From the august and reliable New York Times:
A 14-year-old boy thought to have been killed either by Israeli gunfire or from internal Palestinian violence last week turned up unharmed at his family’s house after trying to sneak into Egypt via smuggler tunnels and being held by Egyptian security officials, his parents said Saturday.
The boy, Muhammad al-Farmawi, disappeared on Tuesday...[and] it was revealed that Muhammad, along with 16 other teenagers, had sneaked into smuggler tunnels to try to get into Egypt and was then picked up by Egyptian security forces.
“It was a very big shock for us,” Mr. Farmawi said. “We were told that he had been killed by Israeli fire and that his body had been left near the fence at Rafah,” in southern Gaza.
We?
Were told?
By whom?
Why would the NYTimes leave it out?
Well, for this story, let's go back a few days to March 30. The Jerusalem Post informed us that:
A 15-year-old Palestinian boy was reportedly shot dead on Tuesday during an anti-Israel demonstration along the Gaza Strip border fence.
The IDF...said that no one was injured in the shooting. The Palestinian Ma’an news agency reported that the boy, Muhammad al-Farmawi, was shot after approaching the barrier near the Dahaniya airport...The statement noted that the matter was being investigated.
(Here's that Ma'an report: A child was shot and killed east of the Yasser Arafat International Airport in Rafah on Tuesday, medics said. Muawiya Hassanein, director of ambulance and emergency services in Gaza, said Muhammad Zen Ismail Al-Farmawi, 15, was shot dead near the southeasterly border by Israeli forces, while local sources who wished to remain anonymous said the death may have been an internal matter. Hassanein said ambulances had been unable to retrieve the body because of ongoing clashes in the area, while an Israeli military spokesman said he had no knowledge of the incident.)
And Al-Jazeera told us:
Witnesses said Mohamed al-Farmawi was shot dead on Tuesday after he approached the fence along the border with Israel.
Gaza emergency chief Moaweya Hassanein told reporters that medical teams and International Red Cross Committee (ICRC) co-ordinated with the Israeli army to collect the boy's body.
Even Haaretz was a bit unsure:
Israel Defense Forces soldiers on Tuesday denied Palestinian media reports that it shot and killed a 15-year-old Palestinian boy trying to cross from Gaza into Israel.
Earlier in the day, Palestinian news agencies reported that Israeli troops fired on Mohammad Zeid Al-Farmawi, a resident of the Qishtat neighborhood in Rafah, as he approached the Gaza border fence. According to the reports, Farmawi was found dead when paramedics arrived at the scene east of the defunct Gaza International Airport.
But Israel Radio later quoted the army as saying that there was no truth in claims it had shot at or killed Farwami.
Let's now return to The Jerusalem Post:-
...The Palestinian Ma’an news agency said Farmawi’s mother was surprised to find her son alive four days after he was allegedly killed. His death had been confirmed by medical professionals in the Gaza Strip...According to the Ma’an report, Farmawi arrived in Gazan Rafah on Friday alive and well. He was discovered to be part of a group of 17 Palestinian youths who were arrested after trying to infiltrate Egypt via smuggling tunnels. Gaza police facilitated the boys’ return to their homes.
Farmawi’s mother had “wept for days at the loss of her son,” whom she considered a martyr, Ma’an reported.
Questions:
a) who is Moaweya Hassanein really?
b) are those "medical professionals" really professional propagandists?
c) what are "internal matters"? The tunnels?
d) will the New York Yimes, or anyone, rely on future Ma'an reports?
e) is Mohemmmad Zeid Al-Farmawi maybe Muhammed Al-Dura?
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