1. A peaceful demonstration took place in Ramallah yesterday. There were no deaths or injuries. What is happening on Gaza's border is NOT that. If they had stood away from the border, chanted and waved flags, not a shot would have been fired. 2/7
2. ANY country whose border is attacked by a mass of people - some armed with guns, knives, IEDs etc - will defend that border. Even more so if that border is with a hostile entity. It is fair to question HOW, but absurd to deny Israel that right. 3/7
3. If there is one lesson the media should have learned in 70 years, it is that early claims of casualty numbers - in any conflict - are hardly ever accurate. Presenting the claimed numbers (of "at least 60 killed and thousands wounded") as undisputed fact is naive at best... 4/7
...It is not unreasonable to ask for caution in this respect, as most people will only remember the splash headlines, not the small-type eventual correction some weeks or months later. The same argument can be made as to the rush to allocate guilt. 5/7
I don't claim any foreknowledge in this case, but there are dozens of examples of incidents in which the obvious narrative turns out to have been wholly inappropriate after the dust has settled. 6/7
IF it turns out that Israeli soldiers did indiscriminately fire live rounds on peaceful civilians, or responded to minimal threat with excessive force, I will join in the anger, the shame and criticism. But in all the circumstances, it is too soon to reach such conclusions. /END
