UKMW prompts important addendum to Indy article on IDF ‘whooping’ video

UK Media Watch - sister site of BBC Watch - prompts a correction at The Independent to a report on a video depicting the IDF shooting a Palestinian man on the Gaza border. The original Indy report failed to include the official IDF statement about the video which was available more than an hour before. The IDF statement significantly changes the story, as it provides Israel’s account of the circumstances – and context – by which the Palestinian man was shot.

Cross posted from UK Media Watch

On April 10th, The Independent republished a New York Times article by Isabel Kershner (“Israeli forces caught in video shooting Palestinian man then whooping”) that was published on April 9th.

The report cited grainy video footage from several months ago “appearing to show Israeli troops shooting a Palestinian man across the border fence at a time when he posed no obvious threat…and then rejoicing”.  The NYT then highlighted the fact that “another soldier who appears to be videoing the scene whoops with excitement”, footage the NYT claims bolsters criticism that the IDF uses “disproportionate force” against Gaza “protesters”.

However, the report doesn’t include the official IDF statement about the video which was available more than an hour before the Indy republished the NYT piece.  The IDF statement, as reported by multiple Israeli news outlets, significantly changes the story, as it provides Israel’s account of the circumstances – and context – by which the Palestinian man was shot.  This includes prior warnings given by the soldier for the man to halt, the fact that he was shot in the leg and not killed, and that he had led a violent protest at the border which included the use of Molotov cocktails.

These facts are important because the article claims that the Palestinian man who was shot appeared to “pose no threat”.

Also of relevance is the fact that, per the IDF statement, the man heard celebrating would now be subjected to a disciplinary hearing for his inappropriate behavior.

Following communication with editors at The Independent over the course of a couple of weeks, the following addendum was added containing this relevant information.

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