LA Times and Passé Propaganda on ‘Jenin Massacre’
The debunked Palestinian claim of a massacre of “hundreds” is so passé, but that doesn’t deter Los Angeles Times entertainment writer John Horn. In April 2002, Palestinian spokespeople alleged that hundreds were killed in the so-called “Jenin massacre.”
But as early as May 2002, Palestinian officials admitted that 50-some Palestinians, not hundreds, were killed. Commemorating eight years since the “Jenin Massacre,” the official WAFA Palestinian news agency referred to the dozens (not hundreds) killed:
The Palestinian assessment that dozens, not hundreds, were killed in Jenin in April 2002 is consistent with the findings of the United Nations and human rights groups.
How is it then, that in a review today of the film “The Attack,” John Horn writes that protagonist Amin
travels to the Palestinian territories, where he visits Jenin in the West Bank (a site where Palestinians say the Israeli Defense Forces massacred hundreds of civilians). . . . (Emphasis added)
The Los Angeles Times itself reported back in August 2002 that the United Nations report on Jenin:
. . . set to be released today, says that 52 Palestinian deaths were confirmed by April 18 and that as many as half may have been civilian. It calls the allegation that up to 500 were killed “a figure that has not been substantiated,” the diplomats said. Israel has reported 23 soldiers killed in the battle.
The U.N. findings mirror those of Human Rights Watch.
Perhaps fictional Palestinians in the fictional film “The Attack” say that the Israeli army massacred hundreds, but Horn makes no attempt to distinguish fiction from fact. Stay tuned for news about a correction.
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