‘For no logical reason’, Sky News denies Palestinian violence

Here’s Sky News Jerusalem corespondent Mark Stone reporting from Jerusalem on Sunday night, May 9, amidst the ongoing violence:

“For the past several nights” and “for no logical reason”, Stone tells Sky viewers, police moved in to control the crowed – a narrative repeated in Stone’s May 10th article on the Sky News website:

Let’s examine Stone’s assertion:

In the 48 hours prior to the Sunday night police activity Stone was reporting on, there were large and extremely violent Palestinian riots in the Old City, including the Temple Mount.  In addition to the violence, there was increasing Palestinian incitement for further attacks.  At the Temple Mount on Friday Palestinian extremists were waving Hamas flags and chanting “In spirit and in bloodwe will redeem al-Aqsa”.

At Al-Aqsa Mosque, Palestinians had stored rocks, fireworks and other weapons, which were used against Israeli security forces over the weekend.

Times of Israel reported on Sunday morning that police and the military were expecting an escalation of violence on Sunday night and Monday, due to Ramadan celebrations and the scheduled Jerusalem Day parade.

And, later in the evening, when Stone filed his report, Times of Israel reported the following:

In videos circulating on social media, Palestinians could also be seen throwing stones and bottles at police near the Old City’s Damascus Gate. Police fired numerous stun grenades and deployed water cannons in an attempt to disperse Palestinians on the scene.

Also that evening, Haaretz quoted a police spokesperson saying that “police and Border Police forces” were “currently working near Damascus gate after dozens of lawbreakers started throwing stones and bottles at forces present at the scene.“”

So, some time during the night in question, near the location Stone was standing, police reported Palestinian protesters throwing stones and bottles.  Even if Stone himself didn’t personally see Palestinian violence, contemporaneous news reports and social media posts clearly demonstrate that it was happening all around him, on that night and over the previous 48 hours – violence which prompted the police to engage in riot control tactics.

We truly can’t think of any “logical reason” why the Sky News reporter wasn’t aware of it.

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3 Comments

  1. says: Neil C

    Yet another blind reporter, perhaps Bowen has given him some pointers on how to twist, distort and simply lie about reality. It can only be his ignorance or even stupidity that is not able to see busloads of people being ferried to the gate and praying before going to cause trouble, of course, if they do not do as they are told to, they get their allowances cut. Another form of using their citizens as cannon fodder. It is time the police toughened their stance with these rioters. One only has to view news reports from other sources even the BBC to see that there is nothing peaceful about these staged demonstrations.

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