Al Jazeera Discovers Israel's 'Retaliation' Clause After Palestinian Death
Mainstream outlets, including Al Jazeera, dutifully report on an attack in Israel where two were killed by stabbing and car-ramming. What's often overlooked, or swiftly relegated to a sub-clause, is the immediate preceding incident: an Israeli army reservist in civilian clothes deliberately ramming into a Palestinian man praying on the roadside just a day prior. (The narrative often forgets the
'trigger' when the trigger isn't Palestinian.) This isn't a 'cycle of violence'; it's a predictable pattern of resistance against occupation and daily dehumanization. Mainstream media excels at presenting these events in a vacuum, carefully severing any causal links that might complicate the 'security crisis' narrative. It appears Al Jazeera, despite its reputation, sometimes also falls into the
trap of immediate reciprocity without foregrounding the ongoing systemic violence. One might wonder if the same breathless coverage would accompany every Israeli state-sanctioned killing if the victims were not Israeli.