The Ghost of Snapped Shot

Here's one of those stories that's just good enough for the nightly news tabloids. A Palestinian who was waiting for medical treatment had reportedly died, and the blame was quickly laid at the feet of the "heartless" Zionist "blockade" of the Gaza Strip. Here's how it was covered by Ynet at the time, for example:

A Palestinian father of six who was diagnosed with a brain cancer died at Gaza's Shifa Hospital on Wednesday while waiting for an entry permit to Israel, where he was set to undergo brain surgery and receive chemotherapy treatment at Ichilov Hospital in Tel Aviv. ... "The Shin Bet is continuing its harmful policy against cancer patients," Yaron said, "we are very concerned for the fate of 12 others who have requested entry to Israel for treatment."

You'd think that with such a bulletproof story, there'd be absolutely zero chance of any sort of problem here, right? After all, the story is about a known cancer patient who local sources "know" has died—And our beloved news-gatherers would definitely have seen to check the facts out for themselves, wouldn't they?

In this case, it would seem that our vaunted fact-checkers have, in fact, not done their homework:

Muhammad al-Harrani, a father of six from Gaza diagnosed with cancer who reportedly died while waiting for a permit to enter Israel, miraculously "came back to life." [Ed.:—Set "Spin Cycle" to high much?] This was not the result of a miracle, but rather, just part of the tactics used by al-Harrani's family in a bid to secure a permit for him.

...

On the eve of Holocaust Remembrance Day, al-Harrani’s story was published. His family reported to the “Physicians for Human Rights” organization that he died. “The sick man could not withstand the wait for the permit,” claimed Ran Yaron, Director of the Occupied Territories Department who blamed the Shin Bet for adopting cruel policies against cancer patients.

However, the next day, the organization discovered that al-Harrani was still alive. Members of group estimated that his brother, who reported the death, “killed” him so he does not report to the questioning session.

“This is a rare case where a family member knowingly provided false information to the organization,” Physicians for Human Rights said. “Usually, the organization receives information from the families and from the hospitals, but in this case the information was received from the family and was not confirmed by the hospital."

Shin Bet issued the only response appropriate in a disturbing case like this:

Meanwhile, the Shin Bet sent the organization an angry response: “We view these harsh accusations on your part with great severity; not even a minimal inquiry into the facts was conducted.” The Shin Bet noted that due to the suspicion of his involvement in terror activities, al-Harrani was indeed called in for a security check, and it was indeed postponed by a week.

For those of you who might have seen this story on your evening news program, don't hold your breath for a correction.

(h/t Alouette)

  #Fact-checking

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