The Israeli occupation forces have been widely criticized for releasing a video in which footage of killed Palestinian medic Razan al-Najjar has been edited in order to portray her as “not an angel”.
The 21-year-old medic, who was dressed in white uniform, was shot in the chest by an IOF sniper during protests on the Gaza border on 1 June as she attended wounded protesters.
On Thursday several Israeli government and army officials tweeted the edited video – named “Hamas’ use of human shields must stop” – which shows part of an interview Najjar gave with Beirut-based Arabic Al-Mayadeen TV where she allegedly said she was acting as a “human shield”.
In the full clip, however, the young woman goes on to say she was present at the protests to “save the wounded at the front lines”. She does not mention Hamas, the resistance group which controls the Gaza Strip.
Her death has become something of a rallying cry for Palestinians, who have named her “the Angel of Mercy”. In footage that has emerged since, she can be seen throwing a tear gas canister away from people lying on the ground.
“Razan al-Najjar is not the angel of mercy that Hamas propaganda attempts to portray,” the IOF’s Arabic language spokesperson Avichay Edraee wrote on Twitter.
The video meanwhile, has been fiercely criticized by Palestinians and rights activists as an attempt to justify Najjar’s death.
“The IDF always accuses Palestinians and Israeli human rights orgs of editing documentation of it human rights abuses. But it edited this video of Razan al-Najjar to discredit her after murdering her. Absolutely despicable and hypocritical,” Israeli-American writer Mairav Zonszein said on Twitter, referring to Israeli occupation forces (IOF).
Source: Websites
