more than 200 people and wounding nearly 400 in the single bloodiest day of fighting in years."
So do a lot of other media outlets, some of which "credit" this narrative to the Associated Press.
It’s not like there was no alternative to the AP story: after all, having just raised $25 million from rich Obama backers, you would think the HuffPuff would have the resources to re-write this particular narrative along more objective lines, but you’ll forgive me, I’m sure, for implying that perhaps this would impact their fundraising negatively.
They also don’t want to get ahead of their Dear Leader, Obama, who shows no signs of making so much as a comment many hours after the killing started – and isn’t expected to be any more even-handed than the Bush administration, in any event.