Thursday, February 28, 2013

Part 2: HuffPost gives super-coverage to "homesick" jihadi - and continues ignoring victims of jihad



Continued from Part 1: HuffPost gives super-coverage to "homesick" jihadi - and continues ignoring victims of jihad

 Four examples, from our extensive archives, of how HuffPost (a) gives blaring, graphic, top-line treatment to jihadis and Palestinians who are killed or meet with misfortune, and (b) downplays or ignores the victims and survivors of jihadis' murderous attacks:
(1) HuffPost buried, then quickly removed the story of a seven-year-old girl (right) who was targeted and murdered by a jihadi --- then completely ignored her massively-attended funeral.

(2) HuffPost did not publish a single story on its front page concerning two jihadis' slaughter of the Fogel family – and completely ignored their massively-attended funeral.

(3) HuffPost showed no sympathy whatsoever to the parents of Malki Roth, in their efforts to stop the release of her jihadi murderer.

(4) HuffPost buried the story of Hamas's murder of Yitzhak and Talya Imes deep on the World page --- then completely ignored the funeral for them.



(1) HuffPost buried, then quickly removed the story of a seven-year-old girl who was targeted and murdered by a jihadi --- then completely ignored her massively-attended funeral.
 

Miriam Monsonego was a bright seven-year-old girl, living in France. Her brother said “she brought much happiness to everyone around her.”  A family friend said,  "It is so hard to talk about this child in the past tense.  Last Saturday night I heard her talking with her grandmother.  It was rare to hear a young girl talk about the spiritual message of the Sabbath so openly and with such confidence." 

 On March 19, 2012 a jihadi decided to attack the Jewish school that Miriam attended.  He first murdered a father and his two young sons on the street in front of the school.

 He then chased and cornered a terrified Miriam in the courtyard, dragged her out by the hair, then put his .45 caliber pistol to her head, and pulled the trigger - but it jammed.  According to an eyewitness, "Calmly, still holding onto Miriam’s hair, he switches guns to another, a 9 mm, puts the barrel to her temple, fires so closely that her skin gets powder-burned."  He then kept firing bullets into her head.

 The attack made top headlines in news organizations around the world. 

 HuffPost, however, buried the story of this jihadi's savage acts near the bottom of the front page --- then removed it less than four hours later (full documentation here).

 So what types of "news" stories did HuffPost decide were more important for its global audience to be aware of, which it positioned above the Toulouse massacre?  Here is a sampling:
  • "Chinese panda poo tea will sell for $200 a cup"
  • "Is this the strangest way to have an orgasm?"
  • "George Clooney's first call from jail went to..."
  • "Brooklyn Decker's racy new dress!"
  • "Jessica wears snakeskin to her baby shower"
  

 Curiously, the only close-up of a human face that HuffPost decided to publish on its front page concerning this attack was one of the jihadi, grinning.
See complete documentation of HuffPost's actions in regards to this story at: 
"HuffPost buries French Jewish school massacre below junk stories"
Several days later, tens of thousands of mourners attended the funeral held for Miriam.  Numerous major news agencies took dozens of pictures of her wailing mother and sister, amidst an ocean of mourners:

Several sites produced extensive slide shows of the funeral - which HuffPost routinely features whenever a jihadi or Muslim experiences misfortune. 

 HuffPost did not publish a single news story about the funeral for Miriam --- even though full documentation and pictures were available from the news sources upon which it most often relies - the AP and Reuters. Instead, HuffPost populated its front page with "news" stories it felt were far more important, such as:
  • "Miley's Lingerie"
  • "2nd Grader's Lunch Money Stolen... By A Teacher?"

  See the full documentation of this incident at:
"PICTORIAL: HuffPost's anti-Semitic bias against Tolouse murder victims"
 
How did HuffPost's treatment of Miriam compare to its treatment of Palestinian children who are harmed, unintentionally, during counter-terrorism operations against Hamas?  

