NYT: Failed Suicide Bomber "Also Blew a Large Hole in his Circle of Family and Friends"

Israel-based Steven Erlanger gets page 3 play Friday for his interview with the family of a Palestinian suicide bomber in Nablus (“Into the West Bank Abyss: From Student to Suicide Bomber”).

He explains:

“Sami Antar, 21, in his second year of physical education studies at An Najah University here, left the apartment at 8 a.m. Thursday. In the afternoon, he blew himself up on behalf of the militant group Islamic Jihad in Tel Aviv, in a zone of shops and restaurants, but killed only himself. About 20 Israelis, ordinary people going about their daily business, were wounded, one of them seriously.”

Next comes Erlanger’s entry for bad metaphor of the year:

“Sami Antar also blew a large hole in his circle of family and friends, who did not see this coming.”

Yes, they are kind of the same thing, aren’t they?

The pro-Palestinian Erlanger dwells on the family’s plight:

“Sami's brother Samer came out, his eyes red, to tell journalists that the family would not speak of what had happened, and said, ‘This is an honor, not just to the family of Antar, but to the whole neighborhood.’ Israel, the West and the Palestinian Authority will condemn Sami Antar's act as terrorism, the effort to kill innocent civilians. His neighbors and family call it a tragedy, but also resistance, struggle and martyrdom. The abyss here is as steep as the hills above Nablus.”

There are no comments or perspective from the Israeli victims of the blast.

For more examples of New York Times bias, visit TimesWatch.