Big Lies?

As it always does when the Palestinians turn to violence, the Big Lie appears to have reared its ugly head. This time, the Palestinian's libel of choice is that the IDF tortured Palestinian security prisoner Arafat Jaradat to death.

The claim, which emerged in the media on Sunday night, is clearly intended to escalate the violent riots that have swept the West Bank over the last few days. The IDF, as a result, is gearing up for precisely that eventuality.

P.A. minister Issa Karake was given the task of disseminating the claim, saying

The information we have received so far is shocking and painful; the evidence corroborates our suspicion that Mr. Jaradat died as a result of torture, especially since the autopsy clearly proved that the victim’s heart was healthy, which disproves the initial alleged account presented by occupation authorities that he died of a heart attack.

In fact, Israel does not know what caused Jaradat's death, and examination found few of the injuries claimed by Palestinian pathologists and propagandists. These injuries were ascribed to attempts to resuscitate Jaradat. Beyond the claims of its own doctors, the P.A. has presented no evidence of torture or other violence.

The credibility of the pathologists is low, given the P.A.'s penchant for lying in order to demonize Israel. The most famous of these lies was the so-called "Jenin massacre," a claim echoed by numerous Palestinian leaders. In fact, the massacre never happened, as even the U.N. eventually admitted.

Such claims are often widely believed, however, and the IDF is getting ready for the consequences, deploying more troops to the West Bank and gearing up for major riots.

Email to a friend, Share on Facebook, Share on Twitter, and more: