Newsweek Corrects Claim That Israelis Are Shooting Suspicious Palestinians Dead

TEL AVIV – Newsweek corrected an article that included the misleading claim that Israeli authorities have been shooting dead “any Palestinian” suspected of targeting Israeli civilians.

The article analyses the past six months of Palestinian violence and Israel’s response to it.

Early in the article, author Jack Moore originally wrote: “In response to the attacks on Israelis, the country’s security personnel have been shooting dead or injuring any Palestinian targeting or suspected of planning to target Israeli civilians.”

Media watchdog HonestReporting.com attacked Newsweek for printing false allegations:

It’s one thing to shoot in self-defense at Palestinians who are carrying out terror attacks. It’s quite something else to shoot at Palestinians because you simply “suspect” they may be planning to target Israeli civilians.

Newsweek’s inference is a very serious charge and there is no evidence to back it up. While there is a legitimate debate in Israel over the limits of using lethal force against terrorists armed with knives, there is no policy, official or otherwise, of shooting Palestinians simply because somebody thought they might be suspicious.

The watchdog urged readers to contact Newsweek and demand a retraction.

Many of the article’s talkbacks focused on the claim, with one poster, Isobel Philips, commenting:

Do you actually have any evidence of anyone in Israel, much less official security personnel, shooting Palestinians they “suspect of planning to target Israeli civilians?” If so, please supply it and state your source.

Otherwise amend your statement to reflect the actual facts, which is that security personnel “shoot Palestinians who are in the process of trying to kill Israeli soldiers or civilians.” That’s if the facts are of any interest to this so-called “news” publication.

The following statement was placed at the bottom of the article:

Correction: This article originally stated that Israeli forces have shot dead or injured “any Palestinian” suspected of planning an attack against Israelis. It has been amended to reflect that Israeli forces have preemptively arrested the majority of Palestinians suspected of planning an attack.

Newsweek also clarified another misleading statement made in the original article, which stated that Arabs living in eastern areas of Jerusalem are not eligible to vote in Israeli elections. In fact, Jerusalem’s Arabs can claim full Israeli citizenship – which would automatically grant them voting rights – but many refuse to do so for political reasons.