Sunday, January 09, 2011

No, It Wasn't Tear Gas

Reported in the JPost this morning:

Jawaher Abu Rahma, the woman who Palestinians claimed was killed a week and a half ago by IDF-fired tear gas during an demonstration near Bil’in, died as a result of the medical treatment she received at a Ramallah hospital, the commander of the IDF’s Judea and Samaria Division said on Friday.


Brig.-Gen. Nitzan Alon said that the IDF’s conclusion was based on new medical documents it received from the hospital which indicated that the woman received doses of different types of medication completely unrelated to tear gas inhalation.

Haaretz is here

Here is the official IDF notice.

The video clip:




So, as my friends conclude,

...the media articles were not sourced according to professional standards. The journalists had no way to checking the different versions, and did not write this. This is a standard problem, from Al Dura through Jenin and Goldstone -- the journalists quote Palestinian and NGO claims, without any attempt at fact checking
and

They did not even try to check the facts. They did not even try. This is not reporting, it is reprinting Palestinian press releases as fact.

I left another comment at Mackey's The Lede in our ongoing discussion.
^

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