Six Palestinians were killed in three separate violent clashes with Israeli security forces on September 19 and 20.
One was killed while taking part in violent riots along the border fence between Gaza and Israel, four were killed during armed clashes with Israeli forces conducting an arrest raid in the terror hotbed of Jenin and one was killed after throwing explosives at Israeli forces conducting an arrest operation in the Aqabat Jaber refugee camp.
Of the six Palestinians killed, all were involved in violent confrontations with Israeli forces and at least four were known members of internationally recognized terror groups.
However, some mainstream media outlets as well as alternative news sources on social media blurred this salient detail, leaving their audiences uninformed and with the false impression that those Palestinians killed were not actively engaged in violence prior to their deaths.
3 Palestinian militants killed tonight during clashes with the IDF in Jenin. Israeli forces were operating in the area to arrest wanted terrorists, when, according to the Palestinian Islamic Jihad terror group, PIJ members opened fire at Israeli forces and detonated explosive… pic.twitter.com/wCZ33P3Fn0
— The Israel Files (@theisraelfiles) September 19, 2023
The Missing Terrorists: The Media’s Vague Headlines & Uninformative Reports
In reporting on these incidents, several news outlets headlined their articles without any reference to their violent background or to the terrorist affiliation of the majority of those who were killed.
The BBC’s headline merely reported that there were “Six Palestinians killed by Israeli forces in West Bank and Gaza.”
Similarly, the LA Times used an outdated Associated Press headline, “At least 6 Palestinians killed in latest fighting with Israel, health officials say.”
In its report on the clash in Aqabat Jaber, France24’s headline read “Israel army raid in West Bank kills Palestinian.”
As studies show that a large percentage of news consumers just read the headline and not the whole article, it is imperative that news sources relay vital information in their headlines and not just further on in their pieces.
This @BBCWorld headline is deceptive. 3 of these Palestinians were claimed as members of terror groups & 1 was killed while rioting along the Gaza border.
Short, snappy headlines may be great for clicks, but not so great for facts.https://t.co/SM5kOmWkdo pic.twitter.com/Z5gNgQap2E
— HonestReporting (@HonestReporting) September 21, 2023
Some news outlets even went so far as to entirely leave out the fact that the majority of those killed were members of terror organizations or that all were engaged in violence.
In its report, Forbes never identified the four killed who were members of terrorist organizations.
Further, the magazine merely claimed that the Palestinians in Jenin and Aqabat Jaber were killed during clashes between Palestinians and Israeli forces. Anyone reading this piece could come away thinking that they were mere bystanders and not participants in the violence.
In a piece on the escalating tensions between Israel and Hamas, The Washington Post simply wrote that “At least five Palestinians were killed Tuesday in raids in Jenin and Jericho.”
In the same piece, it also described the operation against Islamic Jihad in Gaza in May 2023 as “a short-lived exchange of fire that killed 33 people in Gaza and two people in Israel.” Once again, The Washington Post fails to differentiate between civilians and terrorists, obfuscating the true nature of these events.
Related Reading: Forbes.com Won’t Face Facts About Palestinian Terrorists in Push For Punchy Headline
Similarly, in its video report on the Jenin raid, the Associated Press described the Israeli forces as “killing people and wounding dozens.”
Voice of America was equally deceptive in a photo caption, only reporting that the “death toll over a day of fighting between Israel and the Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and the Gaza Strip, has risen to six, four from Jenin.”
With no mention that all those killed were engaged in violence and four were identified as members of terror groups, this caption hardly presents the entire picture.
It's highly inappropriate and deceptive for @VOANews to talk about a death toll without explaining that at least four of those killed were members of terror groups and one was killed while rioting along the Gaza border.
Readers deserve the full facts.https://t.co/SEgV8pcGaE pic.twitter.com/tTQ6UkfF5D
— HonestReporting (@HonestReporting) September 21, 2023
Anti-Israel Social Media Hides Terror Affiliations
On social media, alternative news sources were similarly vague and uninformative with regard to who those killed were, as well as the violence that precipitated their deaths.
The Times of Gaza referred to those killed as “citizens who were killed by Israeli occupation forces in mass raids.”
The Hamas-affiliated Quds News Network similarly simply posted that “four Palestinians were killed” after a “brutal attack,” with no extra details provided.
The far-left MintPress News also reported that “Israel has killed six Palestinians in the last 24 hours from Gaza to Jenin,” implicitly portraying them as innocent victims and not violent members of internationally recognized terror organizations.
For her part, Mondoweiss contributor Mariam Barghouti posted about Mahmoud Ali Al-Saadi, one of the terror members killed in the Jenin operation, affectionately referring to him by his nickname of the “chiwawa” [sic] due to his diminutive stature.
While she does note his “bravery in confronting a military,” Barghouti’s post obscures his engaging in violence prior to his death in favor of presenting him as an innocent victim of Israeli aggression.
“The chiwawa” killed in a violent assault on Jenin refugee camp last night.
Nicknamed the chiwawa in jest and seriousness for his small size & bravery in confronting a military with nuclear technology.
Mahmoud Al-Saadi. Detained by the Palestinian Authority, killed by Israel. https://t.co/1YdSC67SwT
— Mariam Barghouti مريم البرغوثي (@MariamBarghouti) September 20, 2023
It would be expected that the above-mentioned social media accounts, known for their anti-Israel animus, would be vague and uninformative about those who were killed in clashes with Israeli forces this past week.
However, the fact that several mainstream media organizations took a similar tack in describing these events in question should be of great concern to anyone who looks to these outlets for nuanced and informative reporting.
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Photo Credit via Twitter