 It is widely known that Hamas surrounds itself with human shields, including women, children and the elderly, behind which it fires its rockets and missiles at Israeli civilians.  In fact, Hamas not only admits doing this, it justifies and glorifies the practice. 

  In November 2012, after Hamas fired more than 120 missiles into Israel, targeted at civilian areas, the IDF finally responded with surgical strikes against its terrorist leaders, facilities and weapons depots. Tragically, despite the IDF's best efforts, there were civilian casualties in Gaza, including Palestinian children.  As HUFF-WATCH documented (here, here, here), HuffPost effectively acted as a propaganda shill for Hamas during Israel's Operation Pillar of Defense.  (This is nothing new; most recently, we documented how HuffPost completely ignored Hamas's recent open announcement that it has opened child terrorist training academies).  

 With that in mind, although it completely ignored the funeral for Miriam, on November 15, 2012 HuffPost gave the following top-of-the-front-page treatment to the funeral for a Muslim child who'd been accidentally killed while Israel was conducting anti-terror strikes against Hamas:
 

As documented below, this was not an isolated incident of bias, but rather, was representative of HuffPost's long-term bias (a) against those who have been murdered by jihadis and their survivors, and in favor of (b) jihadis and the human shields with whom they surround themselves.  This is despite HuffPost's guiding journalistic principle, according to HuffPost's Editor-In-Chief:
 “[T]oo many reporters have forgotten that the highest calling of journalists is to ferret out the truth, consequences be damned.”
- Arianna Huffington, July 29, 2008

(2) HuffPost did not publish a single story on its front page concerning two jihadis' slaughter of the Fogel family – and completely ignored their massively-attended funeral 
  

This is (was) the Fogel family.  On March 11, 2011, two Palestinian jihadis broke into the Fogels' home in the West Bank, and stabbed and slashed each one to death – including three-month-old Hadas, as her father tried to protect her.  This slaughter was discovered when the Fogels' twelve-year-old daugther, Tamar, encountered their corpses upon returning home from an evening with friends. (Photos of crime scene in Section 3 here; caution --- extremely graphic.) 

 HuffPost waited nearly an entire day to post the story of the Fogel family slaughter --- then, only posted it deep on a secondary page, accompanied by a picture of an IDF Jeep.

 Instead, HuffPost populated its front page and World page with "news" stories it felt were far more important, such as:
  • "PHOTOS: Eva Braun And Adolf Hitler's Private Moments" (seven days straight) 
  • "Swedish Bank Robber Busted By Forgotten Urine" 
  • "Teen Arrested On Felony Charge For Death Of Sibling's Hamster"
HuffPost's story page contained no reference to any of the Fogel family members' names, and featured none of their faces – or the graphic crime scene photos. 

 This stands in stark contrast to the up-close, personalized, graphic and gory coverage that HuffPost provides to Muslims and jihadis who are killed (below). 

 Within 48 hours, HuffPost removed the story of the Fogel family slaughter. 

 HuffPost then completely ignored the estimated 20,000 mourners who attended their funeral. Pictures, which were available from major news sources (such as the following, from Getty):
 
Instead, HuffPost decided that “news” stories such as these were far more worthy to post on its front page and World page:  
  • "Monkeys Invent New Fishing Method"
  • Jenny McCarthey's breasts
 
HuffPost also posted no stories about:
  • The fact that two Palestinian jihadis, cousins Hakem and Amjad Awad, who were arrested and convicted for the Fogel slaughter, not only admitted doing it, but claimed they are “proud” of their actions.
  • The fact that in the days leading up to this slaughter, Mahmoud Abbas, Palestinian Authority president (and HuffPost blogger) had been inciting violence against Jews in the West Bank.
  • The fact that official PA TV (which US taxpayers help to fund) broadcast celebrations of the Fogel family slaughter.
  • The fact that Hamas was also celebrating the Fogel family slaughter.
See complete documentation of this incident at:
Also see the associated Evidence File (Caution: Contains explicit photos.)

