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A Doctor Spewed Vile and Defamatory Claims That Israel Intentionally Kills Children; CBS and CNN Aired Them
A boy holds a placard as Palestinian Hamas supporters attend a rally against visits by Israelis to the Al-Aqsa mosque, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, May 26, 2023. Photo: REUTERS/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa
Alongside the war in Gaza, Hamas is also waging a propaganda campaign to demonize Israel and Jews in the international arena.
That campaign aims to project Hamas’ genocidal identity and image onto its intended victims: Israel and the Jewish people. The campaign is being executed with the engagement of bad actors and willing dupes from outside Gaza.
The Medical Profession’s Bad Actors
Some of the most dangerous actors engaged in Hamas’ cynical propaganda campaign come from the ranks of medical professionals who have entered the Gaza war zone to care for the injured and sick. No doubt, some are motivated by humanitarian concerns and are disturbed by the medical emergencies, tragedies, and devastation that they witness. They report on the injuries, deaths, and difficulties in delivering medical care in a war zone, but do not go beyond that.
At the same time, however, there are too many bad actors who are motivated by anti-Zionist animus. Beyond reporting on the medical situation in the hospitals they’ve visited, these activists willingly participate in Hamas’ propaganda war, spreading misinformation and falsehoods to demonize the Jewish State and foment hatred of its supporters.
Take, for example, Mark Perlmutter, a physician who travelled to Gaza on a Palestinian American Medical Association mission in April, and who has since been actively engaged in Hamas’ propaganda war. Upon his return to the US, Perlmutter teamed up with Feroze Sidhwa, another participant in the mission, whose anti-Israel activities long predate his becoming a physician.
Perlmutter and Sidhwa did not merely report about humanitarian suffering in Gaza. They launched a media campaign to defame the Jewish State with a salvo of accusations: Israel is guilty of genocide; Israel has committed crimes against humanity; Israel is responsible for the worst cruelty imaginable; the US is complicit in Israel’s crimes. In fact, the only party they did not blame for the situation in Gaza is the party that is responsible for it — Hamas and its affiliated terrorist operatives.
Perlmutter uses his Jewish connection — a Jewish father and surname — to feign expertise on Judaism and endorse tropes that are generally associated with the most vicious, antisemitic circles.
For example, he equates Zionism, which is the idea of Jewish self-determination and an integral part of Judaism, with Nazism. From his X account:
Honesty and truth are cast aside as he spews his extremist, anti-Zionist bile.
For example, to support his false claim that Israel deliberately targets innocent children as part of a genocide, Perlmutter minimizes the number of Hamas combatants, leaders and operatives in Gaza to a preposterous degree, declaring those affiliated with Hamas account for only 0.01% of the Gazan population — i.e. ~200 people:
He falsely casts the war against Hamas as the deadliest conflict for medical workers and journalists that has ever been recorded in history.
But even were one to accept propagandistic casualty counts from pro-Hamas groups at face value, they are still far less than the numbers of medical professionals who were killed in other conflicts such as the Syrian civil war, among others:
What is clear is that Perlmutter is unburdened by the obligation to be truthful; his primary goal is to disseminate anti-Israel propaganda.
The Mainstream Media’s Willing Dupes
Perlmutter would not be able to spread his animus against Israel and Zionists without the willing dupes in the mainstream media who have abdicated their journalistic responsibility to vet pro-Hamas and anti-Zionist propagandists before offering them a platform as authorities on the war. These are the journalists and producers who offer Perlmutter and his ilk a platform to spread false propaganda about an Israeli genocide.
Take, for example the CBS producers who created an entire segment promoting Perlmutter’s claims, or the producers of CNN International’s Amanpour show who, a week and a half later, presented Perlmutter with another platform to increase his audience.
Perlmutter’s Questionable Allegations:
The casualties in Gaza are “almost exclusively children.” (CBS, Sunday Morning, July 21, 2024)
The “focus” is on innocent children, as well as healthcare workers and journalists, who are “specifically targeted.” (CNN’s Amanpour, July 30, 2024)
Even the UN’s OCHA casualty count, which is dependent on Hamas’ debated numbers, show that children account for less than a third of casualties.
