So what do you think of this Israeli "massacre" at the Jenin refugee camp?
In the British accounts of the alleged worst human-rights atrocity since, oh, the Dutch took charge at Srebrenica, you can't help noticing a curious sameness. All reports rely on the same couple of eyewitnesses -- "Kamal Anis, a labourer" (The Times), "A quiet, sad-looking young man called Kamal Anis" (The Independent), "Kamal Anis, 28" (The Daily Telegraph) -- and the same handful of victims -- "A man named only as Bashar once lived there" (The Telegraph), "the burned remains of a man, Bashar" (The Evening Standard), "Bashir died in agony" (The Times). You'd think with so many thousands massacred there'd be a bigger selection of victims and distraught loved ones, wouldn't you? But apparently not. I do hope Fleet Street's herd-like experts aren't falling for the old native spin machine yet again -- cf. "the mighty Pashtun warrior, humbler of empires"; "the brutal Afghan winter"; etc.
Reporters Back Down From Jenin "Massacre" Reports - Israel National News | 4/18/02
In Jenin, the army has withdrawn its forces from the terrorist stronghold neighborhood in which the fierce battles of the previous two weeks took place. The soldiers continue to surround the area.
After almost two weeks of "Jenin Massacre!" headlines, the world press has been forced to face the truth: There was none. Journalist David Bedein of Israel Resource News Agency reports that since Sunday, when the IDF began allowing reporters into Jenin, the real story has turned out to be somewhat less dramatic than that which some of them had been reporting.
Saudi cleric says peace not possible with Israel (Jews must be terminated) - Reuters 4/19/2002
A top Saudi Arabian Muslim cleric prayed to God on Friday to "terminate" the Jews and urged Arabs and Muslims to abandon efforts to make peace with Israel. "We must say farewell to peace initiatives with these people (Jews)," Sheikh Abdul-Rahman al-Sudais told worshippers at the Grand Mosque in Mecca, Islam's holiest shrine, in a sermon, carried live by several Arabic television and radio networks. He prayed to God to "terminate" the Jews, whom he described as "the scum of humanity... the rats of the world... prophet killers... pigs and monkeys".