AFP Dissembles: Palestinian Clown Incarcerated for Activity in ‘Leftist’ Group

Well, I’ll put it on, and I will dissemble myself
in’t; and I would I were the first that ever
dissembled in such a gown. I am not tall enough to
become the function well, nor lean enough to be
thought a good student; but to be said an honest man
and a good housekeeper goes as fairly as to say a
careful man and a great scholar.

— Feste the Clown, Shakespeare’s “Twelfth Night”

According to Agence France Presse photo captions last week, Israel had imprisoned a Palestinian clown for 20 months for alleged involvement in a “banned leftist group.” In fact, Israel’s Shin Bet security agency accused him of being a member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, designated as a terror organization by the European Union, the United States, Canada and Israel. A sampling of the numerous captions follow:

Palestinian clown Mohammad Abu Sakha poses with his mother at his family home in the West Bank city of Jenin, following his release on August 31, 2017 from administrative detention, the controversial measure under which Israel detains suspects without trial for periods of several months, renewable indefinitely. The 26-year-old circus teacher was accused by Israel of membership in a banned leftist group and held without charge for 20 months.

He had been part of the Palestinian Circus School in Bir Zeit in the occupied West Bank since 2008, first as a student and later as a clown and teacher.

Palestinian clown Mohammad Abu Sakha poses under a national flag near his family home in the West Bank city of Jenin, following his release on August 31, 2017 from administrative detention, the controversial measure under which Israel detains suspects without trial for periods of several months, renewable indefinitely. The 26-year-old circus teacher was accused by Israel of membership in a banned leftist group and held without charge for 20 months.

He had been part of the Palestinian Circus School in Bir Zeit in the occupied West Bank since 2008, first as a student and later as a clown and teacher.

Palestinian clown Mohammad Abu Sakha poses next to a banner bearing his picture at his family home in the West Bank city of Jenin, following his release on August 31, 2017 from administrative detention, the controversial measure under which Israel detains suspects without trial for periods of several months, renewable indefinitely. The 26-year-old circus teacher was accused by Israel of membership in a banned leftist group and held without charge for 20 months.

He had been part of the Palestinian Circus School in Bir Zeit in the occupied West Bank since 2008, first as a student and later as a clown and teacher.

Israel did not incarcerate Abu Sakha because of his membership in a “leftist” group. Rather, Israel incarcerated him because his membership in a terror group. Why do the captions dissemble?

While the captions fail to accurately portray the cause for Abu Sakha’s incarceration, they do include the wholly irrelevant biographical details that “he had been part of the Palestinian Circus School in Bir Zeit in the occupied West Bank since 2008, first as a student and later as a clown and teacher.”

The AFP article from Thursday likewise highlights the irrelevant fact that he was a Palestinian clown (“Israel frees Palestinian clown held without charge for 20 months“) over the relevant fact that he is active in the PFLP terror group. The first sentence says he is “A Palestinian clown accused by Israel of membership in a banned leftist [sic] group” and the fifth paragraph includes detail not germane to his incarceration:

Abu Sakha had been part of the Palestinian Circus School in Bir Zeit in the occupied West Bank since 2008, first as a student and later as a clown and teacher.

Only in the seventh paragraph does the article finally mention PFLP (and even here it downplays PFLP’s status as a terror group), ie the reason for his imprisonment:

Israel’s Shin Bet security agency accused him of being a member of the leftist Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, which the Jewish state considers a terrorist group because of its armed wing.

As previously noted, it’s not just the Jewish state which considers PFLP a terrorist group — also the European Union, the United States and Canada have bestowed this inglorious status on the organization. Notably, the organization pioneered numerous international airlines hijackings in the 1970s. (On his Facebook page, Abu Sakha includes a photograph of notorious PFLP hijacker Leila Khaled.)

According to the organization’s “Editorial Standards and Best Practices,” AFP journalists are “expected to provide accurate, balanced and impartial news coverage.” In other words: no dissembling.

See also: Independent ‘Reveals’ Israel’s Secret War on Palestinian Clowns