Do We Not Bleed?

I’m no expert, but when two teenagers – one reportedly shot in the back, the other in the chest – are filmed falling forward neatly onto their palms, with no blood to be seen, it raises questions. The main question being: Is the world going to let Israel be libeled by the “Pallywood” propaganda machine, again?

As Churchill put it, “A lie gets halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to get its pants on.”

Let me make one thing clear: As a moral army, I believe that the IDF is doing the right thing by creating a commission of inquiry about the two teenagers who were allegedly shot to death outside the village of Beitunia in the West Bank last Thursday — the date marked as “Nakba Day” by many Palestinians, and a day on which violent demonstrations occurred.

I believe that an official inquiry is worthwhile, even if the IDF is responding to a video — one that may have been edited specifically to put Israel in the worst possible light, and one that was certainly produced by pro-Palestinian activists whose main goal is to stir up anti-Israel sentiment for political gain.

However, while we wait for the IDF to get its “truth pants” on, we would do well to remember the roll-out of another video, one dating back to the year 2000.

In this video, the world saw a terrified young boy hiding behind his father at Tzomet Netzarim, as gunfire raged around them. Muhammad al-Dura became one of the iconic images of the Second Intifada, used — quite effectively — to stir up anti-Israel hatred all over the world, in response to a helpless boy’s “murder” by IDF soldiers.

But wait. In the highly edited film released to the world, Muhammad al-Dura is seen moving, even after an off-camera voice is heard shouting: “The boy is dead!”  There is no blood to be seen, and no blood stains were later documented at the sight of the “murder.”

This and other suspicious inconsistencies between footage released by the France2 Television Network and the unedited “rushes” captured by the Palestinian cameraman Talal abu Rahmah — the only person associated with this news report who was on site at the time these events occurred — became the basis of a pitched legal battle between France2 and French activist Philippe Karsenty.

But back to today’s video, which is said to prove that IDF soldiers intentionally targeted and killed two Palestinian teenagers.  Leaving aside the fact that no soldiers are seen in the video itself, the scene of the crime is suspiciously blood free.

Again, I’m no expert, and I believe an IDF investigation is warranted. However, I suggest it would also be worthwhile to investigate why — when Israeli soldiers are accused of war crimes — the world jumps to support such unsubstantiated claims as a matter of faith.

In William Shakespeare’s “The Merchant of Venice”, Shylock challenges mistreatment of the Jews, saying “If you prick us, do we not bleed?”

This is an excellent question to keep in mind as we struggle to respond to modern blood libels against the Jewish State.