Here are some more false claims:
Israel engages “the world’s best snipers” to target Palestinian “toddlers” [as part of its genocidal war]. (CBS, Sunday Morning, July 21, 2024)
“Children were specifically targeted by high velocity rifle bullet wounds.” (CNN’s Amanpour, July 30, 2024)
Perlmutter goes way beyond what’s ascertainable from a medical standpoint. In the absence of any actual evidence, he presents himself as an expert able to determine who the perpetrators are and what their motive is.
According to him, the perpetrators are expert Israeli snipers whose motive is to murder Palestinian children and toddlers.
When asked by a credulous Smith to verify that it is indeed snipers who are shooting children, Perlmutter assertively exclaimed, “Definitively!”
As to his evidence, he declared:
I have children that were shot twice … I have two children that I have photographs of that were shot so perfectly in the chest, I couldn’t put my stethoscope over their heart more accurately. And directly on the side of the head in the same child. No toddler gets shot twice by mistake by the world’s best sniper. And they are dead center shots. (CBS Sunday Morning, July 21, 2024)
His CNN testimony repeats the same evidence, adding several additional embellishments:
We found children … that had high velocity bullet wounds, sniper bullet wounds, rifle wounds that were dead center in the chest. I mentioned to other reporters that I couldn’t put my stethoscope more dead center over a heart than the entrance bullet hole was. There was no back to these children. The bullet had removed their entire torso. There was similar bullet hole in two of the children’s temples. So, they were shot twice. Once was certainly a kill shot. The second one was when they were on the ground. And so, no sniper hits a child, and I’m talking toddlers twice by mistake. (CNN’s Amanpour, July 30, 2024)
Beyond his muddled story — how many children and toddlers with two bullet holes were there? — Perlmutter’s testimony raises multiple questions regarding its veracity.
Perlmutter only saw the children in the hospital after their deaths. How was he able to ascertain the identity of the shooters, the circumstances of the shootings, and the victims’ position when they were shot, based only on the size and location of bullet holes in the body?
Why would a professional army engaged in active combat squander their top military assets — trained snipers and ammunition — to target “children” and “toddlers” instead of adult combatants?
Why would “the world’s best snipers” capable of “dead center shots” require additional shots to confirm their victims’ deaths?
If expert snipers aimed so “perfectly” and “dead center” over the heart, why would they need to adjust their angle or squander extra bullets in targeting a separate part of the body?
If victims were found with shots to different areas of their body, wouldn’t a far more likely scenario be that they were caught in crossfire in a combat zone?
CBS reporter Tracy Smith not only readily accepted Perlmutter’s accusations as truth, but tried to validate them, by invoking other doctors in Gaza who also mentioned “gunshot wounds to children,” as if that was proof enough for the outrageous claim that expert snipers were deliberately targeting toddlers.
That civilians in war zones — either adults or children — may sustain gunshot wounds does not indicate who shot them (Palestinian gunmen or Israeli soldiers) and certainly does not indicate deliberate targeting.
To be fair, CNN’s Senior Global Affairs Analyst Bianna Golodryga, sitting in for Christiane Amanpour, was more circumspect in her interview, noting that it is “quite an extreme allegation to make that these civilians were indeed targeted” and citing the IDF ‘s refutation of the allegations that were also made in the CBS News interview. However, this does not absolve CNN producers for having given Perlmutter a platform to air his outrageous claims.
Ricki Hollander is a senior analyst at CAMERA, Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America, where a version of this article was first published.
The post A Doctor Spewed Vile and Defamatory Claims That Israel Intentionally Kills Children; CBS and CNN Aired Them first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Obituary: Elexis Schloss, 78, an Edmonton entrepreneur and philanthropist who also performed quiet acts of kindness
Elexis (Conn) Schloss, a vibrant entrepreneur and philanthropist who supported a wide array of causes, both in and beyond Edmonton, died in Victoria on Oct. 31. She was 78. Her […]
The post Obituary: Elexis Schloss, 78, an Edmonton entrepreneur and philanthropist who also performed quiet acts of kindness appeared first on The Canadian Jewish News.
