A successful ambush resulted on the deaths of 12 Israelis and the wounding of a larger number.  In the aftermath of the raid, dozens of Palestinians, including some of the attackers, died and were wounded and the systematic destruction of up to 100 houses has been reported.

The public has received at lease three different accounts of this event.  Is it possible to know who is telling the truth about the 15th of November massacre in Hebron, a town in the West Bank, and why is it important?  The Israeli press and the American press both suggest, if not actually stating outright, that those Israelis killed were civilian "settlers" who were being protected by the military as they returned to their homes.  This is the report Americans heard, and most people have never heard anything different.

The Palestinian account is quite different. The Palestinian Chronicle, a partisan but usually factual Internet journal, claims those killed were all members of the Israel Defense Force--in other words, the military--who were in a corridor within Hebron leading to a "settlement" of Kiryat Arba, having escorted the "settlers" home, and that the ?civilian? settlers were not even attacked.

The third story came from the same source as the fist, The Israeli ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA), and it does not match the first story.  The MFA switched stories.  Who is not telling the truth, and what is the significance of the lie?

To settle the issue, We Hold These Truths has examined the official November 17th, 2002, Israeli Government WebPages ( www.idf.il ), which appears to set the matter straight.  In a government-released story entitled "IDF commanders lead the way," the Israeli government admits that nine of the twelve killed, who all had been called civilians, were in fact military personnel, including a Colonel.  The story, couched in heroic terms, admits the soldiers were doing their duty in conducting the settler?s home, because "the people of Kiryat Arba had received permission to pray in the Cave of the Patriarchs."  It names Col. Dror Weinberg among the dead and further states: "The terror attack in Hebron claimed 12 lives."  In addition to Colonel Weinberg, the government lists the names and ranks of 11 killed of which 8 had military rank.  Later releases form the Israeli press identifies the remaining three men were in fact armed and trained security guard for the ?settlement.?

But if those killed were on military on duty within enemy (Palestinian) territory where Kiryat Arba is located, how then can those who won the battle be "terrorists," as the IDF claims?

To get a clearer picture, let us look at the story of this event as presented in the Palestinian Chronicle, where Ali Abunimah, wrote a  November 17, 2002 Letter to NPR News:

?NPRs reporting on the Palestinian attack in Hebron has been the most unprofessional and inaccurate I have come across.  As late as Sunday morning, NPR was still reporting as fact utterly false Israeli government claims of an ambush and massacre of ?Jewish worshippers" in the occupied West Bank city of Hebron.?

"In fact, what occurred on Friday was a carefully planned ambush against Israeli occupation forces, after all the settlers had returned safely to the colony of Kiryat Arba.  All reports now indicate that the 12 killed the all fourteen injured Israelis were also armed combatants.?

"Even after this became clear, NPR continues to report false information and has failed to correct its earlier mistakes.  "On Saturday evenings Weekend All Things Considered, host Joe Palca interviewed NPR reporter Jackie Northam in Hebron.  Neither in the introduction, nor in their chat did either Palca or Northam point out what had by then been known since early morning -- that all twelve of those killed in the attack were armed occupation troops or armed, combatant settlers.?

"Palca repeated the false charge that "Palestinian gunmen" had opened fire on "Jewish worshippers walking home from religious services," and Northam, who was in Hebron did not challenge it.  Northam, in her comments from Hebron spoke of the "outrage" the settlers feel, and the understanding Israelis have for the harsh measures taken in the occupied territories by the Israeli government. ?

"Linda Gradsteins report on Weekend Edition Sunday repeated the completely debunked claims.  Gradstein claimed that "Fridays attack has chilled the Israeli public," and her report featured Israeli journalist David Horowitz, claiming, again utterly falsely, that those who were attacked were "people coming back from prayers" and that they were "attacked as they were walking to their homes."

