Did Israeli soldiers arrest Palestinian youths recently for the “crime” of picking flowers and vegetables located on a Jewish outpost in the West Bank?
That’s exactly the story being propagated by the Associated Press (AP) in a piece based entirely on a video and statement supplied by the provocative NGO B’Tselem.
The AP article, which was republished in major outlets such as ABC News, suggested: “Israeli troops detained five Palestinian children for several hours after they were confronted by Jewish settlers while gathering wild artichokes near a settlement outpost.”
The story was also written up by other sites such as Business Insider and NBC News.
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Even before the piece was published in the media, the Independent’s Middle East correspondent, Bel Trew, wrote in a Twitter thread on Wednesday that, “Israel arrested 5 Palestinian children aged 7-11… after they were picking flowers near a settlement in the occupied West Bank according to rights groups.”
The claims, too, are based entirely on anecdotal and partial evidence provided by B’Tselem.
Israel arrested 5 Palestinian children aged 7-11 today after they were picking flowers near a settlement in the occupied West Bank according to rights groups. @btselem says they are police station in Kiryat Arba . Photos: Nasser Nawaj'ah (B'Tselem) pic.twitter.com/rFp5aAr0ov
— Bel Trew (@Beltrew) March 10, 2021
There are three major problems with Trew’s statement:
1. The correct term is “detain,” not arrest. The children were brought to a police station and later released into the custody of their families.
2. There is video footage of the children trespassing on a Jewish farm. The sounds of farmyard animals are clearly recorded on the video, and the children are seen crouching alongside what a voice on the video describes as a parrot cage. That is the reason why they were detained. There is no evidence to back up the claim that they were held for picking flowers (or vegetables).
3. The claim was not made by “rights groups” in the plural, but a single group, which has repeatedly made clear its anti-Israel agenda.
When children are not just children
Unfortunately, there is a sad history of terror groups in the region using minors for attacks, which is a war crime. Whether or not that was the case with these children, this important context informs IDF policy and goes some way to explain why the army removed the youths from the site — for the safety of all those concerned.
15 years ago, on a bright, cold March afternoon, a Palestinian teenager approaches an Israeli checkpoint outside Nablus. Alone in the middle of the road, is the slight figure of 15-year-old Hussam Abdo.
Israeli paratroopers point their assault rifles and desperately scream at him to take off his explosive suicide bomber’s belt.
Faltering, fumbling, after an agonising few minutes he complies.
The 8kg of explosives and nails are pulled from underneath his red sweater.
His suicide mission is aborted.
Abdo later revealed that he was promised 100 NIS (just over $20). The Israeli media reported him to be a “mentally challenged” boy whose brother describes him as having “the intelligence of a 12 year-old.” It’s unbelievably shocking, but here it is, captured on film by Associated Press cameras.
15 years on, Israel is no longer attacked relentlessly by suicide bombers, but the checkpoints and soldiers remain, ever-present to halt any further attacks. When the media refer to Israel’s military control of the area, it’s essential to recall and understand the context and history. Attacks like this have left an indelible impression on the Israeli psyche and neccesitate constant vigilance.
Posted by HonestReporting on Tuesday, March 26, 2019
B’Tselem: Not a reliable news source
It is important to bear in mind that B’Tselem has been accused of “major omissions and distortions,” using figures that are not reliable and failing to present definitive evidence that would justify allegations, such as claims that Israel violated international humanitarian law during the 2014 war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
More recently, it produced a report in January which describes Israel as practising apartheid — a move so obviously false that even the Guardian was moved to call it “a deliberate provocation”.
B’Tselem’s video activists specifically have a reputation for going well beyond what could be considered reasonable behavior for an NGO, with former soldiers accusing members of the group of directing rock-throwing Palestinian mobs in the direction of Israeli soldiers.
Are B’Tselem activists provoking riots against Israeli soldiers?
“There’s a man… wearing a protective vest in blue or green with a big B’Tselem label. He’s recording us and simultaneously pointing in our direction and shouting in Arabic…”
Watch this testimony to hear Captain Mordi Arieli recount how he reported in 2013 for a month of reserve duty and was sent to stop a violent Palestinian mob near Route 60, close to Gush Etzion. Arieli surely never imagined that within hours he would be lying in hospital after sustaining a gruesome, life-changing injury.
While many of the statements gathered by My Truth are troubling, this testimony is especially worrying, and it should set alarm bells ringing for all concerned with human rights. How can it be that human rights activists are co-operating with violent rioters? Why are human rights activists participating in attacks on Israeli soldiers?
My Truth: Israeli soldiers share their stories
Posted by My Truth on Tuesday, March 15, 2016
That numerous media reports uncritically relied on B’Tselem’s claim is a journalistic failure on two levels. First, for using a single source for a story, without additional sources backing up the B’Tselem version of events; and second, for neglecting the basic duty to point out that the organization has repeatedly faced accusations of being agenda-driven and consequently developed a reputation as not always being credible. This information is essential so that news readers can evaluate the information properly.
Unfortunately, media outlets all-too-frequently lend credence to statements made by groups such as B’Tselem, often without allowing room for alternative perspectives.
Earlier this year, HonestReporting challenged AP after it published an article describing B’Tselem as a leading proponent of human rights and detailing its accusations that Israel was practicing apartheid, all without allowing any comment from an individual or organization who disagreed with B’Tselem’s highly tendentious claim. Following the publication of HR‘s critique, AP later updated the story to provide a measure of balance.
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Featured Image: Anadolu Agency via Getty
