This is a cross post from Just Journalism
In contrast with the celebrations in Gaza following killings, Israel’s Channel 10 has screened footage of Nablus Palestinians unequivocally condemning them.
Neither the BBC nor The Guardian reported the festivities in Gaza in response to the murder of five members of the same family in the West Bank on Friday, but they both referred to ‘shock’ by Palestinians at the attack.
Other than quoting a condemnation by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, The Guardian’s coverage did not produce anything to substantiate the (unusual) headline: ‘Israelis and Palestinians in shock after Fogel family massacre’. The BBC article also did not take comment from or cite any Palestinians.
However, Israeli broadcast journalist, Shlomi Eldar, has produced a rare report for Channel 10, in which Nablus residents speak with him freely on camera, out in the busy streets, expressing their unequivocal condemnation of the killings.
Shlomi reports that in years of reporting from the Palestinian territories this genuinely surprised him and it was the first time Palestinians were volunteering themselves to express this opposition. He emphasised that the views expressed in the report were representative of the many interviews he carried out in the town.
One man says:
‘It’s forbidden to kill, not children, and not old people and not women, that’s according to the religion. The person who says otherwise, he’s really crazy. I’m telling you honestly, he’s not a man. In our religion it’s forbidden to kill children.’
Another says:
‘The feeling is not good. It’s wrong that something like this could happen. No one wants his son or father or brother to die. People who were in their home, sleeping in their place of security. To go in and murder them with a knife. Where is his heart? Where is his mercy? Where is the humanity? Where? Simply put, the man who does this has no heart, he has nothing.’
One boy runs to fetch a newspaper, coving the killings and holds up a picture of one of the victims. He says:
‘Look, why did he need to die? A little boy.’
Alec Macph adds: In a karmic cycle, an IDF paramedic unit has been reported to have saved a Palestinian Arab baby from strangulation by umbilical cord. In Itamar.
The grateful mother has named her son “Jude”.
