The New York Times and Israel

Howard Friel
Znet

May 25, 2007

On Wednesday, May 23, Amnesty International reported that, in 2006,
Palestinians killed more than 650 Israelis, including 120 Israeli
children, while the Israelis killed 27 Palestinians, including one
Palestinian child. Readers of the New York Times would not be surprised
to read such figures, since the Times regularly features Palestinian
violence on the front page and elsewhere in the front section.

The problem with the Times’ depiction of Palestinian violence, however, on
the occasion of Amnesty`s 2007 annual report and other such reports, is
that Amnesty actually reported the opposite—in 2006 Israel killed over
650 Palestinians, including 120 children, while Palestinians killed 27
Israelis, including one child.

One Israeli child
killed by Palestinian terrorists is one child too many; likewise with
respect to the 20 Israeli civilians that Palestinians also killed in
2006. Most people in the United States rightfully condemn the
Palestinians who kill innocent and unarmed Israelis. But what about the
Israeli government and military officials who authorized and carried
out the policies that killed 120 Palestinian children and another 200
Palestinian civilians in 2006? Would most people in the US even guess
that in 2006 more Palestinians than Israelis were killed by a ratio of
24 to 1, let alone condemn Israeli terrorism in the occupied
territories?

For many years, including since the
start of the Second Palestinian Intifada on September 29, 2000, Amnesty
International has issued annual reports detailing Israeli and
Palestinian casualties. In its 2001 report (covering events in 2000),
Amnesty reported that “More than 350 Palestinians, including nearly 100
children, were killed mostly through excessive use of lethal force by
Israeli security services.” Amnesty also reported that “More than 60
Israelis, including more than 30 civilians, were killed by Palestinian
armed groups and individuals.” The fact is that Israel has killed well
over 800 Palestinian children since September 2000.

On December 31, 2000, a Switzerland-based human rights organization,
Defense of Children International, which has consultative status with
UNESCO and UNICEF and the Council of Europe, issued a report, and the
chart below, detailing how those 100 Palestinian children were killed
“through excessive use of lethal force” from September 30, 2000 to
December 31, 2000. This chart, in addition to numerous other reports
issued by DCI on the Israeli killing of Palestinian children,
contradicts Israel`s repeated claims that it does its utmost to avoid
harming innocent people.

DATE
NAME
AGE
RESIDENCE
CAUSE OF DEATH

30 September
Mohammad Jamal Mohammad Al-Dura
11
Al-Breij/Gaza
Live bullet to multiple places

30 September
Nizar Mohammad Eida
16
Deir Ammar/Ramallah
Live bullet to chest

30 September
Khaled Adli Insooh Al-Bazyan
15
Nablus
Exploding bullet to head

1 October
Samir Sidqi Tabanja
12
Nablus
Live bullet to chest

1 October
Sarah `Abdel Atheem `Abdel Haq
18 mos.
Talfit/Nablus
Live bullet to head. Killed by Israeli Settlers

1 October
Hussam Bakhit
17
Balatta Refugee Camp/Nablus
Live bullet to head

1 October
Iyad Ahmad Salim Al-Khoshashee
16
Nablus

Live bullet to multiple places. Iyad`s body was found Sunday in the
hills surrounding Nablus, but he is believed to have died on Saturday.

