Since the start of June, Israeli forces have killed nearly 50 Palestinians, the majority of them innocent civilians. In May, the killing of more than 40 Palestinians by Israeli forces was scarcely reported in the US media. The number of Palestinian children killed in the last three weeks by Israeli forces is equal to the number of Israeli children killed by Palestinian groups over the past two years. However, the apathy for the loss of innocent Palestinian life continues in the US media.

On June 20, CNN.com, Yahoo!, and the online edition of The New York Times did not report the killing of a woman and one of her relatives in her home on the front page of their respective publications. The BBC, Le Monde, Haaretz and most online news sites based outside the US did cover the killing on their front pages.

Media bias pertaining to the Israeli/Palestinian conflict is not a new occurrence. A 2004 study by If Americans Knew--an American organization that exposes and examines the Israeli/Palestinian conflict--found that The New York Times covered 107 Israeli conflict deaths in the headline or the first paragraph in 159 articles meaning some deaths were covered numerous times. In contrast, the Times only covered about 40 percent of Palestinian deaths--334 of 808--in the headline or in the first paragraph of the articles. And, unfortunately, The New York Times is one of the more liberal of the outlets.

Onlookers in the West should not be surprised by the recent Israeli assault. The initial coverage of the killing of the family members picnicking on a Gaza beach two weeks ago was a PR disaster for the Israeli military and government--both tried to spin the bad press and cover up the situation. While the first proclamation by the Israeli government was an apology for the killings, the Israel Occupation Force (IOF) backed off from the initial account attributing blame to the Israeli Air Force. The IOF, after an "investigation" that concealed the evidence it was using, said that the deaths were caused by a mine planted by Hamas. The mine theory was passed off to the media as fact, without any evidence to back up the claim. The IOF finally admitted that the deaths could have been caused by an old Israeli shell that was at the beach site. Palestinian medics, human rights groups and bystanders at the site corroborated the initial evidence that the deaths were caused by an Israeli shell. Nonetheless, every major US media outlet covered the story, including CNN, The New York Times and most of the other outlets that "forgot" to cover the latest liquidation of Palestinian civilians.

Historically, Israel (including Labor, Likud and Kadima) has instituted a method of slow ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian people. This strategy, however, was only effective when combined with the appearance of Israel having the moral upper hand. Israel has known for some time that it can continue its policies under the radar as long as the attacks do not become "newsworthy."

The implementation of this course of action has reinforced Israel's position of victimization; as attacks on Palestinians go unreported, attacks on Israel are extensively covered. This policy further shields Israel from criticism regarding its action of Judaizing Jerusalem, appropriating Palestinian land, strangulating the Palestinian economy and securing the matrix of control over the Occupied Territories. When Israel has been criticized, it has habitually played the security card. For example, Israel's construction of the Apartheid Wall has not been limited to the internationally recognized 1967 borders; rather its invasive route usurps Palestinian land and resources well beyond the Green line. If the Apartheid Wall was for security purposes only, Israel could easily build the monstrous barrier on the internationally recognized border.

The killings in Gaza over the last three weeks have sparked verbal condemnation from the UN, while the IOF chief issued a probe concerning the latest string of civilian deaths. A couple weeks will pass however, and the focus of media attention will go back to Israeli Prime Minister Olmert's convergence plan, internal fighting between Hamas and Fatah, and Israel's quest to find a "partner for peace." The media will all but forget Hamas' call for a renewed cease-fire, Hamas' persistent moderation, and the "diet" Palestinians have been put on by Israel and the international community.

The closing of the Rafah border, which used to make headlines, has become the status quo in Gaza. The closing furthers malnutrition among children, hunger throughout the general population, depletion in wages, a spike in unemployment, and a severe reduction in trade. Israel's creation of unilateral facts on the ground in the West Bank and East Jerusalem will forge on. This is the world Palestinians live in. Most appallingly, it is the world the international community has created for them.

--Remi Kanazi is the primary writer for the political website www.PoeticInjustice.net. He lives in New York City as a Palestinian American freelance writer, poet, and performer and can be reached via email at remroum@gmail.com.