A disabled Palestinian child being sheltered in Israel has been exploited by a Palestinian journalist who used his photo to spread false anti-Israel propaganda.
In the photo above, Mohammed Al-Farra sits limbless by a colorful mural in Israel’s Tel Hashomer Hospital.
It is his home.
He was born in Gaza with a rare genetic disease. He required extensive medical care, which was not available in Gaza. So he was rushed to a hospital in Israel. His hands and feet had to be amputated to save his life.
After being treated, his Gazan parents refused to take him back. And neither the Hamas government in Gaza or the Palestinian Authority would pay for his medical care.
So Mohammed’s Israeli doctors raised the funds themselves to allow him to stay at Tel Hashomer.
Mohammed is not the only Palestinian from Gaza being treated in an Israeli hospital. Israel is always ready and willing to accept Palestinian patients who require medical care beyond the level they can receive in Gaza.
And Mohammed’s story gained international attention after the Associated Press wrote an extensive article in 2013 about his plight and the love and care he received from Israeli doctors.
The Associated Press should be commended for writing an article drawing attention to Mohammed’s situation. And the photograph above is the best part, showing little Mohammed as an innocent child – not a political subject.
But Mohammed’s photo and story has just been twisted in an utmost cynical fashion.
Mohammed Omer, an award-winning Palestinian journalist whose work has appeared in numerous publications and recipient of the Martha Gellhorn Prize for Journalism, has now been exposed for circulating on Twitter a nasty, unpalatable lie.
He posted the picture of Mohammed and tweeted:
Fortunately, Omer’s disgusting exploitation of this child has been exposed, and the offending tweet has been removed, but not after the picture and Omer’s tweet spread around the internet and were seen countless times. And even though Omer was caught, how many other pictures falsely claiming to be of Israeli atrocities continue to circulate on the internet?
Social Media like Twitter can be useful to get the facts that aren’t being covered by the media. But it can also be misused. It can become a news service with no editors and no accountability.
Always get the facts before believing what you see.
Shame on you Mohammed Omer.
By: Honest Reporting and United with Israel Staff. Reproduced with permission of HonestReporting.
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