With Israeli authorities having lifted most coronavirus-related restrictions due to the country’s world-leading vaccination campaign, several media outlets are seemingly keen on reviving the thoroughly debunked libel that Jerusalem is somehow preventing Palestinians from accessing COVID-19 inoculations.
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Last week, PBS NewsHour aired a segment titled, “Israel pushes forward with successful vaccine program, but Palestinians feel left behind.” In the television report, correspondent Martin Himel asserted:
But just 30 miles east of here is the Palestinian West Bank. Social distancing is still enforced. The economy is at a standstill, and there’s only a trickle of vaccines for the Palestinian population.”
On the same day, German broadcaster DW News also targeted the Jewish state. “And you’ve still got a lot of Palestinians to get vaccinated,” anchor Ben Fajzullin interjected during an interview with the CEO of an Israeli hospital.
Enter HonestReporting, which actually took the time to crunch some numbers. And it turns out that the Palestinians are actually doing better than many other populations afflicted by the pandemic.
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A COVID Mortality Rate Similar to Canada
According to recent COVID-19 statistics, 58,467 in 1 million Palestinians have contracted the disease, a rate well below those of nearby Arab states like Jordan and Lebanon. The rate of incidence in the Palestinian territories is also lower than those of the United States and many European nations.
Perhaps most notably, the figure for Israel is about 40% higher: out of every million Israelis, almost 100,000 contracted the coronavirus.
Moreover, the Palestinian mortality rate from COVID-19 is lower than that of most developed countries, including the Jewish state. To date, the West Bank and Gaza Strip have reported 676 coronavirus-related deaths per million people — about three times lower than the 1,741 per million people in the US. Meanwhile, France has recorded 1,532 COVID-19-induced fatalities per million people.
Still, media outlets have disproportionately focused on the state of affairs in the West Bank and Gaza.
A big data analysis by HonestReporting shows that between April 18 and April 25, US news sites reported on the situation in Palestinian hospitals 1,337 times. Over the same period, only 115 articles mentioned Lebanese hospitals, the circumstances in which were previously described by local doctors as “catastrophic.” Likewise, US media reported on Jordan’s hospitals only 297 times, even though the infection rates in both Lebanon and Jordan are higher than in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
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4.5 Million Doses to Arrive Soon
Regarding the claim that Palestinians have access to “a trickle” of coronavirus vaccines, as things stand an estimated 3,6% of the Palestinian population has received at least a first jab. While this figure may be lower than that of developed nations, the Palestinians still lead several countries in the region. In Lebanon, for example, 3,4% of the population has been partially vaccinated. In Iran, only 0,6% of civilians have received a first inoculation.
More specifically, the Palestinian Authority (PA) has thus far received approximately 200,000 coronavirus shots from various sources. This includes 100,000 Chinese Sinopharm vaccines and 10,000 Russian Sputnik doses, in addition to Pfizer and AstraZeneca shots provided by the WHO’s COVAX initiative. Israel also provided the West Bank with a shipment of Moderna vaccines. Additionally, the Jewish state vaccinated some 100,000 Palestinian laborers. Health officials in the Gaza Strip say they have received over 110,000 doses.
Not to mention that the PA on Tuesday announced it had purchased 4.5 million doses of the Pfizer and Sputnik V vaccines, enough to administer two doses to some 45% of an assumed five million Palestinians living in West Bank and Gaza. If the campaign is successful, the Palestinians could soon become the most highly vaccinated population in the Middle East after those in Israel and the United Arab Emirates.
Related Reading: Is Israel Required to Give Palestinians Coronavirus Vaccines?
But instead of reporting the facts and providing context, various news outlets appear to prefer smearing the Jewish state as opposed to abiding by the basic journalistic standard of doing a modicum of research.
And, as is generally the case, when the mainstream media fails to fulfill its duty to paint the whole picture, false narratives seep into the political discourse. For example, at J Street‘s 2021 Virtual National Conference earlier this month the anti-Israel coronavirus vaccine libel was disseminated by both Senator Bernie Sanders (D-VT) and Elizabeth Warren (D-MT), the latter of whom said:
[Israel’s] success stands in stark contrast to the West Bank and Gaza, which remain under lockdown as COVID-19 continues to spread out of control. Jewish settlers in the West Bank are receiving vaccinations while few Palestinians have any access to life-saving shots.”
Through our proactive approach and work, HonestReporting will continue to help disprove the Palestinian vaccine lie — whenever and wherever it may rear its ugly head in the media.
Have you seen an incorrect news item about Israel’s vaccination campaign that deserves our attention? Please let us know by sending a Red Alert through our website.
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