Not really the whole story is it?

The BBC proclaim the horrific news that 'Palestinians boys hit by settler's car in Jerusalem' and then continue

'Two stone-throwing Palestinian boys were injured after being hit by a car driven by a Jewish settler leader in East Jerusalem, officials have said.

Imran Mansur, 11, broke his leg after being thrown into the air and bouncing off the car windscreen. Iyad Gheit, 10, had to have glass removed from his arm.'

Just to make sure that the casual news browser gets the approved BBC/Palestinian message the link headline is 'Palestinians hit by settler car'; those settlers are not only the only obstacle to peace between Israel and the Palestinians they also drive around running over little Palestinian boys.

The BBC also 'helpfully' have a page entitled 'In pictures: Palestinian boy hit by settler's car' which showcases four excellent photos of the incident from when the boy was hit by the car.


A clear cut case of Israeli brutality against Palestinians? Well obviously the truth is somewhat at variance with the BBC's story. Did you spot the phrase 'Two stone-throwing Palestinian boys' in the BBC article? So what really happened? The BBC do report that the driver 'said he accidentally hit them when trying to escape the assault.'. The BBC find nothing to support the Israeli's claims, which is odd because the video seems to support the Jewish driver, But then the BBC don't show the video, don't worry, I will...


Here's the video and what I see...


I see a driver coming around a corner to find himself faced with half a dozen or so children throwing rocks at him and a small crowd beyond of older youths and photographers.

Imagine yourself in this situation what do you do? Do you stop, so leaving your car vulnerable to attack, or do you try an escape?


I see the driver not accelerate or try and drive straight through but try to swerve to avoid the attackers and then stop when he hits one of them. I also see that when he drives off there are two older (teenage or early twenties) youths who throw rocks at him.

I see a number of photographers in place ready to document this 'incident', one on the outside of the corner who gets the desired shots and one on the inside of the corner as well as several in the main group beyond the corner. The BBC explain away the photographers' presence with the line 'the incident was photographed by journalists, who were in the area in case of unrest after Friday prayers'. So why should there be unrest after Friday prayers? Do Jews drive a round insulting or attacking Muslims after Muslim Friday prayers? Or are Muslims so enthused by their prayer that they set out to attack Jews?


What do you think would have happened to the Israeli driver if he had not hit the Palestinian youth or had stopped after hitting him? Do you think that he could have exchanged details with his attackers or do you think they would have stoned him, beat him up and/or kidnapped him? What would you have done if you had been in the same situation as the driver?


I am undecided as to how much of this incident is a Pallywood setup and how much of it just happened in front of photographers. But I can see very clearly that this was not simply a case of 'Palestinians boys hit by settler's car in Jerusalem' but 'Stone throwing Palestinians hit by Israeli driver as he tries to escape being attacked and possibly killed, in Jerusalem'. So why do the BBC present this story as they do? Why do the BBC not show the video? Is it because the video shows that the story is not quite as clear cut as the BBC can pretend? Why do the BBC so often seem willing and happy to show Israel and Israelis in the worst possible light?



Thanks to Theo Spark for finding the video on US News.