Those not well-versed on events in the Middle East and how the international press routinely distorts its coverage there might think from the following headline at CNN.com yesterday — "American fatally stabbed in Israel terror attack that wounds 10 others" (saved here for future reference, fair use and discussion purposes) — that the state of Israel carried out the brutal attack which killed Vanderbilt Universtity student and U.S. Army veteran Taylor Force.
Of course, that's not the case. But it took the trio of CNN reporters who covered the story — Oren Liebermann, Steve Almasy and Amir Tal — a full 20 paragraphs before finally acknowledging that the attacker was Palestinian: "Israeli police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld tweeted that the attacker, a Palestinian from the West Bank, was fatally shot by police."
Yours truly saved the article in question last night because I originally learned of it at the "Snapshots" blog, where the related post's author indicated that the attacker was identified as a Palestinian in the 17th paragraph. By the time I viewed it, that quite relevant information was even more deeply buried. There have been no updates since I saved the article.
The one-minute video carried at the CNN.com web page didn't even directly identify the attacker as a Palestinian. 46 seconds through, the network told viewers that he was a "22 year-old from a Palestinian town in the Northern West Bank" (I supposed he could have been Danish?), while the unnamed American victim was identified as a "tourist."
CNN's coverage indicates that Taylor Force was in Israel for far more than a little sightseeing:
American fatally stabbed in Israel terror attack that wounds 10 others
A former U.S. Army officer who was part of a Vanderbilt University tour group was stabbed to death in a terror attack that left 10 others wounded in an old section of Tel Aviv, officials said Tuesday.
Taylor Force, a first-year student in the graduate school of management, was killed, Vanderbilt Chancellor Nicholas S. Zeppos announced.
"This horrific act of violence has robbed our Vanderbilt family of a young hopeful life and all of the bright promise that he held for bettering our greater world," Zeppos said.
The school said in a separate statement that Force was among 29 students and four staff members who had gone to Israel to study global entrepreneurship. They were in Jaffa by the Mediterranean Sea when they were attacked.
All the other trip participants from Vanderbilt are safe, the Nashville, Tennessee, school said.
According to Force's LinkedIn page, he graduated from West Point in 2009 and was a field artillery officer in the U.S. Army until 2014.
Force, 28, started an MBA study in 2015. At the time, he told the website Poets and Quants that he went to Vanderbilt because of the support for veterans, the diversity of students and the quality of education.
"In addition to learning the skills needed to be successful in business, I want to establish life-long connections and friendships with my fellow students from the U.S. and around the globe," he said.
... The U.S. State Department confirmed Force's death and condemned the attack.
"We offer our heartfelt condolences to the family and friends of Taylor and all those affected by these senseless attacks, and we wish a speedy recovery for the injured," spokesman John Kirby said. "As we have said many times, there is absolutely no justification for terrorism."
CNN somehow managed to avoid telling readers and viewers that Taylor Force served in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Far better coverage, including mentions of his wartime service, occurred at a TV station in Lexington, where Force had friends and family:
RIP, Taylor Force, killed by a Palestinian terrorist for no reason other than pure, unadulterated hatred.
Cross-posted at BizzyBlog.com.
