So the big news today is the bombing in Gaza that killed three Americans:
The convoy targeted by a roadside bomb was heading to Gaza City where a cultural attache was due to interview Palestinian students hoping to receive scholarships for post-graduate studies in the United States, Palestinian officials said.
All the news stories are making a big deal over that – as though the lives of the dead guards would be worth less if they were there for some other purpose.
But this is big news. And not just for the cynical reason that, to the media, dead Americans are more important than dead Jews. That’s old news. However, the “show restraint” commandment that the world keeps issuing to Israel won’t go over too well with the US government, that’s my prediction. The Palestinians are already quaking in their boots about the response. Even the terrorist groups aren’t bragging openly:
Militant groups denied responsibility for the bombing — a rare attack on foreigners in the uprising — and it was condemned by Palestinian officials including President Yasser Arafat, who said he had ordered an investigation.
Of course, that’s only the official condemnation. We all know from experience what those are worth.
A better gauge of sentiment is the reaction in the street:
Six U.S. investigators who arrived under Palestinian police escort to examine the scene of the bombing were forced to leave after youths from Jabalya stoned them and their vehicles.
And it took about 5 seconds for the media to start blaming US support for Israel as the cause or “justification” for the attack. It’s the old “maybe if we’re nicer to the terrorists, they won’t hate us so much” school of thought.
Yeah right.