When The AP Writes About Hamas--Look Out!

From The Associated Press we get this opening paragraph of the article Hamas Working to End Rise in Gaza Violence:

The new Hamas-led Palestinian government is quietly working to end a surge in violence, urging rival militant groups in the Gaza Strip to refrain from launching rockets at Israel without official permission.

1. Hamas is not working towards ending the firing of missles at civilian populations--just to decrease their frequency.

2. Hamas wants to make sure that when civilian Israelis are killed, it is solely on Hamas' say-so.

And there is more:

Although the rocket attacks have not stopped and Hamas says it still supports violent resistance against Israel, its subtle efforts at persuasion look like an attempt to stabilize a chaotic situation so that it can focus on governing the West Bank

Oh. So Hamas--a terrorist group--is using "subtle efforts at persuasion" on rival terrorist groups that want to take power away from Hamas? As subtle as the the shootouts that we've been reading about so far?

AP does mention that Israelis have been killed by Hamas:

Hamas, which has killed hundreds of Israelis in suicide bombings, is under intense pressure from Israel and the international community to renounce violence and recognize Israel, demands it has so far rejected.

This matches what CAMERA says:

hundreds of Israelis have been killed by Hamas, and far more have been wounded.

except that CAMERA said this back in November 2000--before the outbreak of the 2nd Intifada (in response to CNN who put the number of Israelis murdered by Hamas at "scores"). So when AP generalizes about the "hundreds" of Israeli citizens blown apart and murdered, are we talking a couple hundred--or closer to a thousand?

Pity that AP is as shy about the details of Israelis murdered as they are about the truth.

Technorati Tag: Israel and Hamas and Terrorism and Media Bias and AP.