Dehumanisation Prediction

The latest barrage of Qassams to hit Sderot killed a 57-year old woman named Fatima Slutsker, and a 24-year old bodyguard lost both his legs while guarding Defense Minister Amir Peretz's home.

Articles in Ha'aretz and Jerusalem Post, both mention the middle-aged woman by name.

Given past form, the prediction is that the ABC News Online will not mention the name of the dead Israeli woman from what they have in the past called 'homemade rockets'.

Prior ABC excuses for not mentioning dead Israelis from suicide bombings include that there were too many casualties to mention in a brief news article. Amen to the 'too many'. Not sure what excuse they will come up with this time.

Reuters - one of ABC's news wires - has yet to update its article with the woman's name. Instead it features:

1. The opening quote given to Hamas:

"The Zionist enemy has admitted a Zionist was killed as a result of the Qassam Brigades bombardment of Sderot," the Hamas armed wing said in a statement.

It appears as though Reuters has a closer connection to the Hamas armed wing than to the Israeli authorities who released the woman's name.

2. A change of topic by bringing up the Beit Hanoun incident:

Last week 19 Palestinian civilians were killed in an artillery barrage on the town of Beit Hanoun, which borders Sderot.

Reuters will likely explain that it sets the context of the cycle of violence.

Same for BBC. And CNN.

Still waiting for the ABC News Online to cover the story. Their photos update frequently, but they have yet to post a news article in their Middle East Section since Monday night.

Presumably they will source it from Reuters or BBC or CNN rather than Ha'aretz, so they don't have to omit the woman's name.

Fatima Slutsker. 57 year old woman. Killed because she is a Zionist. The Zionist with no name.

UPDATE 1: Reuters have updated their article in the last ten minutes, well after Slutsker's name was released, but have not included her name in their article.

UPDATE 2: Sadly, I am right. ABC News Online have just posted a poor-quality article covering the attack but omitting Slutsker's name, having used the BBC as their source.

UPDATE 3: Maybe the ABC had second thoughts (or were just very slow), but they have finally posted an article that mentions Slutsker's name. A pity though that the article doesn't mention a 24-year old man lost both his legs. And the article soon switches to the recounting of a 'massive [Israeli] offensive'. Couldn't help themselves.