Published 17 March 2009, doi:10.1136/bmj.b1076
Cite this as: BMJ 2009;338:b1076

Letters

On criticising Israel

Response from author of original paper

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

Freedland challenges my comparison of the number of Palestinians killed by the Israeli Defence Force (IDF) with those killed in 9/11.^{1 2} B’Tselem recorded 2952 fatalities for the period in question (2000-4)³; Freedland’s figure is just half of this total (1508) and presumably reflects the exclusion of what B’Tselem categorises as "Palestinians who took part in hostilities."

Freedland is at risk of uncritically recycling figures that promote self-exculpating IDF mantras. B’Tselem must depend in part on what the IDF tells them: should the IDF’s categorisation of those that it has killed be regarded as disinterested reportage?

So who are "Palestinians who took part in hostilities"? Police officers, like the 20 year old recruits slaughtered recently at their inauguration parade? Anyone involved in the Hamas administration in Gaza, which has many ordinary functions? Friends or families of Hamas officials, or anyone who happens to be present in a Hamas building when . . . [Full text of this article]

¹ Institute of Psychiatry, Maudsley Hospital, London SE5 8BB

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This article has been cited by other articles:

• Freedland, J. (2009). Commentator's reply. BMJ 338: b1077-b1077 [Full text]  

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