1 October
Sami Fathi Mohammad Al-Taramsi
16
Sheikh Radwan/Gaza
Live bullet to chest

1 October
Mohammad Nabeel Hamed Daoud
14
Al-Bireh/Ramallah
Live bullet to head

2 October
Wa`el Tayseer Mohammad Qatawi
16
Balatta Refugee Camp/Nablus
Live bullet to eye

2 October
Muslih Hussein Ibrahim Jarad
17
Deir Balah/Gaza
Killed in Um Al-Fahim
Live bullet to chest

2 October
`Aseel Hassan `Assalih
17
`Arrabeh Al-Batouf/Upper Galilee
Live bullet to neck

3 October
Hussam Ismail Al-Hamshari
16
Tulkarem
Exploding bullet to head

3 October
Ammar Khalil Al-Rafai`i
17
Al-Maghazi/Gaza
Hit by missile in the head

4 October
Mohammad Zayed Yousef Abu `Assi
13
Bani Sahla/Gaza
Live bullet to chest
!

6 October
Saleh Issa Yousef Al-Raiyati
17
Rafah/Gaza
Live bullet to head

6 October
Majdi Samir Maslamani
15
Beit Hanina/Jerusalem
Exploding bullet to head

6 October
Mohammad Khaled Tammam
17
Tulkarem
Live bullet to chest

8 October
Yousef Diab Yousef Khalaf
17
Al Breij/Gaza
Died from injuries sustained on 2 October, shrapnel to head.

11 October
Karam Omar Ibrahim Qannan
17
Khan Younis Refugee Camp/Gaza
Rubber coated steel bullet to chest

11 October
Sami Hassan Salim Al-Balduna
17
Tulkarem Refugee Camp
Live bullet to chest

12 October
Sami Fathi Abu Jezr
12
Rafah/Gaza
Died from injuries sustained on 11 October, Live bullet to head

16 October
Mo`ayyad Osaama Al-Jawareesh
14
Aida Refugee Camp/Bethlehem
Rubber coated steel bullet to head

20 Octobe!
r
Mohammad `Adil Abu Tahoun
15
Tulkarem
Live bulle
t to multiple places

20 October
Samir Talal `Oweisi
16
Qalqiliya
Live bullet to chest

20 October
`Alaa Bassam Beni Nimra
16
Salfit
Live bullet to chest

21 October
Omar Ismail Al-Abheisi
15
Deir Balah/Gaza
Exploding bullet to chest

21 October
Majed Ibrahim Hawamda
15
Ramallah
Exploding bullet to head

22 October
Wa`el Mahmoud Mohammad Imad
13
Jabaliya Refugee Camp/Gaza
Live bullet to head

22 October
Salah Al-Din Fawzi Nejmi
16
Al-Maghazi Camp/Gaza
Live bullet to chest

23 October
Ashraf Habayab
15
Askar Refugee Camp/Nablus
Exploding bullet to head. Died from injuries sustained 16 October.

24 October
Iyad Osaama Tahir Sha`ath
12
Khan Younis/Gaza
Live bullet to head. Died from injuries sustained 21 October.

24 October
Nidal Mohammad Zuhud!
i Al-Dubeiki
16
Hai Al-Darraj/Gaza
Exploding bullet to abdomen.

26 October
`Alaa Mohammad Mahfouth
14
Arroub Refugee Camp/Hebron
Live bullet to head. Died from injuries sustained on 6 October.