How did HuffPost's treatment of the Fogels compare to its treatment of jihadis and Palestinians who are killed/harmed during counter-terrorism operations? 

Contrast HuffPost's treatment of the Fogel family with how it deals with stories of dead and injured jihadis and Palestinians, and for which graphic photos are available.  Note how their names and pictures are used, thus humanizing them, and the graphic, emotion-packed photos - two things that HuffPost does not provide to Jewish victims of jihadis:
 

Note: At top center, HuffPost claimed that Israel killed a "senior Hamas leader."  In reality, as documented here, HuffPost changed the headline that was provided to it --- and which even Al Jazeera ran "straight" --- that this "victim" was actually Hamas's senior rocket maker (HuffPost knew this was the case, because its own story page revealed this fact).
“We are aiming to go beyond just facts, to create a narrative... [W]e think bringing journalism to a new level is exactly what people are looking for.”
- Arianna Huffington, October 20, 2009
 
 
(3) HuffPost showed no sympathy whatsoever to the parents of Malki Roth, in their efforts to stop the release of her jihadi murderer.

  
 
Malki Roth, 15, was "absolutely in love with life," says her father, Arnold, an Israeli businessman.  He describes her as "a beautiful, charming, bright, popular, very smiley young woman whose great passion was looking after her youngest sister who is very disabled, suffering from blindness and brain damage. Malki always encouraged people around her to see the special-needs children in their own communities as an opportunity to do good."  

 As an example of Malki's optimism, read this letter that she wrote to Exceptional Parent magazine, in which she described her relationship with her severely retarded little sister, Haya-Elisheva.  She said to parents of special-needs children, "You are not allowed to lose your hope, because maybe a miracle may happen! DO NOT LOSE HOPE!" 

 On August 9, 2001 Malki and a friend visited a Sbarro pizzeria in downtown Jerusalem. Soon after they arrived, a Hamas-affiliated female jihadi, Ahlam Tamimi, dropped off a suicide bomber in front of the Sbarro.  He carried a guitar case that contained a bomb, and thousands of screws and nails.   The jihadi detonated the bomb near Malki and her friend, who were instantly killed.    

 Fifteen people were killed in the massacre, most of them children. 130 others, including patrons and passers-by, were wounded, and one was left in a lifetime vegetative state.


Makli's cell phone, recovered from the Sbarro.  According to her father,
"Its ballistic nylon holder was shredded by the bomb's nails and other shrapnel. On the phone itself, Malki had written: "Assur ledaber lashon harah"; a reminder (in Hebrew) to herself that it is improper to speak ill of other people."
 
Tamimi not only admitted her leading role in Malki's murder, she said she's not sorry at all for what she did, and didn't care that she was sentenced by an Israeli court to sixteen life terms --- because she knew she would be released.  From YNet News:
"I'm not sorry for what I did. I will get out of prison and I refuse to recognize Israel's existence. Discussions will only take place after Israel recognizes that this is Islamic land. Despite the fact that I'm sentenced to 16 life sentences I know that we will become free from Israeli occupation and then I will also be free from the prison."
In another interview, Tamimi threatened to carry out more bombings of civilian targets:
"You know how many casualties there were [in the 2001 attack on the Sbarro pizzeria]. This was made possible by Allah. Do you want me to denounce what I did? That's out of the question. I would do it again today, and in the same manner."
In 2006, Hamas and its apologists began requesting that Israel release Tamimi.  Malki's parents publicly spoke out against any consideration of this request.  "The campaign to free the terrorists also grew in scope and intensity during that period," says Mr. Roth.  "Then in the last stages of the Gilad Shalit deal, our worst fears were realized when we were informed by an official from the Ministry of Justice that Tamimi was indeed on the walk-free list of 1,027 terrorists, most of them murderers." 

