Horrible violence broke out over the weekend in Jerusalem. Two Palestinian teenagers carried out separate knife attacks that targeted Israelis. In one incident, an Israeli teenager was wounded. But in another, two Israelis were stabbed to death and a woman and toddler, who were surrounded and taunted by Arabs, escaped with less serious wounds.
These events led to clashes between Palestinians and Israeli troops as the homes of suspects were being searched. Israeli police were using "riot dispersal means," according to a police spokeswoman, on those gathered and warned that "whoever is present with law-breaking rioters risks getting injured."
Ignoring those warnings was Lebanese reporter Hana Mahameed who works for Al-Mayadeen TV -- a network known to have close ties with Hezbollah -- and was reporting on location. As sound grenades were being launched down the street to disperse the rioters, Mahameed was apparently hit by the blast of one of the grenades.
The reporter isn't visible in the frame when the grenade goes off, though she is heard screaming in pain. As the camera turns towards her, she is immediately attended to by several men who begin loosening her flack jacket labeled "press" and unwrapping some sort of bandage from around her neck. A small bit of blood is seen on her upper lip, as well as a black smudge on one side of her face, as she continues wailing. It did not appear that she suffered any severe wounds as she was quickly escorted away from the camera.
However, Mahameed appeared a short time later with a healthy portion of bandages taped around the left side of her face and neck as she continued reporting, albeit from a new, safer location, away from the fighting.
UK's The Independent reports that a colleague of the reporter confirmed that Mahameed was not seriously injured, but had "holes in her face and neck." The colleague, Raed Sobies, added that she was advised to take time off of work but was "forced to continue working" anyway.
"Of course it's not good… we don't know yet what the result [of her injuries] will be, and whether she will be scarred," Sobies said.
The video doesn't appear to show the types of wounds that would be consistent with the described holes in her face. And that the reporter was already back in front of the camera shortly after the incident, and appeared to be nursing major injuries, many are accusing the TV station of engaging in the political theater known as Pallywood.
Palestinian media regularly engages in this type of media manipulation and the Pallywood "genre" even has a recurring "cast" known for these antics to paint the Israeli army as the aggressors. But even if this incident wasn't staged in anyway, or was just made to appear worse than it was, the warnings to stay away from the area were clear.
Watch the video and decide for yourself:
