In a report by Nader (2014) for the Daily News Egypt, the Ansar Beit Al-Maqdis are portrayed simply as (Supporter of Jerusalem) as releasing a statement Sunday claiming responsibility for shooting down the military helicopter in North Sinai, and other attacks. The group is stated as factually inspired by AL-Qaeda, as responsible for using heavy weapons, and as responsible for ambushes. In a short statement another group designated as “Egypt’s Troops” are highlighted for their attack of an Al-Talbya police station, noting the Ansar Beit Al-Maqdis had mistakenly been highlighted for that attack. The group apologized for an attack.
This was all the article stated. In the NY Times article, by contrast, the group is defined as “Islamist militants” who give cause to “raise new alarms about terrorist insurgency” and “military takeover” (Kirkpatrick, 2014). The “attack” is related in terms of witnesses who are noted as documenting the attack. The report goes on to suggest the group raises “fears” that they have weapons that could “spill” into other areas and take down “commercial airliners” (Kirkpatrick, 2014). It also suggests that the group is responsible for “escalating attacks” stating that the group “quotes Al Qaeda leaders in online video statements” but had targeted an area where it would preserve the lives of Muslims (Kirkpatrick, 2014).
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"Militant Helicopter Crash in Sinai Peninsula Analysis".
The article goes on to provide grotesque description of a body burning and flying into the air, and provide description of the burning aircraft in the sky. There is also an accompanying picture of angry faces and turmoil in Egypt. In a report by France 24 a simple statement was made by the Israeli militants claiming the crash over the eastern Sinai Peninsula was not anything more than an accident. Five soldiers were killed. Military personnel confirmed simply that the helicopter crashed and that a search had been undertaken for missing crew members. France 24 said there were no clear answers as to how the crash occurred. In a later report the military issued a statement stating the crash was an accident.
Both the French report and the Egyptian report noted that the Al-Qaeda inspired group apologized for the attacks and took responsibility for the attacks. The statements made regarding the attacks were brief. Of attacks made purposefully the statements were still brief and to the point. The articles printed in the NY Times, however were long and filled with graphic images of terror, fear, and elaborate plans of “what” the terrorists “might” be planning. Whether or not the militant and Al-Qaeda inspired group may be planning something good or bad, the US paper clearly portrayed this group as a much heavier threat than the other two international papers. The Egyptian paper clearly stated that the group avoided attacking civilians and Muslim groups. The NY time’s paper portrayed the militant group as out to attack commercial airliners. It suggested the group had a clear program and intent to fire missiles into areas other than police oriented or military geared targets. However, the two international papers made no such statements, or indications that the group had this intention at all. If anything, the other two papers seemed to suggest that while militant, the attack or helicopter incident if anything, was accidental in nature.
Is this true? It is hard to say. In a BBC report of the incident, the fighting along the Sinai Peninsula is described as “wide lawlessness” although in this particular incident even the British paper admits that the army admits the helicopter crashed (Jonathan, 2014). Thus, all papers with the exclusion of the reporting by the NY times seems to emphasize that while violence may be increasing or that while there may be a threat, this particular incident was not the result or work of terrorists attacking. This shows more bias on the part of American reporting against Islamic groups and nations.
- AFP. “Egypt Helicopter Crash Kills Five Soldiers’ in Sinai.” 25 January 2014. France24.com. 27
January 2014. http://www.france24.com/en/20140125-egypt-helicopter-crash-kills-five-soldiers-sinai/ - Kirkpatrick, David D. “Militants Down Egyptian Helicopter, Killing 5 Soldiers”. January 26,
2014. The New York Times. [Web] 27 January 2014. http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/27/world/middleeast/militants-down-egyptian-helicopter-killing-5-soldiers.html - Marcus, Jonathan. “Egypt Air Force Helicopter Downing a Major Escalation.” BBC News. 27
January 2014. [Web] http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-25915607 - Nader, Aya. “Ansar Beit Al-Maqdis Claims Responsibility for Helicopter Shooting.” January 26,
2014. Daily News Egypt. [Web]. 27 January 2014. http://www.dailynewsegypt.com/2014/01/26/ansar-beit-al-maqdis-claims-responsibility-for-helicopter-shooting/