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Saudi Arabia Ups Anti-Israel Rhetoric Amid Iran Rapprochement, Raising Questions About Abraham Accords Expansion
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman attends a virtual cabinet meeting from his office in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, May 28, 2024. Photo: Saudi Press Agency/Handout via REUTERS
Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler accused the Israeli military of committing “collective genocide” in Gaza while also pressing Israel to respect Iranian sovereignty, amid reports that Tehran has postponed its planned attack on the Jewish state.
Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s remarks, made in Riyadh on Monday during a summit of leaders of Islamic nations, underscored the evolving rapprochement between the erstwhile archenemies Iran and Saudi Arabia.
The crown prince, also known by his initials MBS, urged the international community to demand that Israel “respect the sovereignty of the sisterly Islamic Republic of Iran and not to violate its lands.”
The two regional heavyweights restored relations last year after decades of animosity.
MBS’s anti-Israel rhetoric came days after Donald Trump’s victory in the US presidential election. For Israel, the statement from Riyadh may signal a setback to the normalization process with Saudi Arabia, a long-sought goal within the framework of the Abraham Accords, brokered by Trump during his first term in the White House, that has seen Israel establish formal ties with several Arab states in recent years.
According to a Sky News Arabia report published two days later and citing Iranian officials, Tehran has shelved a planned third direct strike on Israel, with the delay attributed to possible forthcoming diplomatic talks with Trump. Israel Hayom published a similar report the following day, citing officials in Jerusalem familiar with the matter.
Iranian First Vice President Mohammad Reza Aref expressed his hope that the incoming Trump administration would put a stop to Israel’s campaigns against its terrorist proxies, Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon.
“The American government is the main supporter of the actions of the Zionist regime [Israel], and the world is waiting for the promise of the new government of this country to immediately stop the war against the innocent people of Gaza and Lebanon,” Aref said at Monday’s gathering.
Observers noted that Saudi Arabia’s shift could stem from both domestic and regional considerations. For the kingdom, improving relations with Iran is a strategic move to de-escalate conflicts in Yemen, where both countries have backed opposing sides. By opening diplomatic channels with Iran, Saudi Arabia also aims to reduce its dependence on Western security guarantees amid growing regional autonomy. According to Dr. Eyal Pinko, a Middle East expert who served in Israeli intelligence for more than three decades, Saudi Arabia is also under pressure from France, a major arms supplier, to maintain a moderate stance and promote regional peace.
“Saudi Arabia understands [it] cannot rely on the Americans” for arms, Pinko told The Algemeiner.
For its part, Iran may be seeking closer ties with the Gulf kingdom as a result of recent Israeli operations that have decimated the senior leadership of Hezbollah, Iran’s most influential proxy in the Arab world that has long served as a strategic partner.
“Iran is spreading its bets all around, not to be on one side or another,” Pinko said.
Hezbollah, along with Hamas in Gaza, had in the past been blacklisted as terrorist groups by Riyadh.
The New York Times last month cited a Saudi tycoon with ties to the monarchy as saying that the war in Gaza has “set back any Israeli integration into the region.”
“Saudi Arabia sees that any association with Israel has become more toxic since Gaza,” Ali Shihabi told the newspaper.
In another blow for Saudi-Israel relations, Riyadh announced it would revoke the license of the Saudi news broadcaster, MBC, after it labeled the late Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar a terrorist.
But according to Pinko, the chance of Saudi-Israel normalization is not entirely lost, pending a ceasefire.
“If nothing extreme happens with Iran until Jan. 20 [when Trump takes office], I believe that the Abraham Accords will come back to the table,” he said.
The post Saudi Arabia Ups Anti-Israel Rhetoric Amid Iran Rapprochement, Raising Questions About Abraham Accords Expansion first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Germany Opposes EU Foreign Policy Chief’s Proposal to Suspend Dialogue With Israel
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock speaks during a session of the lower house of parliament Bundestag, in Berlin, Germany, Oct. 10, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Lisi Niesner
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock on Thursday publicly rejected a proposal by the European Union’s foreign policy chief to suspend regular political dialogue with Israel in response to the Jewish state’s ongoing military campaign against the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas in Gaza.
“We are always in favor of keeping channels of dialogue open. Of course, this also applies to Israel,” the German Foreign Office said of top EU official Josep Borrell’s plans, according to the German news agency dpa.
The Foreign Office added that, while the political conversations under the EU-Israel Association Council provide a regular opportunity to strengthen relations and, in recent months, discuss the provision of humanitarian aid to Gaza, severing that mechanism would be counterproductive.
