Reports of Saeb Erekat’s Death Have Been Greatly Exaggerated
David Lange
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Yesterday, reports spread that Chief Palestinian Propaganda Minister Saeb Erekat had died of COVID 19 in the Israeli hospital kindly treating him.
One of the sources – if not the original one – was Al Arabiya – who still have this tweet up:
Alas, to paraphrase Mark Twain
“The further we went the hotter the sun got, and the more rocky and bare, repulsive and dreary the landscape became…There was hardly a tree or a shrub any where. Even the olive and the cactus, those fast friends of a worthless soil, had almost deserted the country”.
Oops, sorry. Wrong quote. I meant to say rumors of his death have been greatly exaggerated, prompting the PLO to issue this statement
Wishing Dr. Erekat a full and speedy recovery, the Palestinian Minister of Health, Dr. Mai al-Kaila, stressed on the importance of preserving the feelings of Dr. Erekat's family: We hope that you will report the news based on official Palestinian media sources.
— Palestine PLO-NAD (@nadplo) October 19, 2020
If you now click through to the Al Arabiya story, they clearly have edited it.
I seem to recall a similar situation when Yasser Terrorfat was on death watch. I am guessing if Erekat does succumb to the illness, that won’t be the only similarity – we’ll be blamed for killing him as well.
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David Lange
