Media suppresses word ‘murder’ and overlooks ‘torture’

Syndicated by HaModia and Scholars For Peace in the Middle East

(December 1, 2008) On Thanksgiving Day 2008, gunshots rang out startling the family of Rabbi Gavriel Noach Holtzberg and others inside the Chabad center in Mumbai, India. A maid at the Chabad center thought it was firecrackers--then an Islamic gunman came up the stairs. Explosions and gunshots rattled the building and continued through the night. At the same time the Chabad center is attacked, Islamic terrorists were attacking a police station an a few minutes later they opened fire at a hospital. They also opened fire in restaurants and at hotels, all together, at over 10 locations, the Islamic terrorists murdered over 190 people.

The Chabad center maid told the media that the gunmen destroyed the elevator, dining room and “everything” else. The rabbi ran to the telephone to call the Israeli Consulate. He got them on the line, told them there were men with guns in the house, but in the middle of the conversation, the line went dead after the rabbi said, “something’s wrong.” The rabbi was then grabbed by the Muslim terrorists, held down and had a belt secured around his legs to prevent him from walking. Several other Jews in the center had their hands and feet bound with telephone cords or nylon rope.

The Indian Express reported that, Rabbi Holtzberg, his wife Rivka and their three friends died in a “brutal manner…” The paper horrifically reported that there was “brutality unleashed on the Holtzberg.” The paper reported that police photos inside the Chabad center spoke, “volumes of the nightmare the family and their friends must have gone through before they died.” The Rabbi’s body was found in a room on the second floor, with his legs under the mezuzah, stretching into the hall where his wife’s body was found. Rivka’s body was found near the legs of Rabbi Holtzberg, the floor was covered red in blood. The rabbi's 2-year-old son Moshe was found drenched in blood, crying in the silence, beside his parents who lay dead on the floor. The dead bodies of the murdered Jews were then booby-trapped with live hand grenades and other explosives. Indian security forces indicated the Jewish women were murdered first, as the Jewish men were first tortured before being murdered.

In the United States, where the news media like to cover up all things which may make Muslims look bad, they never mentioned that the Israelis were mutilated beyond belief. In the Digital Journal news, it was also reported that the victims of the terrorist attacks had been tortured. In the words of one doctor, “It was shocking and disturbing.” A doctor who conducted the post-mortems on the victims added: “Of all the bodies, the Israeli victims bore the maximum torture marks. It was clear that they were killed on the 26th itself. It was obvious that they were tied up and tortured before they were killed. It was so bad that I do not want to go over the details even in my head again.”

When someone is “killed” they may have been hit by a car, drowned at sea or struck by lightning. In contrast, when someone is “murdered,” this speaks of a victim who was targeted with premeditated malice. It is someone who inhumanly had their life taken from them, it is someone who was a victim of severe mutilation, targeted brutality, a person who had their life taken by another person who sought them dead. This begs the question, why did the media avoid using the word “murdered” ?

• The Wall Street Journal reported: “The dead also included a young New York rabbi and his wife…”
• The Boston Globe reported: “the New York rabbi and his wife were among the foreigners killed…”
• The International Herald Tribune reported: “Two of the victims, a rabbi and his wife…”
• The Sun-Sentinel reported: “killed were Rabbi Gavriel Noach Holtzberg, 29, and his wife, Rivkah, 28, who died in the attack...”
• The Associated Press reported: “The bodies of New York Rabbi Gavriel Noach Holtzberg and his wife, Rivkah, were found at the Jewish center…”
• National Public Radio reported: “Among the dead are Rabbi Gavriel Holtzberg and his wife, Rivka…”
• The New York Times reported: “six of the hostages were killed, including the Brooklyn couple who operated the center…”
• The Los Angeles Times reported: “the Chabad Lubavitch members who were killed by militants”