“Earlier reports said Mahir was shoved and heckled by some worshippers who were angry at Egypt's "indecisive stand" towards the Israeli occupation of Palestine.”

The Palestinian radicals rightfully suspect that the rug is being pulled out from under them. Saddam Hussein no longer sends each family of their suicide bombers $25,000. The other Arab nations like Egypt are realizing that it’s best not to mess with George W. “Cowboy” Bush. The dude is obviously crazy and might drop a few hundred bombs in the middle of their respective capitols. Are the Palestinian crazies worth the bother? The answer is no. These clowns were somewhat amusing before Washington started to get serious and invade Iraq. Now the risk not worth taking. It’s best to pretend that don’t even exist.

I'm sure getting shoes thrown at the PM will result in Egypt wanting to help the Palestinians even more.

Oh, I'll do you one better than Al Jazeera

How bout the BBC:
"But the BBC's Jill McGivering, in Jerusalem, says the incident is sure to cause some embarrassment for the Israelis. "

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3341435.stm

Read it, I swear that if anything that understates the context. Palestinians attack a diplomat for daring to promote peace in a Palestinian mosque and the Israelis are going to be embarrassed. You cant make this stuff up folks.

He certainly looked "jostled" in the accompanying photo.

He was also treated at an Israeli hospital afterwards: oh the horror!

Gee, not only must the so-called liberal American media hew the line, but everyone else in the whole World! Well, even the NYT says he was jostled.

"As Mr. Maher entered the expansive Aksa mosque to pray, young men immediately began yelling at him, calling him a traitor, and threw shoes at him, a particularly potent insult in Arab culture. The entourage surrounding him was jostled."

I'd say the Al Jazeerah headline is as accurate as any of the others.

Alan, dear, the mothership is back in LEO. Please stop pestering the humans and be aboard by the next pass.

From the reuters article:

Initial reports said Maher, 68, was physically beaten and taken unconscious to hospital on Monday but witnesses and police later said he was accosted, jostled and possibly struck several times by a mob shouting that he was a "traitor and collaborator".

So whats wrong with the headline

EGYPTIAN MINISTER JOSTLED IN AQSA COMPLEX

from Al Jazeera?

Journalism isn't objective, has never been and will never be, but the headline is well within reason, even for US standards.

OK, possibly I'm reading too much into the pictures or something, but that guy appeared to be seriously freaked out. We're talking a sphincter-control issue level of freaking, here: that guy looked downright panicky. You don't normally associate that with just 'jostling', that's all I'm saying - although the guy could be the sort that just freaks out easily, I will admit.

His entourage was jostled, by all accounts; Mahir/Maher, however, had stuff thrown at him.

AJ's report makes about as much sense as reporting that happened to George Bush when it actually happened to one of his Secret Service agents.

In the Arab press an attack is only called that when actual gunfire or the detonation of high explosives are involved. Al Jazeera's editor's probably thought an thwarted assault on Mahir by an enraged but unarmed mob barely worthy of comment.

Well, why not call this post 'How CNN covers the news'? Aren't you automatically and unjustifiably assuming that CNN's headline is the 'correct' one?

As for the actual incident, I don't see that the guy was injured at all seriously. And what's with this 'thwarted assault'? Are we asking the press to report all attempts, however ineffective, even by unarmed civilians, at injuring important people, as 'attacks'?