As Mark Twain once quipped, “One of the most startling differences between a cat and a lie is that a cat has only nine lives.” Who puts this truth to practice better than the Palestinians? Okay, mainstream media do too. They think there’s nothing even remotely fishy about a young Gazan schoolgirl, having allegedly just lost her family, practically suctioned to a TV camera, directing the crew to “film, film” her in her “grief.”

Investigations reveal that “the Gaza beach tragedy” is shaping up to be another Palestinian hoax, destined to take its place alongside the Jenin “massacre” fable and the Mohammed Al-Dura case. If you don’t know of those deceptions (and many others), it’s because the media—mainstream and other—don’t publish retractions when it comes to Israel.

Does anyone remember one notorious, rather-representative video, briefly screened on TV (so briefly as to be almost subliminal) at the time of the Jenin libel? A couple of fellow “icons of the Palestinian struggle” (which is how the NYT dubbed the actress debuting on the Gaza beach) had directed the usually complicit cameramen to film a funeral procession. The corpse, which was being lugged by a group of aspiring movie extras, was mistakenly dropped from the stretcher, only to rise from the dead and scurry away.

The Jenin massacre saw some very skilled Palestinian propagandists—the bonny Raghida Dergham of Al Hayat, and the beguiling legal adviser, Diana Buttu—beat on breast over hundreds, perhaps thousands, of Palestinians allegedly killed by the IDF in an anti-terrorism operation. Even when Kadoura Moussa, then-Fatah director for the northern West Bank, tallied only 56 battle casualties, the media continued to speak of the “Jenin Massacre.”

Yeah, that’s the way the Palestinians and their protégés roll.

Concerning the new symbol of the M.O.P.E (Most Oppressed People Ever AKA the Palestinians): Once the gush and tosh subsided, the following facts emerged (A doff of the hat to HonestReproting.com):

“It is now becoming clear that, despite the claims of the Palestinians and the international media’s rush to blame Israel, the deaths of seven Palestinian civilians on a beach in Gaza on 9 June were not caused by the IDF. Investigations by the IDF and others over the past few days have revealed new evidence that a Hamas mine was most likely the cause of the beach blast:

1) Shrapnel removed from two of the wounded Palestinians evacuated to Israeli hospitals was not from Israeli-made ordnance.

2) No large crater was evident on the beach as would be expected from the impact of an artillery shell landing from above. The blast site would suggest the likelihood of a mine exploding from below the sand rather than above.

3) The IDF fired six shells towards the Gaza area, one of which remained unaccounted for. All of the shells were fired, however, more than 10 minutes before the blast that killed the Palestinians.

4) Palestinian Television broadcast doctored scenes showing file footage of Israeli naval vessels shelling Gaza, interspersed with video of the beach victims, despite the fact that the Israeli Navy was not responsible for any shelling at the time. Click here to see the footage courtesy of Palestinian Media Watch.

5) Suspicions were initially raised by the Palestinian refusal to cooperate with Israeli investigators and the remarkably swift cleansing of evidence from the blast scene by Hamas gunmen who arrived shortly after the incident. Palestinian spokespeople usually display parts of Israeli shells to the international media – but not this time.

6) Israeli intelligence suggests that Hamas had mined the beach area in order to prevent Israeli naval commandos from landing there as part of anti-terror operations to prevent Qassam missile launches.”

Of his people, Ibrahim Abu-Lughod, that most perceptive Palestinian intellectual, said this: “We’re mediocre, and in the end maybe that very mediocrity is what’s going to beat the Israelis, for all their brilliance.” He was right. Thanks to the power of Palestinian propaganda and its tentacular support system, Abu-Lughod’s people continue to prevail. –ILANA

As Mark Twain once quipped, “One of the most startling differences between a cat and a lie is that a cat has only nine lives.” Who puts this truth to practice better than the Palestinians? Okay, mainstream media do too. They think there’s nothing even remotely fishy about a young Gazan schoolgirl, having allegedly just lost her family, practically suctioned to a TV camera, directing the crew to “film, film” her in her “grief.”

Investigations reveal that “the Gaza beach tragedy” is shaping up to be another Palestinian hoax, destined to take its place alongside the Jenin “massacre” fable and the Mohammed Al-Dura case. If you don’t know of those deceptions (and many others), it’s because the media—mainstream and other—don’t publish retractions when it comes to Israel.

