UN: Palestinian Rocket Targeting Israel Killed Palestinian Baby

March 11, 2013

An errant Palestinian rocket, not an Israeli airstrike, likely killed the baby of a BBC reporter during fighting in the Hamas-ruled territory last November, a U.N. report indicated, challenging the widely believed story behind an image that became a symbol of what Palestinians said was Israeli aggression.

November 14, 2012 Gaza man holds son killed by Palestinian rocket

Omar al-Masharawi, an 11-month-old infant, was killed on Nov. 14, the first day of fighting. An Associated Press photograph showed Omar’s anguished father, Jihad al-Masharawi, clutching his slain child wrapped in a shroud. Palestinians blamed Israel, and the image was broadcast around the world and widely shared on social media.

Now a report from the U.N. office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights says the baby was “killed by what appeared to be a Palestinian rocket that fell short of Israel.”

…Matthias Behnke, head of OHCHR office for the Palestinian territories, cautioned he couldn’t “unequivocally conclude” that the death was caused by an errantly fired Palestinian rocket. He said information gathered from eyewitnesses led them to report that “it appeared to be attributable to a Palestinian rocket.”

My Two Cents

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While Israel was presumed to have been responsible, no one hesitated to blame the country and cry human rights violations.

But now the UN and news outlets have suddenly become exceedingly cautious in assigning blame, and can’t “unequivocally conclude” that the poor baby was killed by his own people, even with all the evidence pointing to a Palestinian attack.

And not a word has been spoken today about the baby’s human rights by any of the usual suspects – apparently, Palestinians only have human rights when Israel can be accused of violating them. Never mind the fact that Palestinians have been begging terrorist groups in Gaza for years to stop firing near major civilian population centers.