Let's call it what it was: masked settlers ambushing an NBC News crew and local Palestinians in the West Bank village of Jalud is an indefensible, unacceptable criminal act.This wasn't a "clash." It was an assault on journalists doing their jobs and people going about their daily lives.Prime Minister Netanyahu condemned the attack, calling it a "criminal act of violence" committed by "a handful of rioters" who "harm Israel's standing in the world." Israeli security forces have confiscated three vehicles and opened an investigation — as Netanyahu called upon them to arrest those involved and deal with them to the full extent of the law.
Sadly, this is not the first time, and Israel must show zero tolerance for such behavior by a lawless fringe — with arrests, prosecutions and prison sentences.ISRAELI PRESIDENT HERZOG CALLS ANTISEMITISM A 'CONTAMINATION OF SOCIETIES' AS HATE CRIMES SURGEMasked Israeli settlers attacked an NBC News crew on Saturday in the West Bank.(NBC/screen shot)But there's another important story here, and it's about the press itself.
For over two years, Hamas and Gaza dominated nearly every broadcast, every U.N.session, every campus protest.
That unparalleled coverage eclipsed the humanitarian crisis in Sudan, where the number of people in dire need of help is estimated at over 33 million (!) with close to 12 million people displaced from their homes.However, even as the war in Gaza came to an end, global newsrooms didn't move on.They moved over.
Judea and Samaria, also known as The West Bank, became the new venue of choice, the fresh well of footage and outrage needed to keep the anti-Israel narrative running at full volume.The war may be winding down.
The narrative apparatus built around it is more active than ever.Sauvignon Blanc wine grapes are harvested at dawn for Shilo winery on August 26, 2020 at the Gvaot Olam farm in the West Bank Jewish settlement of Itamar.(David Silverman/Getty Images)JEWISH UCLA STUDENTS BEATEN WITH STICKS,...