AP: Israel Threatens Violence? Hmmm....

Cross-posted at the Jawa Report.

The AP (get those magnifying glasses out, people) attempts to explain how the Israelis are equivalent to the Palestinians in violations of a 5-month old Gaza truce in this warped little piece ( by AP "stringer" by Ibrahim Barzak).

There is, of course, the obligatory Palestinian body photograph (by AP "stringer" Madji Mohammed) accompanying the piece, but there's more. And given what we've recently been uncovering regarding AP stringers covering ME conflicts, I think this article and its slant deserves a little additional scrutiny. Just a readthrough of the first four paragraphs is a little off-putting to those looking to find out what is really happening:

Israelis and Palestinians threatened Sunday to scrap a truce that has largely ended five months of Gaza violence, with Palestinian militants insisting it must also apply to the West Bank and Israeli leaders complaining that Gaza rocket squads are still active.

Israeli Defense Minister Amir Peretz told his Cabinet militants in Gaza continued firing rockets into Israel - including one on Sunday - despite the cease-fire.

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert "warned that Israel would not be able to show restraint for very much longer in the face of the ongoing rocket fire," a statement from Olmert's office said following his meeting with the Austrian foreign minister.

Israeli officials fear militants are using the truce to rearm with weapons smuggled through tunnels under the Gaza-Egypt border.

OK. Israelis are responding to rockets attacks and threats of violence. They aren't instigating anything (save, you know, existing in that region of the world). There have been ongoing rocket attacks for months, and the "truce" (according to the AP) has "largely ended the violence?" Has Israel been instigating violence? The AP doesn't really reveal this until later.

And of course, Israeli soldiers killed a Palestinian boy who was peacefully throwing rocks at soldiers taking down a roadblock in the West Bank. The soldiers should have taken the rocks and just done nothing, I suppose. Brutal Zionist thugs:

Israeli troops on Sunday shot and killed Jamil al-Zabazhi, 15, who was throwing rocks at soldiers in the West Bank city of Nablus, witnesses and hospital officials said. The army said troops fired at Palestinians throwing rocks at soldiers who were dismantling a barricade on a road.

Multiple Palestinians peacefully throwing rocks at soldiers. Of course, this is followed by threats from the peaceful organization known as Islamic Jihad for more violence, preemptively blaming the Israelis for violence done on their behalf:

A statement from the group said Israel would be responsible "for any response in the coming hours" by Islamic Jihad."We will respond to any violation. We are waiting for the right time and place," [the spokesman] said.

I suppose throwing rocks at soldiers taking down barriers qualifies as upholding a peace agreement to a group who is names itself after Islamic warfare. Given what we know about Islamic Jihad, Hamas and company, I'm having a really hard time believing that Israel just wantonly destroys and kills people on its own without provocation. Especially since the AP notes this buried in paragraph 10:

In the five months before the truce took effect a week ago, Gaza militants fired daily barrages of rockets at Israeli towns and villages, and Israel hit back with airstrikes at militants and incursions into northern Gaza, causing dozens of casualties and widespread destruction.

Notice who targets civilians and who targets legitimate military targets. The AP, of course, has trouble making a clear distinction.