The Daily Bias--today's edition

Our installment today comes from the always reliable Greg Myre of the New York Times. His piece today isn't too terrible--good lordy, we know how awful the Times can be when it really tries!--but take a look at this:

The piece describes how Israeli jets attacked Gaza for the first time since a "truce" was declared three months ago.

The airstrike came during one of two exchanges of gunfire in southern Gaza that left one Palestinian militant dead and several wounded, while one Israeli civilian was slightly wounded, each side said.

No, Greg. The civilian wasn't caught up in an "exchange of gunfire." As you point out, that civilian was hurt in an attempt by Palestinians to randomly murder Israelis.

Then he says:

Wednesday's events reflected the fragile nature of a truce that has greatly reduced the overall level of violence since February but has not silenced the guns.

No, Greg, it reflects the outcome of violations of the truce by the Palestinians, specifically Hamas, by aiming inaccurate lethal devices at human beings, as we just mentioned.

We then have the usual amoral Times moral-equivalency pas de deux, a statement from the Israeli foreign ministry and from the people Greg just described as trying to radomly murder Israelis.

Then Greg says,

Gaza has been mostly calm in recent days, and Hamas has been observing the truce.

But if "Hamas has been observing the truce," who's that trying to randomly murder Israelis? The Corleone crime family?

In fact, Hamas has stepped up its violence against Israelis. Ha'aretz reports as follows:

On Wednesday, one Israeli was lightly wounded by mortar shells and anti-tank rockets launched by Hamas. A Hamas man was killed by an accidental explosion of a bomb he was preparing, and another activist in the organization was seriously wounded in an Israel Air Force missile strike and later died in a Gaza hospital.

This is how Greg reported the above:

The trouble on Wednesday began before dawn when Palestinians fired antitank rockets and automatic rifles at Israeli soldiers along Gaza's border with Egypt, prompting return fire from the soldiers, the Israeli military said.

Note the reference to "Palestinians," thereby allowing Greg to exonerate Hamas, in accordance with Times policy.

According to Ha'aretz, "Palestinians have fired 65 mortar shells and Qassam rockets at Gaza settlements and nearby Israel Defense Forces positions since Wednesday, the Gaza Coast Regional Council said Thursday."

Some truce. Some "observance" thereof by Hamas. Nice going, Greg Myre!