"Only 620 of the rockets launched [by Palestinian Islamic Jihad] made it into Israeli territory" (emphasis added) is the strange way The Washington Post depicted the hailstorm of rockets on Israel from Gaza.  Would The Washington Post portray the bombardment of America by 620 rockets from a genocidal enemy as "only 620 rockets"?  In "Israel kills 2 more militant leaders as Gaza fight rages on" (printed version title May 12, 2023), The Washington Post invents a title that portrays Israel as the aggressor, missing the cause of the fighting, which was the rocket fire from Gaza against Israeli civilians.  The article even admits that "one rocket fell on the roof of a kindergarten in the Eshkol region; another hit an empty playground."  The Palestinians are wantonly attacking children, yet the Post downplays the rocket attack to incriminate Israel's response.

Moreover, the Post reinforced its bias in a shocking twist, saying Gaza's rocket attacks were "retaliatory."  Twice the paper referred to the rocket attacks as such.  According to the Post, attacking children is a form of retaliation!

Gaza is ruled by a totalitarian regime called Hamas, which has as its mission statement the destruction of Israel.  Within Gaza, there are other terrorist groups like the Iranian-backed Palestinian Islamic Jihad, the gang that perpetrated the latest rocket attack.

According to Wikipedia, Palestinian Islamic Jihad is a militant group that "rejects the Oslo Accords and whose objective is the establishment of a sovereign Islamic Palestinian state.  It calls for the military destruction of Israel and rejects a two-state solution."  Further, "[t]he organization is responsible for a number of attacks including more than 30 suicide bombings." 

Palestinian Islamic Jihad is guilty of killing and maiming hundreds of Israelis over many years.  It needs to be stopped.  Any counterattack on this group by Israel is warranted and justified, especially when the militants plan attacks and shoot rockets, as they did this past week.  For the Post to portray Palestinian Islamic Jihad rocket fire as "retaliatory" is to sympathize with the genocidal terrorists, who the Post admits have launched rockets that hit Jewish kindergartens.  Can the Post possibly stoop lower?

Dr. Michael Berenhaus is a freelance watchdog activist who works tirelessly to combat anti-Israel bias in the media.  He has been widely published in news sources such as The Economist, The New York Times, and The Washington Post.

Image: scottgunn via Flickr, CC BY-NC 2.0.