Last week, Israeli forces serving near the West Bank Jewish community of Halamish (Neveh Tzuf) were fired upon by Palestinian gunmen.
In returning fire, Israeli soldiers mistakenly fired at a passing car, wounding Haitham Tamimi and his two-and-a-half-year-old son, Mohammed. Both father and son were evacuated to nearby hospitals for treatment, with Mohammed airlifted by an Israeli military helicopter to Sheba Hospital in Ramat Gan where doctors fought to save his life.
Tragically, Mohammed Tamimi passed away from his wounds several days later.
In reporting on this incident, both the Associated Press (AP) and the BBC misled their readers regarding the nature of this incident while also providing a skewed context for the rise in violence between Israel and the Palestinians.
Toddler mistakenly shot by IDF last week succumbs to injuries — Palestinian media https://t.co/EIfmIP2F21
— The Times of Israel (@TimesofIsrael) June 5, 2023
AP & BBC: Did Israel Deliberately Target Palestinian Toddler?
The AP’s headline and opening paragraphs seem to imply that Israeli soldiers intentionally shot Palestinian toddler Mohammed Tamimi.
⛔ MISLEADING: The @AP's headline implies the @IDF deliberately shot a toddler & his father.
They were hit as the IDF returned fire at Palestinian gunmen who had initiated shots toward them.
This was a tragic & accidental death. Our thoughts are with the family. pic.twitter.com/6rR2qCNpac
— HonestReporting (@HonestReporting) June 5, 2023
The wire service repeatedly mentions that Tamimi was “shot by Israeli troops” while never once mentioning the IDF’s assertion that the car he was in was mistakenly shot at.
The closest the AP comes to providing its readers with the IDF’s account of this incident is in the third paragraph when it writes that “The Israeli military has said soldiers opened fire after gunmen in the area shot at a nearby Jewish settlement.”
However, this one sentence completely fails to convey to its readers the essence of the IDF’s statement, which is that the car was mistakenly shot at while soldiers were pursuing the Palestinian gunmen and that the Israeli Army “regrets harm to [non-combatants] and works to prevent such incidents.”
Thus, without this added nuance, the AP leaves its readers with the impression that Israeli soldiers cold-bloodedly and deliberately shot the Palestinian father and son.
While the BBC does include the IDF’s statement, its report also seems to imply that Israeli soldiers intentionally shot Mohammed and Haitham Tamimi.
In particular, it cites the claim of Palestinian activist Bilal Tamimi that “the Israeli army was waiting to ambush a car at the entrance to Nabi Saleh and opened fire as it approached,” implying the deliberate targeting of this civilian vehicle and intentional shooting of the two Tamimis.
AP & BBC’s Twisted Context
Along with their misleading reports on the death of Mohammed Tamimi, the AP and the BBC also provided their readers with skewed contexts behind recent violence between Israel and the Palestinians.
For example, the AP, referring to the West Bank and eastern Jerusalem, notes that this year, “Palestinian attacks targeting Israelis in those areas have killed at least 21 people,” thus ignoring two deadly Palestinian attacks that took place in Tel Aviv during this period.
In its report, the BBC writes that “some 150 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces or settlers.” In the next paragraph, it continues, “In addition, 23 people on the Israeli side have been killed…in violence related to the Israel-Palestinian conflict.”
By refusing to explicitly refer to Palestinian assailants while simultaneously making Israeli soldiers and settlers active participants in this violence, the BBC has removed agency from the Palestinians and implicitly placed sole responsibility for the upswing in violence on Israeli shoulders.
Related Reading: Does The Media Define ‘Murder’ & ‘Terrorism’ Differently for Israelis?
The death of any non-combatant or civilian in the conflict is dreadful. The death of a small child in these circumstances is even more so. Unsurprisingly, anti-Israel activists on social media are accusing the IDF of deliberately murdering a Palestinian toddler despite Israel’s record of going to extraordinary lengths to avoid such events, while palpably ignoring how Palestinian terrorists have no such compunction when it comes to deliberately targeting any Israeli.
Israel will take responsibility for this tragedy. The AP and BBC, however, need to take responsibility for presenting Israel’s role in this horrible incident as far more malevolent than the dreadful accident it invariably was.
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Photo Credit: JAAFAR ASHTIYEH/AFP via Getty Images
