In English, Haaretz Misleads on Ibrahim Abu Thuraya

Update, 8:10 am EST: For Second Time, Haaretz English Edition Corrects on Abu Thuraya’s Leg Injury

Despite the fact that Haaretz‘s earlier this month corrected a photo caption which inaccurately reported on the unclear circumstances regarding the death of double amputee Ibrahim Abu Thuraya, along with the circumstances in which he lost his legs, the Israeli daily’s English edition continues to get the facts wrong.

Thus, in the English edition, Amira Hass’ Jan. 8 Op-Ed (“One Palestinian More or Less, What Does It Matter to the Israeli Army?”), misleadingly refers to “Abu Thuraya, whose legs had been amputated after an Israeli air strike nine years ago.”

Abu Thuraya injured his legs in a clash with soldiers, and not in an air strike. Haaretz ran this AP story last month stating:

While relatives have claimed Abu Thraya lost his legs in an Israeli airstrike while trying to rescue people, AP records show that he was wounded on April 11, 2008, in a clash between Israeli forces and Palestinian militants in the Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza. AP television footage from that day shows Abu Thraya identifying himself as he is taken away on the back of a pickup truck. He is also seen being taken on a stretcher.

The Hebrew version of Hass’ Op-Ed does not claim that Abu Thuraya lost his legs in an Israeli air strike. It states (CAMERA’s translation):

Less than two weeks after he wrote this, the army’s criminal investigation unit announced that it would investigate the circumstances of the death of Ibrahim Abu Thuraya, a double amputee.

But that wasn’t the only instance in which Haaretz‘s English edition inaccurately reported on Ibrahim on Abu Thuraya while the Hebrew edition was more careful. Thus, in Thursday’s English print edition, a page one, top of the fold, story (“IDF surrounds Nablus in hunt for rabbi’s killers”) reports on a statement by Joint List MK Ahmad Tibi reacting to the condemnation by U.S. Ambassador David Friedman regarding the killing of Rabbi Raziel Shevach:

“Friedman is horrified? I didn’t hear him say a word when an Israeli sniper shot a double amputee in Gaza or when young Mohammad Tamimi was shot in his head,” he said referring to recent shootings of Palestinians by the IDF in Gaza and the West Bank.

As previously reported, and as Haaretz itself earlier acknowledged in a previous correction, the circumstances regarding the death of Abu Thuraya are unclear. The Israeli army, for its part, said no live fire was directed in Abu Thuraya’s direction and so far has been “unable to conclude whether he was killed by Israeli forces or what caused his death,” as Haaretz previously reported.

Thus, while it’s legitimate to report Tibi’s accusation that an Israeli sniper shot Abu Thuraya, Haaretz failed readers by adding, as a statement of fact, that Tibi’s statement was “referring to recent shootings of Palestinians by the IDF in Gaza and the West Bank.”

The equivalent article in Haaretz‘s Hebrew print edition, in contrast, did not repeat as fact Tibi’s unproven charge that an Israeli sniper shot Abu Thuraya.

For additional instances of “Haaretz, Lost in Translation,” or when the English edition contains inaccurate charges against Israel that don’t appear in the parallel Hebrew item, please see here.