Israeli Youth Killed by Axe in West Bank

Sky News reports that a man has gone on the rampage with an axe in the West Bank town of Bat Ayin in Gush Etzion, killing a 13 year old Israeli boy and seriously wounding a child of 7.

The town, which has no security fence 'for ideological reasons', is now in shock as people are being advised to stay in their homes.

The murderer, believed to be a Palestinian terrorist, was fired on but escaped and is still on the run.

Please forgive me for using the Sky News article, for it is almost grotesquely biased. However this story is still breaking here, and it is one of the quickest services.

Let's do a quick 'bias count';

The attack is likely to heighten tensions between the Palestinians and the new hard-line Israeli government.

Condemning them for a response they have not yet made, whilst also implying that they're bound to over react.

It occurred about 12 miles from the settlement home of controversial new Israeli foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman.

The British press can't resist a dig at Lieberman, describing him as an 'ultra-nationalist'. whilst failing to acknowledge that he is what you get when you abandon a nation to the mercies of terrorists and condemn them every time they react.

It is not confirmed that this attack was carried out by a Palestinian but Israeli emergency services are describing it as a "Palestinian terrorist attack".

Yeah, why would they do a thing like that? They're clearly just trying to besmirch the 'Palestinians' ' good name! Remember the recent bulldozer attack which was described in some quarters as a 'road accident'?

There is also the significance of the date - it was on this day in 2002 that Operation Defensive Shield flushed a hardcore of Palestinian militants from the West Bank - they then took shelter in the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem. A month long stand-off ensued.

Israeli settlements are built on occupied Palestinian land in the West Bank against international law.
Their existence is one of the main obstacles to peace.

Well, that and the ongoing campaign of brutal Arab violence which began when no such thing as the West Bank or Israeli settlements existed.

But, as usual, those dastardly Israelis are to blame for putting their faces in the way of Arab fists.

I find it sickening that whilst reporting an attack in which a 13 year old boy died and another child was seriously injured, a supposedly mainstream media outlet can make space for these pointless, sly digs. I expect it from Al-Jazeera, but there is a limit.

There are two comments on the article so far:

these things happen when something is taken by force.
LAND!.
free palestine!.
give them their land back!. Posted By :darryl mann Report This

Funny, that's exactly how I felt to a degree during the Gaza campaign - 'these things happen when you continually provoke a nation with a professional military'. I doubt Darryl saw it quite like that then.

In any case, shouldn't he be bleating about the unnecessary deaths of children? Or does that only work one way?

so it could have been an Israeli or do they only kill Palestinians and never each other.
they should get the full story before saying this is a "terrorist attack".Posted By :GARY Report This

Yes, because Palestinian terrorist attacks are simply unheard of, aren't they? How dare they try to shift the blame from one of those prolific Israeli axe murderers!

I would also ask how a report of Palestinians killing innocent Jews warrants the response 'Jews are so busy killing Palestinians'. His mind must be pretty warped if he can't see through his own prejudices to apportion the blame where it belongs in situations like this - with the murderer.

The naivety and vindictiveness of such comments astound me. I'm sure what he meant to say is 'condolences to the boy's family, there is absolutely no excuse for attacking a young boy with an axe'.

***UPDATE 13:35 GMT*** Two Israeli sources now report the murdered boy was 16, not 13. However, for now, Haaretz still says 13. He has been identified as Shlomo Nativ.