Yet another example of how Palestinians \"use\" the world media to unfairly paint Israel in an ugly light was revealed yesterday. Associated Press quoted Palestinian sources on Tuesday saying that Israeli checkpoint soldiers held up an Arab woman-in-labor for an hour, leading to the death of the baby soon after its birth. The director of a nearby clinic, Dr. Abdel Hassan Daraghmeh, told AP that the taxi had been held up at the roadblock for an hour, and the family\'s physician, Dr. Ghassan Hamdan, similarly said that he delivered the baby at the checkpoint after soldiers prevented the mother from traveling to a hospital. AP dutifully spread the shocking \"story\" around the globe - until learning yesterday that the doctors had lied.
What in fact happened, according to a \"corrected\" AP report yesterday, was that the young mother\'s father-in-law - from a Bedouin family in northern Shomron - took her by taxi to a nearby hospital, and soon came upon an Israeli army checkpoint, which was closed to Palestinian traffic at the time. The man did not tell the soldiers that his daughter-in-law was in labor, and after 15 minutes, she gave birth. At that point, the taxi driver went up to the soldiers, and they allowed the car to pass. The baby, however, died of suffocation en-route to the hospital - because the family members assisting in the birth did not know how to keep his airway open.
What in fact happened, according to a \"corrected\" AP report yesterday, was that the young mother\'s father-in-law - from a Bedouin family in northern Shomron - took her by taxi to a nearby hospital, and soon came upon an Israeli army checkpoint, which was closed to Palestinian traffic at the time. The man did not tell the soldiers that his daughter-in-law was in labor, and after 15 minutes, she gave birth. At that point, the taxi driver went up to the soldiers, and they allowed the car to pass. The baby, however, died of suffocation en-route to the hospital - because the family members assisting in the birth did not know how to keep his airway open.