The LA Times can't tell the difference between holding hands and firing missiles. Reporting on the Palestinian human chain in Gaza that failed to attract the anticipated turnout (or a potential storming of the Israeli-Gaza border), correspondent Richard Boudreaux writes:

As Israelis watched nervously from across the border, Palestinians in the Gaza Strip staged parallel protests Monday against the Jewish state, placing a few thousand placard-waving demonstrators along the main highway and firing 11 rockets into Israel.

One of these rockets - a "protest" in the words of the LA Times - was responsible for seriously injuring 10-year-old Yossi Haimov. Please e-mail readers.rep@latimes.com and ask LA Times readers representative Jamie Gold how violence aimed specifically at innocent civilians can possibly be comparable with a non-violent human chain.

QASSAMS: DOES THE MEDIA GET IT?

If any further evidence was needed to show the suffering of Sderot and the deadly intentions of Qassam attacks, it came on Wednesday 27 February as around 50 Palestinian rockets hit the western Negev, with one of them slamming into Sapir College near Sderot, killing a 47-year-old student. This, in addition to the aforementioned Yossi Haimov, seriously injured only days before, and 8-year-old Osher Twito who lost a leg in a Qassam attack earlier in the month that also seriously injured his 19-year-old brother.

As Sderot endures continuous bombardment and the casulties mount, some media still doesn't get it. Incredibly, South Africa's Independent Online headlined Wednesday's events: "Fierce Israeli aggression continues". The article's first paragraph downplays the Qassams, referring to "the first deadly rocket attack in nine months."

Please send your considered comments to IOL's Content Manager through its website.

AL-DURA: CLOSING ARGUMENTS AS TRIAL CONTINUES

Although no final verdict was reached as Philippe Karsenty went head-to-head with France 2 in a Paris courtroom, Take A Pen's Endre Mozes was on the scene to give us regular updates for our Backspin blog. Karsenty made a very thorough presentation that was challenged by France 2.

"It was a fight of the institutional thinking," said Mozes. "The strongest argument France 2 could come up with is that Charles Enderlin is an institution in this country. They said that [Jamal] al-Dura [Mohammed al-Dura's father] was visited by King Hussein, which shows how important this case is. France 2 wanted to show how respected personalities participated. They hardly challenged the facts and preferred to play up the players and institutions involved."

One of the evening's surprises was Charles Enderlin's revelation that he relied on the Shin Bet's assessment of cameraman Talal Abu Rama.

"In the Israeli press, there's a general belief that Palestinian journalsts and photographers are unreliable. Enderlin said his experience is that they are reliable. He said he asked the Shin Bet about Talal Abu Rama and they said he was clean. When the Shin Bet says he's clean, they only say he's not involved in terrorism that but doesn't vouch for the reliability off his journalism. But for Enderlin, it was enough."

For a full overview of the al-Dura affair, head to our homepage or click on the image below to see an exclusive video interview with Mideast analyst and media expert Tom Gross.

The trial verdict will be delivered on March 21. Stay tuned to HonestReporting for further coverage.