Muhammad al-Durrah, the little boy who became the symbol of the Al-Aqsa Intifada, is returning to the headlines after a decade. A photo of him, crying, leaning against a wall with his father trying to protect him from the fire of IDF soldiers, was taken on September 30th 2000 during a fire exchange between IDF soldiers and a raging Palestinian crowd. It presented the IDF as a killing machine, and it was widely published that the boy was shot and killed on purpose.
Muhammad’s father, Jamal, showed the world his scarred body. A damage made by the IDF. This attack, he said to the world press, paralyzed his arm and damaged his leg. All that on top of losing his son to the vicious attacks, aimed at citizens for no apparent reason, made by the Israeli army. “>there are countless more lies that are being spread online as a part of an anti-Israeli/ Pro- Palestinian propaganda. Just a couple of days ago I bumped into a picture being “shared” around Facebook, showing a Middle-eastern looking man, holding a crying child with no arm. The title of this picture: “Many families find it very difficult to access health services due to the high cost of treatments, border closures and access restrictions by Israel Army.” This was very strange for me to read, especially when just the day before, I saw a video of a group of Israeli doctors visiting Palestinian neighborhoods and providing a free medical treatment. It is also well-known that Israeli hospitals bring in Palestinians who need a medical care, and treat them. Later on, I noticed another version of this picture. This time, it was added with another headline, and was “shared” by a pro-Israeli group. Turns out (and I double checked it myself to be sure,) that this photo was taken from the General News Single category of the World Press Photo 2006 contest. It's real title is “Father and son in field hospital, Muzaffarabad, Pakistan, 30 October.” It was taken in 2005, by American photographer, David Guttenfelder.
Many pictures of such have been spread around the web during the Pillar of Defense operation this winter. Some were exposed, some are still out there, lying to people who have no idea what the truth is. When I look at the amount of lies that the anti-Israeli propaganda is spreading around, I realize that they simply don't have any real footage that shows an Israeli policy of abuse towards Palestinians. They know the truth. They know that in this reality of conflict, Israelis are doing their best in helping all people who need a medical care. In fact, in many times, Israeli doctors have treated suicide bombers that while killing innocent people, did not die themselves. This is the real face of Israel.
Under false accusations and claims of wanting peace, anti-Israeli groups spread lies, hoping people will believe them before the truth is exposed. They don't have real footage of Israeli abuse, but they want to show it, so they fabricate stories and paste them over pictures of a rough reality in places that really need humanitarian assistance. This propaganda calls for peace, but its true intentions are to start a war. They don't really care about the Palestinians' health or welfare, they only care about filling the world with hate, and hate, as we all know, only pushes peace further away.
