Life in the old city is precarious for Palestinians. Their movements are restricted, they are not allowed to use vehicles, businesses have had to close. Soldiers enter Palestinian houses day or night. We walked near a checkpoint where, a week earlier, an 18-year-old Palestinian woman on her way to college was shot dead by a 19-year-old Israeli soldier who thought she may be carrying a knife. Since then, more than 80 people have died, most in east Jerusalem and Hebron – six times as many Palestinians have died as Israelis.
First, the final sentence highlighted, which notes the putatively ‘disproportionate’ number of Palestinians killed since the latest upsurge in violence, is extraordinarily misleading as it fails to note that most of these Palestinians were killed while carrying out or attempting to carry out attacks. Almost all of the rest were killed while participating in violent demonstrations. All of the Israelis victims, in contrast, were killed in Palestinian attacks.
But, the worse distortion is in the preceding sentence, regarding the 18-year-old Palestinian woman shot at a checkpoint.
Contrary to the claim made, the Palestinian woman was not shot merely because the soldier “thought” she had a knife. She was shot after she brandished a knife and refused to drop it after being ordered to do so and reportedly lunged at soldiers.
Contrary to the ubiquitous Palestinian propaganda during the latest surge in violence, Israeli security personnel do not shoot Palestinians merely because they have a hunch they may be carrying a weapon. They are shot after they have attacked or attempted to attack Israeli civilians and soldiers.
Since Oct. 1st, 21 Israelis have been killed and at least 190 wounded in 75 stabbings, 10 shootings 12 car rammings.
(Note that the Daily Record regulated by IPSO, the Independent Press Standards Organisation. So, those of you wishing to complain about the specific inaccuracies in this article, which we believe are inconsistent with the Editors’ Code, can do so by emailing the paper’s readers’ editor at: readerseditor@dailyrecord.co.uk)