AFP: "Israel Bombed Syria", Syria: "No They Didn't" (Plus: Is The LA Times Fabricating Anti-Israel Sources?)
All those headlines about Israel bombing Syria? Yeah, no:
(1) You might think that all of the headlines about Israel bombing Syria are based on the earlier statement that Shaaban clarified. Except that the AFP article includes the Shaaban quote about how Israel didn't bomb Syria - and then has the headline "Syria returns fire after Israeli war planes bomb territory". Outstanding work. The "returns fire" part is particularly impressive - without it, the reader might not realize that the whole thing is a Cycle Of Violence (tm)
(2) Blaming Israel for attacking Syria is particularly important if you're gearing up to blame Israel for Iran's attempts to turn this incident into a war. Not sayin', just sayin'.
(3) After the jump, the LA Times. Sigh. The LA Times.
The article by Jeffrey Fleishman is headlined with: "The incident - which the U.S. confirms, but Israel does not - could further heighten tensions." This statement - highlighting tensions between Israel and the US and implying that Israel is lying - is a little strange. It's a little strange for two reasons. First, the only line in the entire article that justifies it is "a US official confirmed the incident Thursday." No name. No quote. No information about this statement that serves as the headline and the frame for the story. Second, it appears to be in stark contrast to reality:
You don't think it's suspicious that Fleishman and the LA Times don't actually name the source that provides the basis for the entire anti-Israel frame of the headline? You don't think that they outright just outright made something up to make Israel look bad do you?
References:
* 'IDF aircraft didn't attack' [YNet]
* Syria returns fire after Israeli war planes bomb territory [AFP]
* Iran: Israel will be responsible for escalation in region [YNet]
* Syria fires at Israeli jets [LAT]
* U.S. refuses to comment on Syria's claim of Israeli airstrike [Ha'aretz]
Previously:
* Vulgar Palestinian Propaganda Succeeds with International Media - Again!
* Global Media Suddenly All Over This Darfur Thing - Turns Out, It's Israel's Fault
* European Media Bias - Really?