27 October
Bashir Salah Musa Shelwit
16
Qalqiliya
Live bullet to chest.

29 October
Husni Ibrahim Najjar
16
Rafah/Gaza Strip
Live bullet to head.

31 October
Shadi Awad Nimir Odeh
17
Hai Zaitun/Gaza Strip
Live bullet to head.

1 November
Ahmad Suleiman Abu Tayeh
17
Shatti Refugee Camp/Gaza
Live bullets and exploding bullets to multiple places.

1 November
Mohammad Ibrahim Hajaaj
14
Sheja`aya/Gaza
Live bullet to head.

1 November
Ibrahim Riziq Mohammad Omar
14
Shatti Refugee Camp/Gaza
Live bullet to chest.

2 November
Khaled Mohammad Ahmad Riziq
17
Hizma!
/Jerusalem
Live bullet to multiple places.

2 November Yazen Mohammad Issa Al-Khalaiqa
14
Al-Shiyoukh/Hebron
Killed in Bethlehem
Live bullet to back.

4 November
Rami Ahmad Abdel Fatah
15
Hizma/Jerusalem
Exploding bullet to multiple places.

4 November
Hind Nidal Jameel Abu Quweider
23 days old
Hebron
Tear gas inhalation.

5 November
Maher Mohammad Al-Sa`idi
15
Al-Breij/Gaza
Live bullet to head

6 November
Wajdi Al-Lam Al-Hattab
15
Tulkarem
Exploding bullet to chest

6 November
Mohammad Nawwaf Al-Ta`aban
17
Deir Balah/Gaza
Live bullet to chest

7 November
Ahmad Amin Al-Khufash
6
Marda/Salfit
Run-over by Israeli settler

8 November
Ibrahim Fouad Al-Qassas
15
Khan Younis/Gaza
Live bullet to eye. Died from injuries sustained on 5 November.

8 November
Faris Fa`iq Odeh
15
Hai Zaitun/Gaza
Liv!
e bullet to head.

8 November
Mohammad Misbah Abu Ghali
16
Khan Younis Refugee Camp/Gaza
Live bullet to chest.

8 November
Ra`ed Abdel Hamid Daoud
14
Heras/Salfit
Exploding bullet to multiple places

9 November
Mahmoud Kamel Khalil Sharab
17
Khan Younis/Gaza
Live bullet to back

10 November
Osaama Mazen Saleem `Azouqah
14
Jenin
Live bullet to chest

10 November
Osaama Samir Al-Jerjawee
17
Hai Al-Daraj/Gaza
Live bullet to chest

11 November
Musa Ibrahim Al-Dibs
14
Jabalia Camp/Gaza
Live bullet to chest

12 November
Mohammad Nafiz Abu Naji
16
Sheikh Radwan/Gaza
Live bullet to chest

13 November
Yahya Naif Abu Shemaali
17
Khan Younis/Gaza
Live bullet to chest

14 November
Saber Khamis Brash
15
Al `Amari Camp/Ramallah
Live bullet !
to chest

14 November
Mohammad Khatir Al `Ajli
13 Hai Sheju`a/Gaza
Exploding bullet to head

15 November
Ibrahim Abdel Raouf Jaidi
15
Qalqiliya
Live bullet to chest

15 November
Jadua Munia Mohammad Abu Kupashe
16
Al Samua/Hebron
Live bullets to multiple places.

15 November
Ahmad Samir Basel
17
Tel Al-Howwa/Gaza
Live bullet to chest

15 November
Mohammad Nasser Mohammad Al-Sharafe
17
Nasser/Gaza
Live bullet to head

15 November
Jihad Suheil Abu Shahma
12
Khan Younis/Gaza
Live bullet to head

15 November
Ahmad Said Ahmad Sha`aban
16
Jalama/Jenin
Exploding bullet to abdomen

16 November
Samir Mohammad Hassan Al-Khudour
17
Al-Fawwar Refugee Camp/Hebron
Exploding bullet to chest

17 November
Rami Imad Yassin
17
Zeitun/Gaza
Live bullet to chest

17 November
Mohammad Abdel Jalil Mohammad !
Abu Rayyan
16
Halhoul/Hebron
Live bullet to head

19 November
Abdel Rahman Ziad Dahshan
14
Sabra/Gaza
Live bullet to chest

20 November
Ibrahim Hassan Ahmad Uthman
17
Tel Al-Sultan/Gaza
Live bullet to chest

21 November
Yasser Taleb Mohammad Tebatitti
16
Tulkarem Killed while on vacation. Family lives in Saudi Arabia.
Live bullet to chest

22 November
Ibrahim Hussein Al-Muqannan
14
Khan Younis/Gaza Strip
Live bullet to head. Died from injuries sustained on 20 November

23 November
Maram Imad Ahmad Saleh Hassouneh
3
Jalazone Refugee Camp/Ramallah
Tear gas inhalation

24 November
Aysar Mohammad Sadiq Hassis
15
Jenin
Exploding bullet to eye.

24 November
Majdi Ali Abed
15
Sheju`a/Gaza Strip
Live bullet to head. Died from injuries sustained on 17 November.

26 No!
vember
Ziad Ghaleb Zaid Selmi
17
Habla/Qalqiliya
L
ive bullets to multiple places.

26 November
Mahdi Qassem Jaber
16
Habla/Qalqiliya
Live bullets to multiple places.

28 November
Karam Fathi Al-Kurd
14
Khan Younis/Gaza Strip
Live bullet to head Died from injuries sustained on 23 November.

29 November
Mohammad Abdullah Al-Mashharawi
14
Gaza
Live bullet to head. Died from injuries sustained on 26 November.

30 November
Walid Mohammad Ahmad Hamida
17
Teku`a/Bethlehem
Live bullet to chest.

30 November
Shadi Ahmad Hassan Zghoul
16
Hussan/Bethlehem
Run-over by Israeli settler.

1 December
Mohammed Salih Mohammad Al-Arjah
12
Rafah/Gaza Strip
Live bullet to head.

5 December
Ramzi Adil Mohammed Bayatni
15
Abu Qash/Ramallah
Live bullet to eye.

8 December
Mohammad Abdullah Mohammad Yahya
16
Kufr Rai/Jenin
Hit b!
y missile.

8 December
Alaa Abdelatif Mohammad Abu Jaber
17
Al-Maghayeer/Jenin
Hit by missile.

8 December
Ammar Samir Al-Mashni
17
Beit Or Al-Tahta/Ramallah
Live bullet to head

8 December
Mu`ataz Azmi Ismail Talakh
16
Dheishe Refugee Camp/Bethlehem
Live bullet to head

9 December
Salim Mohammad Hamaideh
12
Rafah/Gaza
Live bullet to head

11 December
Ahmad Ali Hassan Qawasmeh
15
Hebron
Live bullet to head

20 December
Hani Yusef Al-Sufi
14
Rafah/Gaza
Shrapnel to head

22 December
Arafat Mohammad Ali Al-Jabarin
17
Sa`ir/Hebron
Live bullet to head

31 December
Mo`ath Ahmad Abu Hedwan
12
Hebron
Shrapnel to head

CLINICALLY DEAD
The following Palestinian children have been declared clinically dead.