 From October 14-27, 2011 the New York Times, Jerusalem Post, Sun-Sentinel (Ft. Lauderdale) and many other news sources provided coverage to the Roths' fervent efforts to have Tamimi removed from the release list; Arnold Roth even began an online petition drive. 

 HuffPost did not (and still hasn't) run a single news story about Arnold or Frimet Roth, or their beloved Malki.    

 Instead, during the pinnacle of Roths' efforts to keep their daughter's murderer behind bars, HuffPost populated its front page and World page with "news" stories it felt were far more important for its global audience to be aware of.  These include:  
  • "Man arrested for bestiality claims prostitute transformed into donkey" 
  • "Man vows to masturbate in every NYC Starbucks bathroom" 
  • Three stories featuring Arianna Huffington's face (not a new practice at HuffPost)
 
ADDENDUM 1: Malki's murderer was released, became a TV star, and is calling for, celebrating murderous attacks on Jewish civilians: By June 2012, the Roths' predictions had largely come true: Tamimi had effectively become the "Oprah" of the Palestinian territories, given her own Hamas-sponsored TV show, in which she urges others to follow in her murderous footsteps, and openly celebrates new attacks on Jewish civilians. Then, it got worse: Tamimi was allowed to marry another convicted Palestinian murderer, whom Netanyahu also released as part of the Shalit deal. 
 
ADDENDUM 2: HuffPost whitewashed the terrorist who paid the Sbarro bomb-maker. HuffPost not only completely ignored the Roths' plight, it decided to whitewash its profile of Marwan Baghouti, a prominent terrorist who was revealed by evidence in another trial to have paid his cousin, Abdallah, $500 to construct the bomb that blew up the Sbarro restaurant. He even admitted his role in the Sbarro attack, and was convicted in attacks that murdered dozens and injured hundreds of Jewish civilians.  Despite all these facts being public knowledge, in a July 2011 front-page article, HuffPost edited out of its AP source story all references to Barghouti's blood-soaked hands --- and instead depicted him merely as a "jailed leader."  It was only after a number of HUFF-WATCH readers complained to HuffPost that it put up the actual, unmolested AP story. See the details here. 

 Learn more about Roths' ongoing efforts to honor Malki, and combat terrorism.  
How did HuffPost's treatment of the Roths' plight compare to its treatment of the plights of others who meet misfortune? 
 
Compare HuffPost's treatment of the Roths' plight to the sympathetic, top-line treatment it gave in March 2011 to the daughter of a senior Hamas terrorist whom Israel was suspected of abducting:

Further contrast HuffPost's treatment of the Roths' plight to the obsessive way it dealt with the plight of the punk rock band "Pussy Riot," the members of whom were arrested after they stormed a Russian church during mass, and put on a vulgar "act." For months, HuffPost provided up-to-the-minute, breathless coverage of the band members, to the point where on one day alone, as this PDF shows, it had nine references to "Pussy Riot" on the World page alone, at the same time.
[Arianna Huffington] is offended and bewildered by the suggestion that other news outlets think she's getting a free ride. She sees herself as the future of journalism, not the end of it.
- Arianna Huffington: The Web's New Oracle Belinda Luscombe, Time, March 19, 2009
 
(4) HuffPost buried the story of Hamas's murder of Yitzhak and Talya Imes deep on the World page --- then completely ignored the funeral for them.
 
  
This is the Imes family: Talia (45); Yitzchak (47); and Hodoya (8; at bottom); other family names unknown.

 On August 31, 2010, Yitzchak and Talia were riding in a car with another couple in Hebron, the West Bank, when Hamas-affiliated jihadists ambushed their vehicle, and opened fire on them with automatic weapons. All were instantly killed, including Talia<\, who was nine months pregnant with her seventh child.

 Hamas and Palestinians throughout the West Bank broke out in celebrations, handing out candy and cheering the perpetrators.  Hamas openly admitted responsibility for the slaughter:

Hamas military wing spokesman Abu Obeida was among them and told The Associated Press: "The Qassam Brigades announces its full responsibility for the heroic operation in Hebron."
News organizations around the world gave top-line coverage to this slaughter. HuffPost, however, published the story deep on the World page, beneath other "news" items that it decided were far more important --- including:
  • A fawning interview that HuffPost's Middle East blogging correspondent conducted with the head of Hamas, in which she depicted him as "grounded, smart and energetic," and described Hamas as "a resistance group." She even had the audacity to ask him why "does the West not engage directly with Hamas and make you a partner to the solution."
  • "Spain Breaks Up Male Prostitute Gang"
  • "Girl Throws Puppies Into River"
(Note: The following screencap is courtesy of our friends at Huffington Post Monitor)

Although HuffPost briefly moved the story its front page, it removed the story from both pages within hours. Further, HuffPost featured none of the victims' names or pictures (as it does routinely when jihadis and Muslims are killed) in the headline or on the story page.  Instead, it merely posted a picture of the bullet-riddled car (then changed it to the West Bank border wall):

 HuffPost did not publish a single picture or account of Palestinian Muslims' celebrations of the Imes' murder:



This stands in stark contrast to the fact that HuffPost jumps at every opportunity to give front page coverage to trivial, false allegations against Jews, such as:
  • That "a pack of Jews" chased Gov. Romney away from a wedding rehearsal. In reality, they were Romney supporters, who asked to take a picture with him; see full documentation here.
HuffPost did, however, review, approve and decide to publish a torrent of user hate comments in support of Hamas, justifying this slaughter, including:
  • "Israel is to blame for this, they are the illegal occupiers" (User "italianwine," whom HuffPost has left active)
  • "Last time I checked, they were invaders." (User "RicNYC," whom HuffPost has left active)

 HuffPost also completely ignored the funeral for the Yitzchak and Talia Imes --- and the estimated 20,000 mourners in attendance.  It also ignored the heart-wrenching images of Hodoya, left.
 

 So what kinds of “news” stories did HuffPost decide were far more worthy to post on its front page and World page, than the Imes' murder, and their funeral? Items of clear global importance, such as:
  • "Rare never-seen photos of Hitler" (posted for seven straight days on the World page)
  • "Demi Moore shares bikini pics
  • "Chain-smoking Indonesian baby kicks the habit"
 
See the full documentation of this incident at: 

"HuffPost spits in eyes of murdered Israelis (again), shills for Hamas (again); cyber-jihadis unleash hate-fest (HuffPost: "Approved!!!")"
How did HuffPost's treatment of the Imes family compare to its treatment of jihadis and Palestinians who are killed/harmed during counter-terrorism operations? 

Compare HuffPost's treatment of the funeral of these four murdered Jewish civilians to the funeral for a Palestinian, Samir Sirhan, who was killed while reportedly being part of a violent mob that was attacking a lone Israeli security guard in the West Bank:
"If you're going to produce great journalism, you have to build a team of people who are working together and driving toward the same goals editorially.”  
– Arianna Huffington, April 7, 2011 --- two months after being put in control of all of AOL's "news" and "content"
"AOL's acquisition of HuffPost has allowed us... to continue to change the culture here."
– Tim Armstrong, Chairman, AOL, who bought HuffPost and put Arianna in charge of all "news" and "content" --- May 14, 2011


 
Key questions --- and action items  

 Why would HuffPost decide to gives blaring, graphic, top-line treatment to Islamist terrorists and Palestinians who are killed or meet with bad fates... and ignore the victims and survivors of jihadis' murderous attacks?

Do not Miriam, Malki, the parents of Hodoya Imes and all the rest of the Jewish children whom jihadis target and murder, deserve equitable treatment from the world's #1 most-read online "newspaper," which has repeatedly claimed to the public, and its advertisers, that it is a professionally-run, nonpartisan outfit? 
You can ask HuffPost's senior management those questions, here.
You might also ask HuffPost's advertisers if they're aware of what they are enabling, here.

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