Not an international sensation

We have covered the death of the son of BBC Gaza picture editor Jihad Masharawi at the outset of Israel’s Operation Pillar of Defense in some detail. Jihad Masharawi eloquently condemned Israel for the death and the BBC, the Washington Post and other organs of the mainstream media turned it into an international sensation. They turned it into a sensation so long as they could attribute responsibility (wrongly, regardless of the source of the munition, in my view) to Israel. Now, however, the advance version of a UN report has found it likely that the munition that killed the young Masharawi was an errant Hamas rocket, and the BBC et al. have essentially gone to ground.

One story that won’t be an international sensation is that of Adele Bitton (photo above). You have to scour Israeli news sources such as the Times of Israel, YnetNews or Israel Today to find it. Israel Today reports:

Two-year-old Adele Bitton remains in life-threatening condition after she and her family were attacked by Palestinian stone throwers last Thursday.

Adele, her mother and two older sisters suffered serious injuries when Palestinian Arab stone throwers attack[ed] Jewish motorists on a highway in Samaria Thursday night.

The assailants hurled large stones at a truck traveling near the Jewish town of Ariel, causing it to swerve into the oncoming lane and slam into the victims’ vehicle.

Adele’s mother, Adva Bitton, told Army Radio that it was a “real miracle” that any of her family survived the attack. “Whoever has seen the pictures [from the scene] can testify that [survival] was not at all clear,” she said.

Regarding Adele, who has undergone two emergency head operations since the attack, Adva Bitton said: “I am here with her all the time, talking to her, caressing her. We believe in the Holy One, Blessed be He. For Him, it would take no effort to save her.”

Israeli religious and political leaders have asked for continued prayer for little Adele’s recovery.

A particularly cute photo of Adele accompanies the Israel Today story. It is not for lack of an articulate parent or a photogenic victim that the story of the attack resulting in Adele’s injuries has failed to capture the imagination of the mainstream media.

Via Israel Matzav.

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