A Tale of Two Demonstrations

The SMH reports:

TEL AVIV: Tens of thousands of Israelis have taken to the streets in 10 cities to protest against the high cost of living and to demand ''social justice, not charity''.

It's unclear why anybody in Sydney should care, unless they're considering migrating to Israel in the near future.

Meanwhile, here's news from the Middle East that the SMH didn't think anyone in Sydney would care about.

Syrian tanks stormed the city of Hama early on Sunday, residents said, after besieging it for nearly a month in response to some of the biggest demonstrations against Syrian President Bashar Assad's rule.

One of the residents, a doctor who did not want to be further identified for fear of arrest, told Reuters that at least one civilian, a youth called Fares al-Naem, was killed in shelling by tanks in Bab Sbahi, in the northern quarter of the city.

"Tanks are attacking from four directions. They are firing their heavy machine guns randomly and overrunning makeshift road blocks erected by the inhabitants," he said by phone, the sound of machine gun fire crackling in the background.

"Lots of casualties have been taken to Badr hospital. There is a shortage of blood," he added.

There are more international journalists per square mile in Israel, than any other place on Earth. It's a nice place to hang out. You can drink, you can write what you want, and nobody is going to cut your head off a la Daniel Pearl.

You would think however that some issues deserved a bit more coverage. Don't hold your breath though. As Dan Gillerman observed: "It’s nearly as if we live in a world where if Christians kill Muslims, it’s a crusade. If Jews kill Muslims, it’s a massacre. And when Muslims kill Muslims, it’s the Weather Channel. Nobody cares. "

Update: An article appeared in the print edition of the SMH. Word count and accompanying picture is equivalent to the article about the Israeli protest. Article attributed to a wire service. I mean, it's not like the SMH would have anyone on the ground there.

The accompanying online photo is of a cheerful, chinless dictator. Wouldn't want to upset anybody.