"All the evidence indicates that this is a complete lie, manufactured by the Israeli foreign ministry for the consumption of a complacent and unprofessional media.  NPR has swallowed it whole." -end quote Palestine Chronicle

The Electronic Intifada also published an expose of Israels false claims of a massacre.  ("Israelis falsely claim massacre of worshippers in Hebron."   It quoted Haaretz (normally pro-Israel) newspaper account, which stated:

"THE ATTACK IN HEBRON WAS NOT A MASSACRE," HAARETZ, 17 NOVEMBER 2002)

"The attack actually began several minutes after all of the worshippers had already returned safely to Kiryat Arba.  The twelve Israeli casualties in Hebron were not murdered in the same fashion that residents of Kibbutz Metzer were, nor did they die in the same manner in which young settlers were murdered in Hermesh.  Those killed Friday were killed in combat.  All of the victims were armed fighters, who were more or less trained.  They fell victim to a well-planned ambush that included both machine-gun fire and grenades, which trapped them in a compromising situation they found hard to overcome.  There is a vast difference between what happened on Friday night and the horrific massacres carried out by Palestinian terrorists in civilian settlements." end The Electronic Intifada -http://electronicIntifada.net/v2/article878.shtml).

THE PALESTINE CHRONICLE GOES ON TO CORRECTLY CONCLUDE:

"There is simply no possible excuse for NPR, which, unlike so many other news organizations, actually sent a reporter to Hebron, to be duped by the official Israeli spin for so long.  If your reporters are just going to read out Israeli government press releases, that can be done much more cheaply from a studio in Washington."  -end PC

The facts are indisputable and are not even contested by the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs.  They lied, there is no other explanation.  The techniques used by the MFA in describing what was, in fact, a very important military encounter, was exposed in several articles written by your editor.  We showed that the MFA consistently implies that any and all Israelis killed are civilians, and this news is invariably carried by the prostitute US press as fact.  Then, sometimes as little as a half day later, the Israeli Defense Forces comes clean with names and ranks of those killed, as any army must do.  Gut the truth is rarely repeated in the US press, leaving the original distorted story as the "facts," believed by American readers.

There is nothing unusual in this story, except for the massive Israeli losses, which are among the largest we can find in the Israeli records.  Shame on National Public Radio for spreading a lie that benefits Israels position.?

Now Israel has launched a reign of terror in retaliation against Palestinians everywhere.  Duped Americans will say, "Well, dont they have a right to defend themselves?"  In fact, it is the Palestinians who are defending themselves against the usurpers and thieves of their land, as well as those who defend them.  It is the IDF that is spreading terror, as is shown from the following accounts of outright retribution carried out against the innocent.

The following account of massive and brutal retribution from The Palestine Monitor, only one day after the Hebron battle, are never hear by most Americans:

?ISRAELI FORCES KILL PALESTINIANS IN NABLUS, JENIN AND HEBRON?

?Israeli forces were out in full force yesterday and today, killing seven Palestinians in Nablus, Jenin and Hebron. Further attacks against Palestinians are expected as the Israeli military plans a retaliation against civilians for yesterdays attack against the occupying army and illegal Israeli settlers in Hebron.?

Nablus

At about noon today, Selma Mahmoud Sharhab, 21, from Nablus, was killed when Israeli forces shelled and fired randomly at civilian homes just east of Nablus city.

According to eyewitnesses, Selma went to the roof of her house to hang her laundry to dry, when tanks approached on her street.  The minute she saw the tanks, she tried to escape by running to the stairs.

Before she could get to the stairs, she was shot in the chest.

There is now total curfew throughout Nablus, including in the refugee camps.  Israeli forces are conducting arrests, with Israeli snipers occupying houses in the city and in Balata refugee camp.

Israeli forces continue to divide the city into two parts (west and east), with numerous checkpoints between them denying residents free access.  Ambulances are not permitted to move between the eastern and western part of Nablus.

Also in Nablus, 16-year-old Omran Ashileh was yesterday shot in the chest by Israeli soldiers, killing him instantly. He had been throwing stones at Israeli tanks.

