There's a new trend in town

[All emphasis mine.]

MS-NBC: Israel clamps down after fatal attacks

Israel responded to a bloody 24-hour period by further clamping down on Palestinian movements Monday, announcing a complete ban on intercity travel in most of the West Bank and blocking the Gaza Strip's north-south road with more than two dozen tanks. Nineteen people on both sides, including assailants, have died in a renewed surge of violence, including the bombing of an Israeli bus and separate shootings in Jerusalem and the West Bank.

Reuters: Israel Tightens Hold on W.Bank, Gaza After Attacks

The militant Islamic group Hamas said it sent the suicide bomber who killed nine people by detonating a bomb on a bus in northern Israel. Hamas said it was its latest act of revenge for an Israeli air strike that killed its military commander and 14 other Palestinians, mostly children, in July.

AP: One Killed in Northern Israel Blast

Israel's Channel Two television said it appeared the people inside the car were Palestinian militants aiming to carry out an attack.

CNN.com: Settlers killed in West Bank

The front page (index), on 08/05/2002 @ approx. 0930, read:

Palestinian gunmen ambushed a family of Jewish settlers early today on the West Bank, killing a husband and his pregnant wife and injuring their two children, Israel Defense Forces said. The ambush followed a bloody Sunday that saw eleven Israelis killed in attacks by Palestinian militants -- a suicide bombing on a bus in northern Israel and a shooting in Jerusalem.

(The story itself used different language.)

I avoided the news like the plague this weekend, wanting nothing more than a long ride to the coast, smell sea air, etc. Not that I succeeded, curse the flock of teenagers at home.

So this morning my ears perked up as I'm listening to ABC news, and I hear the various perps who conducted the recent series of terrorist attacks described as "Palestinian militants." And I'm perusing news stories, and there it is, again and again. Militants. The "best," of course, is from Reuters (who else?) which describes Hamas as a "militant Islamic group," though it's been officially classified as a terrorist organization.

Militants. Makes them almost sound legit.

MS-NBC is also priceless. "Nineteen people on both sides, including assailants, have died..." What a load! The only people on the "other side" (presumably Palestinian) who died were the suicide-homicide fools -- sorry, assailants. Can they twist the language just a little more...?

Which is why I sometimes just need to avoid the news.