Friday newscasts focused on a confrontation between Arabs, security forces and Jews near N'veh Tzuf, north of Jerusalem. Though the reports relied on footage shot by Arab cameramen, interestingly, much of the footage shot by the Arabs and sent to the newsrooms, showing how Arabs initiated the violence, was edited out of the reports.
The grassroots Binyamin Residents Council sent Arutz Sheva the the relatively unedited footage which the Arab cameramen made public, as well as the reports on Israeli TV which were based on that footage.
The Arab cameramen's report shows soldiers confronted with dozens of Arabs who provoke, hit and curse them. The Arabs attack military vehicles and plant their flag on a military jeep, while the security forces refrain from using their weapons. The Arabs also set on fire a structure built by Jews:
According to a Channel 2 television report, the incident began when Arabs held a demonstration, and IDF soldiers pushed them away with stun grenades and tear gas. At that point, “the residents of N'veh Tzuf arrive and provoke the Palestinians,” as the reporter explains in his voiceover. Many viewers have forgotten by this point that the incident began when the Arabs set alight a structure built by the N'veh Tzuf residents:
Another TV report, from Channel 10, appeared on the channel's website under the headline: “Settlers Throw Rocks During a Palestinian Demonstration near Ramallah.”
In the report itself, military correspondent Or Heller claims that while the Arab side was non-violent, the IDF used “tear gas, stun grenades, rubber bullets from point-blank range and even an occasional rifle butt,” and sounds shocked at what he describes as "bias" in the way the law is enforced against Arabs, as compared to Jewish settlers.
Latma, the satirical media-criticism website, noted that the footage of the officer who was shown calling the leftists “traitors” was not even taken at Friday's event, but at another incident several weeks ago.