Does anyone remember one notorious, rather-representative video, briefly screened on TV (so briefly as to be almost subliminal) at the time of the Jenin libel? A couple of fellow “icons of the Palestinian struggle” (which is how the NYT dubbed the actress debuting on the Gaza beach) had directed the usually complicit cameramen to film a funeral procession. The corpse, which was being lugged by a group of aspiring movie extras, was mistakenly dropped from the stretcher, only to rise from the dead and scurry away.

The Jenin massacre saw some very skilled Palestinian propagandists—the bonny Raghida Dergham of Al Hayat, and the beguiling legal adviser, Diana Buttu—beat on breast over hundreds, perhaps thousands, of Palestinians allegedly killed by the IDF in an anti-terrorism operation. Even when Kadoura Moussa, then-Fatah director for the northern West Bank, tallied only 56 battle casualties, the media continued to speak of the “Jenin Massacre.”

Yeah, that’s the way the Palestinians and their protégés roll.

Concerning the new symbol of the M.O.P.E (Most Oppressed People Ever AKA the Palestinians): Once the gush and tosh subsided, the following facts emerged (A doff of the hat to HonestReproting.com):

“It is now becoming clear that, despite the claims of the Palestinians and the international media’s rush to blame Israel, the deaths of seven Palestinian civilians on a beach in Gaza on 9 June were not caused by the IDF. Investigations by the IDF and others over the past few days have revealed new evidence that a Hamas mine was most likely the cause of the beach blast:

1) Shrapnel removed from two of the wounded Palestinians evacuated to Israeli hospitals was not from Israeli-made ordnance.

2) No large crater was evident on the beach as would be expected from the impact of an artillery shell landing from above. The blast site would suggest the likelihood of a mine exploding from below the sand rather than above.

3) The IDF fired six shells towards the Gaza area, one of which remained unaccounted for. All of the shells were fired, however, more than 10 minutes before the blast that killed the Palestinians.

4) Palestinian Television broadcast doctored scenes showing file footage of Israeli naval vessels shelling Gaza, interspersed with video of the beach victims, despite the fact that the Israeli Navy was not responsible for any shelling at the time. Click here to see the footage courtesy of Palestinian Media Watch.

5) Suspicions were initially raised by the Palestinian refusal to cooperate with Israeli investigators and the remarkably swift cleansing of evidence from the blast scene by Hamas gunmen who arrived shortly after the incident. Palestinian spokespeople usually display parts of Israeli shells to the international media – but not this time.

6) Israeli intelligence suggests that Hamas had mined the beach area in order to prevent Israeli naval commandos from landing there as part of anti-terror operations to prevent Qassam missile launches.”

Of his people, Ibrahim Abu-Lughod, that most perceptive Palestinian intellectual, said this: “We’re mediocre, and in the end maybe that very mediocrity is what’s going to beat the Israelis, for all their brilliance.” He was right. Thanks to the power of Palestinian propaganda and its tentacular support system, Abu-Lughod’s people continue to prevail. –ILANA

The Boston Globe assures readers that “in the Arab world, Zarqawi tactics bred disgust.”

“If you are fighting foreigners, how come you kill 5,000 [Iraqi goons have killed multitudes more than that] or other innocent civilians and only a few Americans?” asks Bashar al-Akhras, whose “father was killed in the November 2005 suicide bombings of three Amman hotels, claimed by Zarqawi as retribution for Jordan’s support of US policy in the region.”

“His extended family,” Akhras relates, “consists of hard-working Palestinians who live across the Arab world and are bystanders in the war between Al Qaeda and the United States.”

So Akhras disagrees with the Mayor of London’s favorite “progressive” theologian, Yusuf al-Qaradawi. Qaradawi draws a sharp “moral distinction” between suicide bombings against ordinary Londoners (not good) and those against ordinary Israelis (perfectly good). He is not alone among Muslim ulama (scholars).

I’m eager to hear this lad extend his indignation and disgust to the slaughter by terrorists of all civilians—Jordanian, Iraqi, American, and Israeli.

It would be good too if the press avoided sweeping, unsubstantiated and unqualified generalizations.