President Obama, in his first comments about the deadly clash between Israeli commandos and pro-Palestinian militants aboard a Gaza-bound flotilla ship, eschewed drawing premature conclusions and instead declared that he first wanted to know "all the facts and circumstances" surrounding this incident.The New York Times, however, saw no such need to withhold conclusions and judgment about what supposedly happened and who's to blame.  A lengthy dispatch by Times Jerusalem correspondent Isabel Kershner puts the monkey squarely on Israel's back, while bending over backwards to whitewash and sanitize fanatical pro-Palestinian militants aboard the ship who actually initiated the violence, battered Israeli commandos as they tried to board the vessel, and had armed themselves with clubs, metal rods and knives, plus some guns, to welcome the Israeli unit.  ("Deadly Israeli Raid on Aid Flotilla Draws Condemnation," May 31 NY Times website).Kershner leads her...(Read Full Post)