Washington Post Uncritically Spreads Hamas Casualty Numbers, Paints Border Assault as ‘Demonstrations’

TEL AVIV — A Washington Post article reporting on yesterday’s Hamas-organized Gaza riots typifies the biased nature of much of the news media’s coverage of the Hamas campaign that openly seeks to storm the Israeli border and murder Jews.

The title of the Post article is “Israelis kill more than 50 Palestinians in Gaza protests, health officials say.”

Those “health officials” are further described inside the article as “local health officials.” Later, the article cites the “Palestinian Health Ministry in Gaza” as reporting that “more than 2,700 people were injured … including 1,359 from live ammunition.”

“The dead included six children under the age of 18, among them a 15-year-old girl and a medic, the ministry said,” continued the Post piece.

The newspaper failed to tell readers that the “Palestinian Health Ministry in Gaza” is controlled by the Hamas terrorist organization that organized the riots and has a vested interest in inflating casualty numbers. The Post also did not inform readers that Hamas has a history of exaggerating such claims.

The third paragraph of the article portrays the “protests” as attended by “many” who came to protest “peacefully”:

Tens of thousands of Palestinians had gathered on the edges of the fenced-off and blockaded territory from midmorning. Many came to peacefully demonstrate, bringing their children and carrying flags. Food stalls sold snacks and music blared.

The next paragraph allows that “the protests appeared to have a more violent edge than in previous weeks. Some young men brought knives and fence cutters.”

Quotes from so-called protesters buried 23 paragraphs later in the article betray the violent nature of the riots.

The Post reported on armed rioters boasting about their desire to kill Jews if they can penetrate the Israeli border:

While some said they would abide by official calls to keep the demonstrations peaceful, others talked about their enthusiasm to break into Israel and wreak havoc.

“We are excited to storm and get inside,” said 23-year-old Mohammed Mansoura. When asked what he would do inside Israel, he said, “Whatever is possible, to kill, throw stones.”

Two other young men carried large knives and said they wanted to kill Jews on the other side of the fence.

The newspaper claimed the “vast majority” of “demonstrators” were unarmed, but went on to cite one man who pulled out a gun and downed an Israeli drone:

The vast majority of demonstrators were unarmed, but near a parking area, a man pulled out an AK-47 and took aim at an Israeli drone dropping leaflets. He let off a stream of bullets into the air and brought it down. Later, more gunfire was heard as Palestinian factions argued over who would keep the downed drone, onlookers said.

It was not clear how the newspaper could state as fact that the “vast majority” of “demonstrators” were unarmed. The Post did not relate how it obtained such data.

The Post reported organizers may have deceptively sent rioters toward Israeli soldiers using false information:

At a gathering point east of Gaza City, organizers urged protesters over loudspeakers to burst through the fence, telling them Israeli soldiers were fleeing their positions, even as they were reinforcing them.

Hamas organized yesterday’s massive escalation to coincide with the official opening ceremony of the U.S. embassy in Jerusalem and the Palestinians’ commemoration today of so-called Nakba Day, which mourns the “catastrophe” of Israel’s founding.

Hamas has been selling the nearly two-month-long mass riots as “return rallies,” marketing the fiction that Palestinians have a so-called “right of return” to the State of Israel while also demanding a state immediately.

The Palestinians have infamously turned down every Israeli statehood offer, including those that came with a shared capital in Jerusalem. Those offers were made at Camp David in 2000, Taba in 2001, the Annapolis Conference in 2007, and more offers were made in 2008 and reportedly in 2014. In each of these cases, the PA refused generous Israeli offers of statehood and bolted negotiations without counteroffers. Only yesterday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu yet again called on the Palestinians to return to the negotiating table.

The only thing standing in the way of the Palestinians having a state — even one with a foothold in Jerusalem — is the Palestinians’ own abject refusal to accept numerous statehood offers while rejecting Israel’s very existence.

Aaron Klein is Breitbart’s Jerusalem bureau chief and senior investigative reporter. He is a New York Times bestselling author and hosts the popular weekend talk radio program, “Aaron Klein Investigative Radio.” Follow him on Twitter @AaronKleinShow. Follow him on Facebook.