Stone-Throwing, Lost in Haaretz Translation

A Palestinian throws rocks at Israeli troops April 10, in Bet Omar, following the funeral of Jafar Awad (Photo by Abed Al Haslhamoun/EPA)

“Haaretz, Lost in Translation,” that enduring phenomenon of Haaretz‘s English translators deleting information about Arab violence or wrongdoing which had appeared in the Hebrew original, strikes again.

This time, Haaretz translators transform a Palestinian stone-thrower who was fatally shot as he was engaged in violence against Israeli troops into a non-violent marcher who was shot for no offense greater than feeling rage over his cousin’s death.

The English version of Gideon Levy’s article Friday reads (“In death as in life“):

Two days later, last Friday, with the whole family at his side, Jafar died. His funeral took place the same day, and was attended by thousands.

Afterward, hundreds of enraged young people started to march toward the IDF checkpoint at the edge of the town. Troops from the Golani infantry brigade lay in ambush for them in the skeleton of an old Israeli bus that was abandoned long ago in the town. The mourners were in the street, the remains of the bus stood on the slope below.

Ziyyad Awad was distraught at the death of his beloved friend and cousin; he had been with him until his final moments.

The soldiers shot at Ziyyad. He was hit in the stomach and died, the rounds apparently fired with a .22-caliber Ruger rifle. Three other people were wounded, two of them in their upper body. The Military Police launched an investigation.

The original Hebrew version of Levy’s article Friday notes that the crowd of Palestinian mourners had been throwing stones. It states:

The relevant sentence, underlined in red, means (CAMERA’s translation):

Thousands accompanied him on his final journey and at the end hundreds of enraged youth approached the checkpoint at the exit of the city, and threw stones.

For some reason, this violence on the part of the Palestinian crowd was does not appear in the English article.

About the circumstances of Ziyyad’s death, Reuters had reported:

Israeli troops killed a Palestinian stone-thrower and wounded several others in the occupied West Bank on Friday after a militant’s funeral turned violent, hospital officials and witnesses said.

An army spokeswoman confirmed soldiers opened fire during the incident at Beit Omar, near the Palestinian city of Hebron, saying they had feared for their lives as protesters threw rocks and petrol bombs and rolled burning car tyres at them. (Emphasis added.)

Likewise, Associated Press reported on April 10:

After the funeral, Palestinians threw rocks at soldiers manning a watchtower on a road near the town, according to witnesses.

Israel’s military said Palestinians threw rocks and firebombs, and rolled burning tires toward soldiers. It said troops used tear gas at first, but fired low-caliber bullets at the legs of four men after the soldiers felt their lives were in danger.

Haaretz reported the same day:

According to the Israeli military, about 700 Palestinians clashed with security forces following a funeral on Friday for a man who died from medical complications shortly after his release from Israeli prison. The mourners threw stones and firebombs at the Israeli troops, who responded with gas canisters and later the bullets. According to the Golani Brigade unit on the scene, four Palestinians were wounded by the Ruger rifle bullets that were fired at their legs.

CAMERA has contacted editors of Haaretz‘s English edition and requested a clarification noting that Awad had been throwing rocks when he was shot, and that according to the army, the crowd had also been throwing fire bombs. Stay tuned for an update.

UPDATE, 7:04 am EST — Haaretz Adds Stone-Throwing

Following communication from CAMERA’s Israel office, Haaretz editors have added in the information that some of the mourners at Jafar Awad’s funeral were throwing rocks. The amended text now states:

Afterward, hundreds of enraged young people started to march toward the IDF checkpoint at the edge of the town and began throwing stones.

In addition, the following note was appended to the end of Levy’s article:

This article was amended on 19/4/2015 to add the fact that some mourners at Jafar Awad’s funeral threw stones at IDF forces.