Palestinian Tear Gas Libel: The Truth Comes Out

For too long, Palestinian Big Lies have been allowed to become part of the accepted narrative. Too many times, media outlets have reported libelous Palestinian allegations and accusations against Israel, relying on Palestinian “eyewitness” accounts, dismissing Israeli rebuttals and failing to check the facts for themselves.

So it was in the case of a Palestinian woman reportedly killed by tear gas fired by the IDF at a Palestinian demonstration. As the dispute raged, we were particularly incensed by the New York Times’ coverage and some other media that preferred to ignore the damning evidence of a Palestinian libel in favor of taking sides on Israel’s use of tear gas as a means of crowd control.

Now, Israeli media, including the Jerusalem Post, reports on the final conclusions of the IDF’s investigation:

“According to our findings, Abu Rahma died as a result of the medical treatment,” a source in the Central Command said Wednesday.

Medical documents obtained by the IDF show that Abu Rahma received unusually high doses of atropine, a medicine that is commonly used as an antidote to agents such as nerve gas. Israeli gas mask kits used to be distributed to the public with atropine shots inside.

According to the IDF’s findings, Abu Rahma died of complications from medical treatment that had not been connected to tear gas.

The IDF also uncovered documentation indicating that Abu Rahma may have been suffering from cancer and had been hospitalized several weeks before her death.

The IDF probe included an analysis of the demonstration and involved experts from the IDF Medical Corps who examined documents received from the Palestinians.

The Associated Press, a news source relied upon by countless international media outlets, has also reported the IDF’s findings. Even if the New York Times and others are unable or unwilling to send their own reporters to follow up on this story, there is now no excuse. Even the Palestinian Ma’an News Agency has reported the latest.

Will the foreign press publish the IDF’s findings or will this latest Palestinian libel be allowed to become the accepted truth? Don’t let this happen. Hold the media to account by sending your considered e-mails to those outlets that reported on the original story:

• New York Times – [email protected]
• Washington Post – [email protected]
• BBC – News feedback site
• CNN – Feedback
• The Independent – [email protected]
• The Times of London – [email protected]
• The Guardian – [email protected]