Blood Libel Of The Day: The Case Of The Palestinian Woman On The Ground
David Lange
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The following images have been disseminated across Twitter and the internet, being retweeted by the likes of the detestable Lauren Booth.
@Maysara_ara another photo of the brutally attack by d so called d only democracy in the middle East #WomenRights pic.twitter.com/dzXJAkjiBT
— Maysara Al Arabeed (@Maysara_ara) April 1, 2014
“In a war between civilized man and the savage, choose the civilized man.” – State of israel @Maysara_ara pic.twitter.com/gvp3KSW0uU”
— Omar Faisal (@omar_faisal86) April 1, 2014
Over here, the photo appears with the caption:
#Israeli soldiers brutally attack & kidnap a #Palestinian unarmed woman in d streets of #Hebron in d occupied land
So what actually happened? Is is true that IDF soldiers attacked and kidnapped the pictured woman?
After all, the images do not show any attack, but rather a palestinian woman on the ground and sitting down near soldiers.
A Google image search brings up a number of results, including this and this, both of which describe the arrest of “Tahani Abu” (or at least the English translation of the Arabic does). And this one mentions “Abu Mayala.”
A search for the name brings up a number of results, including the following report from the palestinian Ma’an News Agency.
Israeli forces early Tuesday detained a young Palestinian woman and a man in the Old City of Hebron, locals told Ma’an.
Witnesses said Israeli troops stationed at a checkpoint in southern Hebron stopped a teenager, Tahani Muhammad Abu Mayyala, for inspection.
Soldiers took her into custody after allegedly finding a knife in her handbag, witnesses said.
Locals added that journalist Hamza Ahmad Salaymah, who was near the checkpoint at the time, tried to convince the soldiers to release the girl, and was subsequently taken into custody himself.
Another report associated with the images mentions a slightly different name (perhaps due to a shoddy auto-translation) and a different age (which looks more accurate, based on the pictures). It also confirms the possession of a knife, with the added detail that Israeli sources claim she actually tried to stab an Israeli soldier.
Security sources reported that the Israeli forces stationed at a checkpoint, “Abu Rish,” at the southern entrance to the old town girl congratulations arrested Mohammed Abu prone (25 years), and transferred to an unknown destination. Israeli sources claimed that the girl tried to stab an Israeli soldier with a knife.
In other words, what we have here are multiple sources – at least one of which is actually anti-Israel – that makes no mention of the woman being attacked or kidnapped, but does mention her detainment/arrest for either carrying or using a knife in an attack on soldiers.
I can’t emphasize it enough times. When confronted with such images and claims, treat with the utmost of cynicism.
You can even do a Google image search yourself – it is not rocket science.
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David Lange
