Rafah is top story in US press but not in Europe

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/430217.html

Peter Jennings opened the ABC network's Wednesday evening news broadcast in the United States by referring to three events that, he said, damaged America's status in the Arab world: the trial of U.S. army specialist Jeremy Sivits, the first person to face charges for the prisoner abuse scandal in Iraq; the U.S. army's fire at participants in a wedding in Iraq; and the deaths of demonstrators in Rafah.

This report, however, was the exception that proved the rule: Most news coverage in the U.S. has not drawn a link between current events in the Gaza Strip and in Iraq.

The U.S. media have followed a clear policy: The spotlight has gone to the Rafah story, whereas happenings in Iraq have been shunted to the side.

While The New York Times reported on its front page about the incident on the Iraqi-Syrian border, its main news item was Rafah, and it included a huge photograph.
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