NYT FINDS "TERROR" IN EGYPT, NOT ISRAEL

Terrorism in Egypt, Not In Israel? (TimesWatch)
The text box to Michael Slackman’s story from Egypt reads "Latest suicide bombs stir fears of sustained terrorism in Egypt."

The story itself, about yesterday’s assault by suicide bombers on a peacekeeping mission in the northern Egyptian Sinai, includes four mentions of "terrorism" to describe both that attack and an earlier triple bomb attack that killed nearly two dozen people at another Sinai resort town, Dahab.

Great. Yet Slackman’s emphasis on terrorism points up a pro-Palestinian double standard in Times coverage.

Contrast Slackman’s forthright description of the bombers as "terrorists" with the weasel-wording the Times typically uses to describe Palestinian terror against Israelis.

From an April 19 article by Greg Myre and Dina Kraft: "The United States and the European Union regard Hamas as a terrorist group and are refusing to deal with any of its members, inside or outside the government." Hamas kills Israeli civilians, and the strongest words the Times can muster is that some "regard" Hamas as a terrorist group?

Interestingly enough, the Times did recently accurately describe Hamas attacks as terrorism -- when the group unwittingly harmed Americans.

Here’s reporter Julia Preston on April 15 on a lawsuit by Americans hurt in a terrorist attack in Israel: "These victims of terrorism in a foreign land seek more than healing; they want justice, but lack a clear remedy. So they are trying a novel strategy: going after banks they say helped to finance Palestinian terrorism."