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Article about Israeli children (partly) debunked

Posted by Ampersand | June 17th, 2003

In an earlier post, despite writing that I didn’t “entirely trust the article’s source,” I posted quotes from a disturbing Arab News article claiming to quote racist statements from Israeli children.

In retrospect, I shouldn’t have posted that at all; but it was worth it, because Jonathan Edelstein (in my comments) did a wonderful job of reviewing the article’s statements (and deceptions). To make up for my previous mis-post, let me quote from Jonathan’s most recent post to Alas’ comments (I think more people will see it here than there).

Getting closer to the bottom of the story: This article appeared in the Argentine newspaper La Voz del Interior on 26 August 2001. It seems to be a reprint of an El Pais article from 25 August which is searchable in the El Pais archives (use “Sharabi” as a search term) but only available to subscribers.

Apparently, the study did take place, and the “ugly with torn clothes” and “disgusting Muhammad, I want you to die” quotes are real. The La Voz article also mentions one child who wanted Arabs to die and not enjoy eternal life, and one who wrote “stop throwing stones or Sharon will kill you all.”

The other quotes listed in the Arab News article, however, are not mentioned. Nor does Sharabi make the conclusion (attributed to him by the Arab News) that “all Israeli children believe that Arabs are bad and Israelis are good.” Instead, he says that some Israeli children hate Arabs and others don’t, that urban children (i.e., those who live in greatest fear of terror attacks) are more likely to hate Arabs while more kibbutz children seek dialogue, and that the source of the hatred is fear rather than “Zionist thought develop[ing] day by day.” There is no mention of an Arab girl who wants Israelis to be her friends.

The La Voz article, at least to my mind, rings much truer than the Arab News piece, and the World Net Daily allegations of fabrication and alteration seem credible.

* * *

Meanwhile, back on his own blog, the Head Heeb reports some good news from Israel:

The Tel Aviv Labor Tribunal has issued a landmark ruling against employment discrimination. The Labor Tribunal’s decision fined the Tafkid Plus firm 100,000 shekels for placing a help-wanted advertisement “stipulating as a criterion that [applicants] prove IDF or national service.” Since the jobs advertised were secretarial, the court found that military experience was not necessary for the job and that the requirement was therefore a veiled attempt to discriminate against Arabs and Orthodox Jews.

Cool.

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4 Responses to “Article about Israeli children (partly) debunked”

  1. Jonathan Edelstein Writes:
    June 17th, 2003 at 2:41 pm

    Thanks, Amp.

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  2. natasha Writes:
    June 17th, 2003 at 4:21 pm

    Thanks for pointing this out. I’m off to update the entry where I first noted this link.

    This comment was written by natasha.
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  3. Jonathan Edelstein Writes:
    June 20th, 2003 at 8:43 am

    Alex at 12th Man has gone me one better and obtained a copy of the original thesis. The results begin on page 34, and pages 39-42 (which describe the letters) are particularly significant.

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  4. Alex Writes:
    June 20th, 2003 at 11:38 am

    Well done amp.

    After much poking and prodding the Arab News has posted somewhat of an apology in response to my original report.

    Poli-blogging doesn’t get much better than this.
    ;-)

    This comment was written by Alex.
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