Jenin

Ibrahim Bassam Asadeh, 16, was killed at about 7.30 this morning as he was leaving Jenin refugee camp, after clashes with Israeli forces trying to enter the camp. Ibrahim was a member of Islamic Jihad.  He was killed by live ammunition shots to his chest and abdomen.  Two others were injured in the attack.

Ibrahims 16-year-old brother, Abdel Karim, was killed two months ago in the Israeli invasion of Jenin. Ibrahims 7-year-old cousin, Bassam, was also killed by Israeli forces in Jenin in June this year, three days after his grandmother died of shock when Israeli forces invaded her house.

Mahmoud Sulaiman Obeid, 32, was assassinated yesterday evening in his home when the Israeli forces entered the house and executed him in front of his parents. According to eyewitnesses, the soldiers forced his father at gunpoint to drag the body of his son out of the house before they took the body away.

Hebron

After yesterdays attack against the occupying army and Jewish settlers illegally residing in Hebron, three Palestinians were killed in clashes with Israeli forces in the area -- it is thought that they were the individuals responsible for the attacks on the illegal Jewish settlers.  It is not yet known exactly how they died, as the Israeli forces have taken their bodies.

After the incident, Israeli forces entered the entire city of Hebron and started to randomly shell and fire at homes. No injuries were reported. Currently there is a complete curfew throughout Hebron, with Israeli forces re-occupying the entire city. There are fears that there will be a massive Israeli operation in the city tonight.?  -end quote from Palestine Monitor.

WHTT EDITOR RETURNS TO CONCLUDE:

Again, shame on the prostituted US Press, which facilitated more murder and tragedy by their complicity in this huge lie that can not be excused.  The Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs is a propaganda arm of the Israel army (Israeli Defense Force).  This is understandable.  They are the first to knew who is killed, but they caused the story to be circulated that all killed were civilians because it serves their purpose.  Then, once the misinformation has reached the American public, the corrected story was allowed to surface in Israle, but the false images are never corrected in the eyes of the American public.

If this was an isolated incident we could conclude that the MFA fooled the American press, but this is standard practice.  The Zionist US press must want to be fooled.  This same game is replayed time and time again when there is a bombing in Israel, a military are among those killed, which is clearly the majority of cases.  We hold these truths published detailed articles about IDF propaganda involving several bombing incidents that were painted with the same brush.  You can read these accounts on our Website, one we dubbed LIAR, LIAR, PANTS ON FIRE.  The Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs lies because lying is their business; but why does the American press supports these lies, always without question?  Because our press, like Israel?s, is Zionist dominated.

Further stories about the massive retribution by the Israeli military against civilians, including bulldozing dozens of homed of unrelated parties are chilling in their brutality is all available to those who go looking for it, but are rarely heard by Americans.  This writer?s first experience with the US press disinformation in the Mideast occurred on March 4, in Cairo, before I ever got to Israel.  There, in my hotel room, I watched an early morning CNN International TV report showing two smoking Palestinian ambulances, destroyed by Israeli Abram tanks on the West Bank before dawn while hauling wounded civilians from an Israeli Missile raid.  The once blue vehicles were hardly recognizable.  The Israelis had destroyed them before dawn with US weapons of mass destruction.  All passengers were killed, including a 57 year-old Doctor.

But this CNN International report was not shown in the US until 20 or more hours later, so late in fact that only in Hawaii was anyone awake to see it.  And the facts were altered to make it sound like the ambulances were to blame for their own destruction.   In Cairo the Israeli?s excuse was they were going ?too fast?, and in the US it was changed to ?suspected of transporting terrorists.?  Later I was shown an ambulance bone yard in Gaza where burned and destroyed ambulances were salvaged.  Israel makes a practice of destroying Palestinian?s medical facilities and terrorizing the staffs.  The US press makes a practice of covering it up.