DATE
NAME
AGE
RESIDENCE!

INJURY

30 September
Khaled Hameed
17
Raf
ah/Gaza
Live bullet to head

30 September
Mohammad Nawaf Abu Owemer
13
Deir Balah/Gaza
Live bullet to head

30 September
Mohammad Sami Al-Hummos
14
Rafah/Gaza
Live bullet to head

5 November
Ghazaleh Joudet Jaradat
14
Sa`ir/Hebron
Rubber coated steel bullet to head

11 November
Hamad Jamal Al-Faraa
13
Khan Younis/Gaza Strip
Live bullet to head

CHILDREN DEATHS AS A RESULT OF
THE ISRAELI IMPOSED CLOSURE

DATE
NAME
AGE
RESIDENCE
CAUSE

13 October
Alaa Osaama Hamdan
10
Assawiya/Nablus

Died from a severe lung infection after Israeli soldiers prohibited her
father from passing through a checkpoint to transport her to a
hospital.

In its 2002 annual
report, Amnesty reported that 460 Palestinians, including 79 children,
were killed during 2001 by Israeli security forces, while Palestinian
armed groups killed 187 Israelis, including 154 civilians. This pattern
of casualties was repeated in each of Amnesty International’s annual
reports from 2003 to 2007. The same pattern of much higher Palestinian
casualties is also reported by Human Rights Watch in its annual
reports.

As of yesterday (May 24), B’Tselem, Israel’s
most important human rights organization, reported fatalities as
follows: From September 29, 2000 to April 30, 2007, 4,098 Palestinians
were killed by Israeli security forces and Israeli civilians, while
1,021 Israelis were killed by Palestinians.

Despite
many more fatalities on the Palestinian side throughout this period,
the New York Times has featured Palestinian violence in its coverage of
the conflict. From September 29, 2000 to December 31, 2005, the Times
published nearly 50 front-page articles on Palestinian suicide bombings
and other terrorist acts,[i][1] in addition to 25 articles on
Palestinian terrorism reported elsewhere in the front section.[ii][2]
This reporting accounted for the vast majority of Palestinian suicide
bombings and other terrorist acts inside Israel’s borders. In contrast,
there was much less emphasis in the Times on the far more numerous
Israeli killings of Palestinians in the occupied territories during the
same period. And as far as I can tell, using the New York Times search
engine, the Times neglected to cover any of the annual reports from
Amnesty International or Human Rights Watch on Israel throughout the
period, nor has it ever mentioned the reports on the Israel-Palestine
conflict issued regularly by Defense for Children International.

There
is another major problem with the Times’ coverage. Both Amnesty
International and Human Rights Watch monitor violations of
international humanitarian law, which protects civilians in armed
conflict and belligerent occupation. The Fourth Geneva Convention
(1949) is the main instrument of such law as it applies to Israel’s
occupation of the Palestinian territories. Both Amnesty and HRW
frequently cite Israeli violations of the Fourth Geneva Convention, not
only with respect to Israel’s excessive lethal force, but also with
regard to beatings and abuse, house demolitions as collective
punishment, and administrative detention and torture, in addition to
Israel’s settlements in Palestinian territory. Article 49(6) of the
Convention states: “The Occupying Power shall not deport or transfer
parts of its own civilian population into the territory it occupies.”
This key stipulation is universally recognized (except by Israel) as
prohibiting, and thus outlawing, Israel’s settlements in the West Bank
and East Jerusalem. However, again as far as I can tell, the New York
Times has ignored the Fourth Geneva Convention and the fact that it
outlaws Israel`s settlements. This amounts to nothing less than a
rejection of the rule of law by the Times as it applies to the
Israel-Palestine conflict.

