A sample of yesterday's U.S. Dept Of State briefing. Is it just me, or is
Mr Reeker vaguely insinuating (towards the end) that one of the major
U.S. TV corporations has a pro-Palestinian bias???


__________________________


U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
DAILY PRESS BRIEFING
DPB # 95
MONDAY, OCTOBER 2, 2000, 1:05 P.M.
(ON THE RECORD UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED)
Briefer:  Philip T. Reeker, Deputy Spokesman

(...)

QUESTION:  Several members of the international community have
said that perhaps the response taken by Israel in terms of the
level of kind of military response has been a little bit harsh,
given that these - that the Palestinians were protesting.  There
was, you know, some kind of disruption, but that the Israeli
response was a  little harsh militarily.  Does the US feel that
Israel took an inappropriate stance on the crackdown?

MR. REEKER:  I am not keeping score or trying to apportion blame.
Both sides need to do everything they can to restore calm, to
avoid actions and words that can further inflame the situation.
And that's what we're focusing on.

QUESTION:  On that, though, there were reports that the Israelis
are using anti-tank missiles against the crowds.  Can you tell us
how many tanks the Palestinians have?

MR. REEKER:  I don't have details on the situation there and, as
I said, I'm not in a position to get into some sort of
scorekeeping on the security situation.  There is violence.
There is always tension in that region.  We know that.  It
underscores the reason that we need to focus on the talks and
working towards a comprehensive final status agreement.

QUESTION:  They are also using helicopter gunships on crowds of
civilians in apartment buildings, according to some of the
reports.

MR. REEKER:  Once again --

QUESTION:  Yeah, but the Palestinians are just throwing stones,
Phil, and they're using tanks.  I guess - you know --

MR. REEKER:  I have been watching your network's coverage, just
as you have, Elise.  Once again, on the United States part, we're
calling for both sides to do what they can to restore calm, to
take maximum effort at showing restraint, avoiding actions and
words that can inflame a situation that, as we know, is always
very tense.

(... etc. etc.)