PA TV falsifies video and lies to its viewers
- PA edits out scene of Israeli soldier and Palestinian boy shaking hands and then falsely claims:
Even the 4-year-old Palestinian knows it's "forbidden to shake hands with soldiers" and "forbidden to make peace with them"
Actual unedited version:
Soldier reaches out to boy and they shake hands
PA TV's falsified edited version:
Freezes video after soldier reaches out to boy
then continues video from a few seconds later,
lying to viewers that the boy refused to shake hands with the soldier
- PA TV reporter: "His son, who has yet to reach the age of five, also knows, despite his young age, that it is forbidden to shake hands with the soldiers, just as it is forbidden to make peace with them"
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By Itamar Marcus and Nan Jacques Zilberdik
A Palestinian father pushed his 4-year-old son toward armed Israeli soldiers on Friday, encouraging his son to throw stones at the soldiers. At the same time, he taunted the Israeli soldiers to shoot at his son, calling out to them: "Shoot this little boy, after all you always do that to small children."
However, when the little boy reached one of the Israeli soldiers, the soldier stretched out his hand to the boy who immediately "high fived" and shook the soldier's hand. Finally, when the boy fulfilled his father's instructions to throw stones, he threw the stones at the empty field and not at the soldiers.
Palestinian Media Watch has viewed two video versions of this incident. The unedited version appears as described above and was published on the Facebook page of Israeli Army Spokesperson and Head of the Foreign Press Branch Lt. Col. Peter Lerner. However, official PA TV did not want its viewers to see a friendly handshake between a young Palestinian child and an Israeli soldier, so they distorted the footage. In slow motion, PA TV showed the Israeli soldier reaching out his hand to the Palestinian boy, but then jumped a few seconds ahead so it seems as if the boy never shook the soldier's hand. The PA TV reporter completed the deception by lying to the viewers, claiming the boy refused to shake hands with the soldier:
"His son, who has yet to reach the age of five, also knows, despite his young age, that it is forbidden to shake hands with the soldiers, just as it is forbidden to make peace with them."
[Official PA TV, July 29, 2016]
These are two consecutive screen shots from the unedited footage:
This is the same scene after deceptive editing by PA TV. The frame on the left - the soldier's outstretched hand - is followed immediately by the frame on the right, so the PA TV viewers never see the handshake:
The following is the transcript of the original unedited video followed by PA TV's edited version:
Unedited version
Palestinian father to soldiers: "Shoot this little boy, after all you always do that to small children! Shoot! Shoot! Shoot him! Go, go! (unclear) Shoot him, heroes!"
Palestinian father to son: "Go, go! Don't be scared! Don't be scared! (unclear) Raise the flag! Raise, raise!"
Palestinian father: "Let them shoot and kill him! Kill him, shoot him!"
Boy and soldier shake hands
[Facebook page of Lt. Col. Peter Lerner Israeli Army Spokesperson
and Head of the Foreign Press Branch, July 30, 2016]
Edited by PA TV
Official PA TV reporter: "Not only does [Palestinian] civilian Ayoub Sorour defend [his land], but his son, who has yet to reach the age of five, also knows, despite his young age, that it is forbidden to shake hands with the soldiers, just as it is forbidden to make peace with them, as long as the foreigners defile the land and settle it."
PA TV edits out handshake (slow-motion by PA TV)
Palestinian father to son: "Shoot him! After all you are always doing things like this. Always shooting small children and killing them. Don't be scared! Throw the rock! Throw!"
Palestinian father to son: "Throw!"
[Official PA TV, July 29, 2016]