“Breaking off dialogue, however, will not help anyone, neither the suffering people in Gaza, nor the hostages who are still being held by Hamas, nor all those in Israel who are committed to dialogue,” the statement continued.
Borrell on Wednesday proposed the suspension of dialogue in a letter to EU foreign ministers ahead of their meeting this coming Monday in Brussels, citing “serious concerns about possible breaches of international humanitarian law in Gaza.” He also wrote, “Thus far, these concerns have not been sufficiently addressed by Israel.”
The regular dialogues that Borrell is seeking to break off were enshrined in a broader agreement on relations between the EU and Israel, including extensive trade ties, that was implemented in 2000.
“In light of the above considerations, I will be tabling a proposal that the EU should invoke the human rights clause to suspend the political dialogue with Israel,” Borrell wrote.
A suspension would need the approval of all 27 EU countries, an unlikely outcome. According to Reuters, multiple countries objected when a senior EU official briefed ambassadors in Brussels on the proposal on Wednesday.
While some EU countries, such as Spain and Ireland, have been fiercely critical of Israel since the outbreak of the war in Gaza, others such as the Czech Republic and Hungary have been more supportive.
Hamas, which rules Gaza, launched the ongoing conflict with its invasion of southern Israel last Oct. 7. During the onslaught, Hamas-led Palestinian terrorists murdered 1,200 people, wounded thousands more, and kidnapped over 250 hostages while perpetrating mass sexual violence and other atrocities.
Israel responded with a military campaign aimed at freeing the hostages and dismantling Hamas’s military and governing capabilities in neighboring Gaza.
Israel says it has gone to unprecedented lengths to try and avoid civilian casualties, noting its efforts to evacuate areas before it targets them and to warn residents of impending military operations with leaflets, text messages, and other forms of communication. However, Hamas has in many cases prevented people from leaving, according to the Israeli military.
Another challenge for Israel is Hamas’s widely recognized military strategy of embedding its terrorists within Gaza’s civilian population and commandeering civilian facilities like hospitals, schools, and mosques to run operations, direct attacks, and store weapons.
Israeli Ambassador to the UN Danny Danon said last month that Israel has delivered over 1 million tons of aid, including 700,000 tons of food, to Gaza since it launched its military operation a year ago. He also noted that Hamas terrorists often hijack and steal aid shipments while fellow Palestinians suffer.
The Israeli government has ramped up the supply of humanitarian aid into Gaza in recent weeks under pressure from the United States, which has expressed concern about the plight of civilians in the war-torn enclave.
Meanwhile, Borrell has been one of the EU’s most outspoken critics of Israel over the past year. Just six weeks after Hamas’s Oct. 7 attacks, he drew a moral equivalence between Israel and Hamas while speaking to the European Parliament, accusing both of having carried out “massacres” while insisting that it is possible to criticize Israeli actions “without being accused of not liking the Jews.”
Borrell’s speech followed a visit to the Middle East the prior week. While in Israel, he delivered what the Spanish daily El Pais described as the “most critical message heard so far from a representative of the European Union regarding Israel’s response to the Hamas attack of Oct. 7.”
“Not far from here is Gaza. One horror does not justify another,” Borrell said at a joint press conference alongside then-Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen. “I understand your rage. But let me ask you not to let yourself be consumed by rage. I think that is what the best friends of Israel can tell you, because what makes the difference between a civilized society and a terrorist group is the respect for human life. All human lives have the same value.”
Months later, in March of this year, Borrell claimed that Israel was imposing a famine on Palestinian civilians in Gaza and using starvation as a weapon of war. His comments came a few months before the United Nations Famine Review Committee (FRC), a panel of experts in international food security and nutrition, rejected the assertion that northern Gaza was experiencing famine, citing a lack of evidence. Borrell’s comments prompted outrage from Israel.
In August, Borrell pushed EU member states to impose sanctions on some Israeli ministers.
Monday’s meeting in Brussels will be the last that Borrell will chair before ending his five-year term as the EU’s foreign policy chief.
The post Germany Opposes EU Foreign Policy Chief’s Proposal to Suspend Dialogue With Israel first appeared on Algemeiner.com.