Consistent with its
pattern of ignoring the annual reports of Amnesty International as they
apply to Israel`s occupation, the Times appears to have ignored
Amnesty’s just-published 2007 report as well. There was no reference to
the report, or at least to the section on Israel, in either the print
or online editions on May 24. However, if you were to intuitively type
Amnesty International into the Times’ search engine, you would have
found an Associated Press report titled, “Israel Killed 650
Palestinians in 2006,” which summarizes Amnesty’s 2007 report on
Israel. The AP report begins: “Israeli troops killed more than 650
Palestinians last year—half of them unarmed civilians including some
120 children—a threefold increase from 2005, a leading human rights
group said Wednesday [May 23].” Inexplicably, the AP report states that
“No such killings [by Israeli soldiers and settlers] were documented in
the report.” However, Amnesty’s report documents several such
incidents, as reproduced below:

On 9 June, seven
members of the Ghalia family—five children and their parents—were
killed and some 30 other civilians were injured when Israeli forces
fired several artillery shells at a beach in the north of the Gaza
Strip. The beach was crowded with Palestinian families enjoying the
first weekend of the school holidays. The Israeli army denied
responsibility for the killings but failed to substantiate their claim.

In
the early morning of 8 November, 18 members of the Athamna family were
killed and dozens of other civilians were injured when a volley of
artillery shells struck a densely populated neighbourhood of Beit
Hanoun, in the north of the Gaza Strip. The victims, eight of them
children, were killed in their sleep or while fleeing the shelling,
which lasted for around 30 minutes and during which some 12 shells
landed in the area. The Israeli authorities expressed regret for the
killings, saying that the houses were mistakenly struck due to a
technical failure, but rejected calls for an international
investigation. The attack came in the wake of a six-day Israeli army
raid in Beit Hanoun code-named “Autumn Clouds”, during which Israeli
forces killed some 70 Palestinians, at least half of them unarmed
civilians and including several children and two ambulance emergency
service volunteers. The raid also injured some 200 others, including
scores of children.

Eight-year-old Akaber ‘Abd al-Rahman
‘Ezzat Zayed was shot dead by Israeli special forces who opened fire on
the car in which she was travelling to hospital with her uncle, who was
seriously injured in the attack. The incident took place on 17 March in
Yamun village, near the northern West Bank town of Jenin.

On
19 December, 14-year-old Dua’a Nasser ‘Abdelkader was shot dead by
Israeli soldiers as she approached the fence/wall with a friend near
Fara’un, a village in the north of the West Bank.

Nine
members of the Abu Salmiya family were killed when an Israeli F16
fighter jet bombed their home at 2.30am on 12 July. According to the
Israeli army, a senior leader of Hamas’ armed wing was in the house at
the time of the strike but survived. However, the strike wiped out an
entire family: the owner of the house, Nabil Abu Salmiya, a Hamas
political leader and university lecturer; his wife Salwa; and seven of
their children all aged under 18. Dozens of neighbours were also
injured and several other houses were damaged in the strike.

In
the evening of 25 March a group of Israeli settlers assaulted
‘Abderrahman Shinneran as he slept in his tent with his wife and three
children in Susia in the southern Hebron Hills. When his brother ‘Aziz
went to his rescue he too was assaulted and injured.

On 18
November, Tove Johansson, a 19-year-old Swedish human rights defender,
was assaulted by Israeli settlers as she accompanied Palestinian school
children through an Israeli army checkpoint near the Tel Rumeida
Israeli settlement in the West Bank city of Hebron. She was struck with
a broken bottle and sustained facial injuries. Israeli soldiers at a
nearby checkpoint took no action to stop the attack or apprehend the
perpetrators.

Despite continuing US military and financial
support of Israel, in addition to the US boycott of the elected
Palestinian government, the Times chose to ignore these incidents as
presented in Amnesty’s 2007 annual report.

While
Andrew Rosenthal’s tenure as editor of the Times’ editorial page has
substantially improved at least that page’s performance with respect to
a number of important issues, that shift has occurred in the context of
a persistent 30 percent approval rating of President Bush in public
opinion polls and an apparent rejection of the administration’s
policies in the 2006 congressional elections. Tougher tests of
journalistic oversight occur when conditions are not so favorable for
principled criticism and commentary. The Times catastrophically failed
those tests with respect to its coverage throughout most of the US war
in Vietnam and in recent years in Iraq. The Times is failing that test
today in its coverage of the Israel-Palestine conflict. While Israel
has done most of the killing and has violated a preponderance of the
applicable law, the Times, in a relative sense, has persistently
over-represented Palestinian violence and lawlessness. By failing also
to integrate applicable international law into its editorial standards,
while mostly ignoring the human rights organizations (which regularly
invoke international law in their reports), the Times apparently has no
editorial policy to apply to the conflict aside from an historical and
contemporary disposition to support Israel’s illegal policies.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Howard
Friel is coauthor with Richard Falk of Israel-Palestine on Record: How
The New York Times Misreports Conflict in the Middle East (Verso, June
1) and with Falk of The Record of the Paper: How The New York Times
Misreports US Foreign Policy (Verso, 2004