The current issue of the estimable magazine Commentary has a thorough and insightful article by Nidra Poller on the facts behind the myth of the shooting of Muhammad al—Dura. He was the 12—year old Palestinian boy shot and killed during a battle which was raging between Israeli soldiers and Palestinian fighters in the Gaza Strip in September 2000.

Arab propagandist immediately exploited his death, blaming Israeli soldiers for the deed. Stamps were issued in Arab nations depicting the boy and his death. He was declared a martyr and has inspired homicide bombers to kill many innocent people. Eager European journalists and politicians also found it useful to use the tragedy of the boy's death for their own ulterior purposes.

However, when passions cooled and honest appraisal was made of the facts of the case, it has become apparent that Muhammad was most likely killed by the Palestinians themselves during the chaos of the battle. Atlantic Monthly has a very penetrating article examining the claims and counterclaims of the dispute which can be found in its entirety here . Other articles exposing the falsity of the Palestinian claims can be found here and here. Stephen Juffa has analyzed the complicity of French media in furthering the myth of Muhammad's death in this Wall Street Journal (Europe) article.

Now, hopefully, Poller's article will help remind the world that the Palestinians were responsible for the death of Muhammad al—Dura , as they have been responsible for the death of so many others—Israelis, Americans, Europeans, and , yes, Palestinians.

Ed Lasky   9 01 05