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The Massacre that Wasn't
Wall Street Journal Opinion Journal ^ | 4/18/02

Posted on 04/18/2002 3:45:55 PM PDT by pabianice

The Massacre That Wasn't

A headline in today's London Independent promises "Fresh Evidence of Jenin Atrocities." The evidence? An autopsy conducted on a Palestinian man killed at the "refugee camp" found that he had been shot twice, once in the foot and once in the back. Oh, and a Scottish doctor says: "It is not believable that only a few people have been killed, given the reports we have that a large number of people were inside three and four-storey buildings when they were demolished."

That's it. One guy with two bullet wounds and some old "reports" is the extent of the Independent's "fresh evidence." But then the guys at the Independent seem to consider themselves independent from the need for evidence. As we noted Tuesday, they've already declared the Jewish state guilty of "a monstrous war crime" based on nothing more than Palestinian rumors.

A pair of Reuters dispatches from this morning illustrate the peril of relying on residents' claims of Israeli atrocities. The first, which hit Yahoo news at 5:08 a.m. EDT, leads with this news: "Palestinians dug five survivors from the rubble of the shattered refugee camp in Jenin Thursday and said they had heard others crying out for help, witnesses said." But the second, from 8:20 a.m., reports: "Palestinian health officials denied a report that five survivors had been dug from the rubble of Jenin refugee camp Thursday."

No doubt a substantial number of Arabs died in the battle of Jenin; there is, after all, a war on. And when you're dealing with an enemy whose chief tactic is terrorism, it's hard to distinguish between soldiers and civilians, a point this Jerusalem Post report underscores:

The soldiers operated slowly and cautiously, he said, moving from house to house. "We covered 600 meters in three days due to the intense gun battles," [Hagai Tal, an Israeli soldier who is also a Post employee] said. "In one of the buildings we entered we found two women and children who were screaming and yelling. We offered them sweets and then placed them in one of the rooms in accordance with regulations.

"One of the women told us there was no one else in the house, but when we told them to remain in the room she called out to her husband that soldiers were inside and told him to run away. They began shooting at us--soldiers in a house opposite opened fire and killed them," said Tal.


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Foreign Affairs; Israel
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I am continually amazed at the world's infinite capacity to believe Arab lies and disbelieve Jewish truths. Doesn't way much for the rest of the world.
1 posted on 04/18/2002 3:45:55 PM PDT by pabianice
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To: pabianice
People tend to believe what they want to believe.
2 posted on 04/18/2002 3:49:05 PM PDT by Hugin
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To: pabianice
During the Kosovo atrocity, the KLA claim weighed extremely heavily in tales from the leftist media!
3 posted on 04/18/2002 3:56:07 PM PDT by Chapita
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To: pabianice
'Reality' is not in the leftist's jargon.
4 posted on 04/18/2002 4:04:21 PM PDT by randog
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To: pabianice
"One of the women told us there was no one else in the house, but when we told them to remain in the room she called out to her husband that soldiers were inside and told him to run away. They began shooting at us--soldiers in a house opposite opened fire and killed them," said Tal.

Man, that sounds like Vietnam.

5 posted on 04/18/2002 4:05:02 PM PDT by gitmo
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To: pabianice
I am continually amazed at the world's infinite capacity to believe Arab lies and disbelieve Jewish truths. Doesn't way much for the rest of the world.

Those who dislike/hate the Jews, in reality have the Father of All Liars as their Lord and Master.

6 posted on 04/18/2002 4:24:55 PM PDT by AmericaUnited
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To: pabianice
I can not find this article anywhere on WSJ-Online. Please point it out to me. Yes, I have a subscription.
7 posted on 04/18/2002 4:32:09 PM PDT by KayEyeDoubleDee
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To: hellinahandcart; section9; Cachelot; zejauw; Jethro Tull
More "evidence" bites the dust.......
8 posted on 04/18/2002 4:32:15 PM PDT by TomB
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To: pabianice
Is this your own work? If so, you probably did not mean to give the Wall Street Journal credit, did you? I not that Google finds a NYPost Opinion piece of the same name that does not seem to still be at the site
9 posted on 04/18/2002 4:37:49 PM PDT by KayEyeDoubleDee
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To: RWCon
fyi
10 posted on 04/18/2002 4:50:20 PM PDT by Free the USA
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To: KayEyeDoubleDee
The other The Massacre That Wasn't is a different article, with the same title.
11 posted on 04/18/2002 4:55:14 PM PDT by hellinahandcart
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To: TomB
More "evidence" bites the dust.......

Oh yeah? They are already referring to the forensic guy's "evidence" as fact on another thread from the BBC. They're just not saying exactly what the evidence IS (2 bullet wounds). I suppose I shouldn't be surprised, these are the same people that convinced the world a few short months ago that handcuffs, blindfolds, and filter masks are horrific instruments of torture that even Hitler would not have stooped to using.

12 posted on 04/18/2002 5:00:12 PM PDT by hellinahandcart
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To: Hugin
Very true.
13 posted on 04/18/2002 5:09:03 PM PDT by Ronin
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To: pabianice
British journalist are about as useful as British automotive engineers.
14 posted on 04/18/2002 5:14:24 PM PDT by Random Access
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To: pabianice
If there really was a "massacre", then I guess the Israelis must have confiscated all
cameras, camcorders, and other devices before they actually entered the camps.

Otherwise some footage or photos would have been blazed around the world for the past couple
of weeks.

(I'm not saying that some innocents may not have been shot...in fact I'd be suprised
seeing how I did see one photo in which Palestinian children where running around the
streets with realistic-looking toy guns during one of the truces.)
15 posted on 04/18/2002 5:15:04 PM PDT by VOA
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To: pabianice
The Palestinians are using the "Jenin Massacre" to counter the Israeli outrage at the "Passover Massacre" that triggered the military incursions in the first place.

-PJ

16 posted on 04/18/2002 5:18:38 PM PDT by Political Junkie Too
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To: VOA
I'm not saying that some innocents may not have been shot.

Hard to figure who is innocent in a place where 10 year olds are bobby trapped and trained to kill as many Israelis as they can.

17 posted on 04/18/2002 5:21:51 PM PDT by Utopia
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To: pabianice
And ... I believe Israel has already claimed it killed over 100 in Jenin. Considering the size of the town, that's not very many - and considering how many of the terrorists lived there, it will be a good thing if most of the killed are among that group.

You are right about the world willing to believe the Arabs and not the Jews. Well, I believe the Jews; and I always will.

18 posted on 04/18/2002 5:26:01 PM PDT by CyberAnt
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To: Utopia
Hard to figure who is innocent in a place where 10 year olds are bobby trapped and trained to kill as many Israelis as they can.

How true.

Someone needs to go up to Arafat and tell him; "Why the fuss over a few dead civilians, Yasser, just pretend you had them blow themselves up."

19 posted on 04/18/2002 5:52:36 PM PDT by TomB
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To: KayEyeDoubleDee
regarding WSJ/Online..it's under James Taranto's "Best of the Web Today," third or fourth 'mini-article' from the top.
20 posted on 04/18/2002 6:00:21 PM PDT by cookcounty
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