The Language Of Losing A Palestinian Baby

Four days ago, Israeli military went into a refugee camp and a violent exchange took place between soldiers and Palestinian fighters. During the gunfight a pregnant Palestinian woman was shot and lost her child. This is how various international media reported it:

A pregnant Palestinian woman lost her baby after being shot by Israeli troops during a raid in the West Bank city of Nablus, Palestinian officials said. Maha Katoumi, 30, was injured when Israeli troops and Palestinian gunmen exchanged fire at the Ein Beit Ilma refugee camp, witnesses said. An Israeli army spokesman said the military was checking reports that a pregnant women had been shot. He said the clash came when improvised grenades were thrown at soldiers. [BBC]

Israeli forces shoot pregnant Palestinian woman. A pregnant Palestinian woman lost her baby on Thursday after being shot by Israeli occupation forces during an incursion into the West Bank city of Nablus, Palestinian security and health officials said. A bullet hit the head of Maha Katoumi’s eight-month-old fetus when Israeli troops opened fire at Palestinian fighters in the Ein Beit Ilma refugee camp. Katoumi, a mother of three, was in the third trimester of pregnancy, Palestinian medics said. One doctor showed the dead fetus to a Reuters television crew. [Tehran Times]

A Palestinian in her seventh month of pregnancy miscarried Thursday due to wounds she sustained from crossfire during a clash between Israel Defense Forces and armed Palestinians in a West Bank refugee camp. Maha Katoumi, 30, was seriously wounded when IDF soldiers fired at militants, who were hurling improvised grenades at them. She is currently in intensive care. Doctors say her wounds caused her to lose her baby. [Haaretz]

A pregnant Palestinian woman was seriously wounded on Thursday morning in Nablus after she was shot by IDF soldiers, Palestinian sources reported. The woman, who was seven months pregnant, lost her baby. An IDF soldier and a 16-year-old Palestinian teenager sustained light wounds in the incident. According to the IDF, Golani troops spotted several armed Palestinians in the city’s Ein Beit Ilma refugee camp and a gun battle erupted. [Jerusalem Post]

A pregnant Palestinian woman was wounded and lost her baby during fighting on Thursday between Israeli troops and gunmen in the West Bank, local medical officials said. Residents of Ain Beit Alma refugee camp in the town of Nablus said Maha Katoumi, 30, had been shot and wounded by Israeli soldiers who fired at gunmen attacking them with explosives. [Reuters]

A Palestinian woman has lost her unborn baby after she was caught in the crossfire of a shootout between Israeli soldiers and Palestinian fighters in the occupied West Bank. The woman’s husband, holding a box containing the baby’s body, told reporters that when the shooting started, his wife went to fetch their other children from another room. “As she stood up, the bullets entered her body, she flew from the bed to the bathroom,” he said. Doctors at a local hospital said Katoumi, in her eighth month of pregnancy, lost the baby. [Al Jazeera]

As far as I can tell, American media did not report it.

14 Comments

  • Interesting comparison. I might want to check out Al Jazeera more. Their English news appears to be a lot less biased than I expected.

  • Eric, aljazeera english is less biased because it is not edited by an arab, but if you want biased check out all american news channels especially FOX noise channel!!
    And nas why would the american media care? Farfour is more important!

  • i feel so sad for her. the reporters do their job (and choose their words according to their own agenda), but the fact remains: she lost her baby. very very sad…

  • Nas, your comparison shows and tells a great deal about your way of thinking. you indeed are a smart sound dude, and we have not many of them.

  • “Eric, aljazeera english is less biased because it is not edited by an arab,” mohannad
    يا حلاوه يا مهند يعني ادا كنت صحفي عربي حتمن ستكون متحيز ,يعيني عليك وعلي افكرك ,بالله عليك كيف توصلت الي هده الناتيجه بدون اي درا سه او بحث علمي

  • This post is for Eric
    “Eric, aljazeera english is less biased because it is not edited by an arab,” mohannad, May 14th, 2007 – 9:47 pm

    يا حلاوه يا مهند يعني ادا كنت صحفي عربي حتمن ستكون متحيز ,يعيني عليك وعلي افكرك ,بالله عليك كيف توصلت الي هده الناتيجه بدون اي درا سه او بحث علمي
    My translation,”How sweet of you mohannad,If you were An Arab journalist , then inevitably your are going to be biased,how fluffy of you or nice of you,in God’s name ,how did you reach this conclusion without any examination or scientific research??”

  • I attended a lecture for the famous journalist robert fisk the other day… he said: journalist take sides… and honored war reporter should side with victims of a conflict..

  • I guess we have to keep an eye on every body… but we shouldnt forget that as humans we have a moral obligation – above every thing else – to side with those whose rights are violated.

  • Some lady got caught in the crossfire, I hate to sound callous, but their is a price to pay for freedom and some times there is collateral damage. It is just an attempt by the hateful Arab media to incite loathing for Israel and the Jews.

  • Some lady got caught in the crossfire, I hate to sound callous, but their is a price to pay for freedom and some times there is collateral damage. It is just an attempt by the hateful Arab media to incite loathing for Israel and the Jews.

    Beowulf Posted May 15th, 2007 – 11:45 pm

    “Caught in the crossfire?” She was in her house when she was shot. Why does Maha and her family have to pay the price for Israeli colonists’ freedom? Israel doesn’t need “hateful Arab media” outlets like the BBC and Reuters to incite loathing – their policies and the actions of the IDF do a great job of that.

  • Some lady got caught in the crossfire, I hate to sound callous, but their is a price to pay for freedom and some times there is collateral damage

    she got freedom out of this? all i see is a wounded almost-mother and lost child. what freedom exactly are you talking about beowolf?

  • The interesting question is: Amira Haas writes for Haaretz – the most respected Israeli newspaper out there. Where is an Arab twin of her, writing in the most prestigious Jordanian / Lebanese / Syrian / Bahraini / etc newspaper? Where are articles, in Arab press, talking sympathetically about the plight of Israeli settlers, interviewing, without bias, Israeli soldiers, etc etc?
    An absurd situation is there: one side has people taking as many sides as there are people and letting those sides be heard, while the other side.. well, is Al Jazeera at best.

Your Two Piasters: