[Elder of Ziyon] AP's misleading headline: "Israeli police: Gay killings not a hate crime"

Are Israeli police saying that targeting gays is not considered a hate crime?

That's sure what a lot of people would think when they see this headline, in AP as well as dozens of media outlets:

Reading the article you see that it is referring to a specific, and notorious, case in Israel:

Israeli police say the killing of two people at a gay youth center in Tel Aviv four years ago is no longer being treated as a hate crime.

Police arrested four suspects this week in connection with the killing, originally seen as the most serious homophobic attack in a country that is fairly gay-friendly.

Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said Friday that the motive behind the killing was of a personal nature. He said the suspects intended to shoot someone else at the center.
Instead, they opened fire on the two people they killed. Other details of the case are under court gag order.

I don't think that AP intended to imply that Israel was declassifying anti-gay violence as a hate crime, but it is very sloppy headline-writing.

By the way, the manhunt to find the killer was massive:

After the August 1, 2009 killings, the Central Unit was given an unlimited budget to pursue the case, and the investigation turned into one of the most expensive ever carried out in Israel. Anyone who was mentioned in connection with the shooting was called in for questioning, and ultimately more than 1,000 people were interrogated.

(h/t EBoZ)

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Posted By Elder of Ziyon to Elder of Ziyon at 6/07/2013 04:15:00 PM