Bias Alert: AP Details Afflictions of Israel’s Pager Attack Victims, Sparks Criticism

Associated Press (Left bias) released an extensive exposé centered on the surviving victims of Israel’s September 2024 pager-explosion attack on Hezbollah members that resulted in dozens of deaths and hundreds of injuries. 

AP’s Exposé: The exposé aimed to emphasize the humanity of victims, framing their stories through an empathetic lens by detailing their afflictions. While AP referenced the Hezbollah affiliations of victims and Iran’s support of the “militant group,” it painted the victims peacefully and detailed their home and family lives. It said the victims are “struggling to recover” and Hezbollah is “left with the financial and psychological burden of thousands who need long-term medical treatment and recovery.” AP noted official reports, including from the United Nations (UN), that questioned the legality of the attack pertaining to international law. The outlet also included Israel’s defense but declared, “Israel boasts of [the attack] as a show of its technological and intelligence prowess.”

Rothman’s Response: Noah Rothman (Lean Right) took the opportunity to criticize both the AP’s “hand-wringing exposé” and New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani’s supposed goal to engineer “a schism between the US and Jerusalem” in an opinion article for National Review (Right). In response to civilian casualties at the hands of Israel, he wrote, “Tragedies happen in war, and aggressors who shield themselves with civilians invite more than their fair share.” Rothman described Hezbollah as “a State Department–designated terrorist group with American blood on its hands.” He asserted, “The tactics in which Israel engages are not comparable to those of the terrorists with whom it is at war.”

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