The Blood Libel

The BBC has reported the horrific story of an Israeli soldier massacring an innocent family in Gaza. The brute is purported to have fired an M-16 into a grandmother carrying a white flag, wounding her, instantly killing one granddaughter, injuring another baby girl so grievously that she too died soon afterwards, and that the third and last daughter of the same family lies, probably paralyzed in an Egyptian hospital after the unconscionable act. This report could be a contrived fiction, a tremendously embellished one, or one where details may have been inadvertently or deliberately left out. For instance, could an insurgent have been aiming an RPG at the Israeli tank mentioned in the story, been crouching just meters behind the family and using the family, perhaps without their even knowing, as human shields. I would not assume the worst about the conduct of the IDF and assuredly, after all this international notoriety-some might say incitement, the Israeli authorities will thoroughly investigate what transpired, and if the events were what the Palestinians have claimed, Israeli courts will bring the culprit and any accomplices to justice. If this is a smear, though as is likely, the investigation must debunk it before it takes hold like the Mohammed al-Dura allegations did. To borrow a phrase from old Sam Clemens, "a lie travels half way around the world before the truth can get out of bed."