'Teenager killed' in Gaza clashes

[Violet_Crumble]

Israeli forces have shot dead a Palestinian teenager in the Gaza Strip, according to medical sources there.

Muhammad al-Faramawi, 15, was killed when Israeli troops opened fire near the border town of Rafah, Gaza's director of emergency services said.

The Israeli Defence Forces have not yet commented on the reported killing.

The official told reporters medics were not able to reach the body of the boy as gunfights between Israelis and Palestinians were continuing.

The teenager was killed near the now-defunct Yasser Arafat airport.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/8594707.stm

[Scurrilous]

1. Palestinian killed, 12 hurt in Gaza demos: medics

<snip>

"A Palestinian teenager was killed and 12 people were wounded, including children, as Israeli troops opened fire at "Land Day" demonstrators near the Gaza border on Tuesday, Palestinian medics said.

Hundreds of demonstrators marched to the border, east of the town of Khan Yunis, to mark Land Day, an annual commemoration of Israel's killing of six people during a 1976 protest by Israeli Arabs against land confiscations.

Near the site of fierce clashes which left two Israeli soldiers and two Palestinians dead over the weekend, protesters hurled stones at troops along the border, who responded with live fire, witnesses said.

Muawiya Hassanein, the head of Gaza emergency services, said 11 people, including children, were wounded. One of them, nine-year-old Raid Abu Namus, was in serious condition, medics at a nearby hospital said.

Israeli troops earlier shot dead 15-year-old Mohammed al-Faramawi in an incident near the southern Gaza town of Rafah, Hassanein said. Witnesses said he had arrived near the border just ahead of a similar march.

Another Palestinian, 14, was shot and wounded during a Land Day demonstration in the Maghazi refugee camp of central Gaza, Hassanein said."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100330/wl_mideast_afp/mideastconflictgaza

[ConsAreLiars]

2. Utter silence in the US Corrporate media, as always.

"Which side are you on...."

[cali]

3. Good news. Muhammad is alive and unhurt

Gaza boy reported killed returns home alive
Land Day rallies near Gaza City 30.3.10
The Land Day rallies led to clashes with Israeli forces

A Palestinian teenager reported to have been killed in a clash in Gaza has returned home alive and well.

Muhammad al-Faramawi, 15, was said to have been killed in clashes on Tuesday near Rafah, according to health officials in the Gaza Strip.

Israel denied involvement, and sources in Gaza suggested the boy may have died in an inter-Palestinian dispute.

He returned home on Friday after apparently fleeing to Egypt through a smuggling tunnel and being held there.

His family expressed "overwhelming happiness" that he was unharmed, Palestinian news agency Maan reported.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/8601925.stm

[henank]

4. Apologies to Israel for the lie in 3..2..1...

Crickets.

[Tripmann]

5. Finally, some good news from a conflict badly in need of some.

[Violet_Crumble]

6. That is good news. It's a shame more don't have similar happy endings n/t

[shira]

7. Undead boy 'left bleeding for hours' according to witness

"He said the boy had been left "bleeding for hours" before a medical team was allowed to collect his body."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/8601925.stm

:eyes:

[shira]

8. Return of the Living Dead

<snip>

Reliable Palestinian Sources?

Why should Palestinian medical sources be free from scrutiny, particularly if those very same sources are under the auspices of the Hamas terrorist organization? In this case, faulty information came directly from the Hamas-controlled Health Ministry in Gaza, the very same source for casualty figures during Israel's Operation Cast Lead. The Health Ministry also contributed to the one-sided Goldstone Report during the commission's visit to the Gaza Strip.

We have often criticized the media for relying on Palestinian "eyewitnesses" and even official sources or spokespeople who have subsequently been found to be, at best, inaccurate and in some cases outright liars. Indeed, it was Palestinian medical sources that were responsible for spreading the vicious libel of the so-called Jenin "massacre" in 2002.

Is the above incident an isolated one? How many Palestinian "casualties" have been erroneously blamed on Israel?

Aside from the AFP, most mainstream media were careful to cover themselves concerning the lack of clarity in the original story. So why then were they so quick to accept Palestinian casualty figures from virtually the same unreliable sources?

Is this latest reporting a sign that some media have, without publicly acknowledging previous errors, accepted that a little skepticism of Palestinian sources is in order?

Al-Dura Revisited?

In the past, so many initial and unsubstantiated news reports have turned into libels that have caused immense damage to Israel's image. Many of these, including the case of Muhammad al-Dura, are covered in our interactive Big Lies presentation.

It was some time before it was conclusively proved that al-Dura's apparent death was not caused by Israeli bullets. In the meantime, he became the poster child for the wave of Palestinian violence and terror and the international anti-Israel demonization campaign.

What if Muhammad Al-Farmawi had not turned up alive only days after his reported death? This story illustrates just how easy it is to pin the blame on Israel and to create negative and damaging headlines.

We hope that the media have learned a valuable lesson from this incident.

http://honestreporting.com/articles/45884734/critiques/new/Return_of_the_Living_Dead.asp