Hamas member killed after Israeli teens found dead

[karynnj]

14. In LBN, you are correct -- what it shows is the AP itself wrote a rather inflammatory headline

- which is actually worse than had it "just" been a DU poster. Maybe something like - violence follows discovery of bodies of Israeli teens".

My reaction was the same as the poster who thought the fact that he threw a grenade made the headline (subject line here) seem one sided.

To me, what this shows is how much a powder keg Israel/Palestine is. That Israel would immediately arrest hundreds of people with no proven or even likely responsibility turning it into a move against Hamas showed how fragile any improvements in relations would have been had they occurred. (Israel had already backtracked before the teens were kidnapped on many things they had done to make life in the West Bank a little less onerous at the start of the peace talks - though still unbelievably bad.)

While obviously, everyone's hearts go out to these young people and their family, the sobering thing was that it was almost inevitable that something would have happened - and the response would have been the same.

The treatment of Abbas, who DID speak against the kidnapping, likely has weakened him, the PA, and the unity government. Meanwhile, the right in Israel is speaking of a new settlement being created in the name of the teens. The net affect is likely that the extremes on both sides were strengthened, while more moderate voices diminished.