Reuters Captions: Israeli Troops Kill Palestinian During Clashes
Dec. 20 UPDATE: Reuters Amends Captions: Palestinian Killed During Violent Clashes
Reuters photo captions about Ahmed Al-Remawi omit the fact that the Palestinian was killed Sunday during violent clashes, limiting information about the circumstances surrounding his death to the fact that the “Palestinian Health Ministry said [he] was shot and killed by Israeli forces on Sunday.”
Given the minimal information, uninformed readers could reasonably conclude that unprovoked Israeli forces shot Remawi Sunday as he did nothing more than sit and drink coffee. (Reports conflict about his age, said to be either 19 or 23.)
But both Israeli and Palestinian sources agree that a mob of Palestinians was violently clashing with Israeli troops, throwing stones, when Remawi was killed. Haaretz reported:
According to the IDF, some 50 Palestinians were involved in the clash, some of whom threw stones at Israeli security forces. A Border Police officer was wounded. The army said that the forces responded to the stone-throwing with riot control measures and with shooting in the air.
Examples of the incomplete Reuters captions follow:
Mourners carry the body of Palestinian Ahmed al-Remawi, who Palestinian Health Ministry said was shot and killed by Israeli forces on Sunday, during his funeral in the West Bank village of Beit Rima near Ramallah December 18, 2016. REUTERS/Mohamad Torokman
Relatives of Palestinian Ahmed al-Remawi, who Palestinian Health Ministry said was shot and killed by Israeli forces on Sunday, mourn during his funeral in the West Bank village of Beit Rima near Ramallah December 18, 2016. REUTERS/Mohamad Torokman
Relatives mourn as people carry the body of Palestinian Ahmed al-Remawi, who Palestinian Health Ministry said was shot and killed by Israeli forces on Sunday, during his funeral in the West Bank village of Beit Rima near Ramallah December 18, 2016. REUTERS/Mohamad Torokman
Unlike Reuters, other leading news agencies made clear in their captions that Remawi was killed during clashes with troops. See, for example, both AFP and AP below:
Security officials said that troops entered the village of Beit Rima, near Ramallah, after midnight and were confronted by stone-throwing youths. ABBAS MOMANI / AFP (Emphasis added.)
Palestinian mourners carry the body of Ahmed Rimawi, 23, who was shot and killed during clashes with Israeli forces Saturday night, during his funeral in the village of Beit Reema near the West Bank city of Ramallah, Sunday, Dec. 18, 2016.(AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed)
CAMERA has contacted Reuters editors to request that they amend the captions about Remawi to make clear, as the other leading photo agencies did, that the teen was killed during violent clashes with troops.
For more CAMERA reports about Reuters captions which downplayed Palestinian violence, please see here, here, and here.
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