I was thrust into the international limelight when
The New York Times and other major media outlets
published a photo of me -- bloodied and battered --
crouching beneath a club-wielding Israeli policeman.
The caption identified me as a Palestinian victim of
the new intifada. In fact, however, I am a 20-year-old Jewish student from Chicago, studying at a
yeshiva in Jerusalem.
Here's how it all happened:
It was the eve of Rosh Hashana, and I hailed a taxi
with two of my friends to go visit the Western Wall.
Along the way, the driver took a shortcut through one
of the Arab neighborhoods in Jerusalem. We turned a
corner and suddenly there were about 40 Palestinians
surrounding the car. Before we knew it, huge rocks
had smashed all the windows of the taxi.
Some of the Palestinians pulled open the door and
dragged me from the vehicle. About 10 attackers
jumped on top of me, punching and kicking me. I
crouched to the ground, and tried to cover my face to
protect myself as much as possible. All I could see
were a flurry of sneakers kicking me in the face.
Then I felt a strong pair of hands grabbing me, and I
uncovered my face because I thought someone was
trying to help me. But it was just another
Palestinian; he held the back of my head and punched
me square in the face. I fell flat on the ground and
the Palestinians jumped on top of me again. One of
them stabbed me in the back of my leg, ripping
through muscles and tendons. Two other Palestinians
held my head so I couldn't move, while two more
bashed rocks onto my head... again and again and
again.
By this time the beating had gone on for about eight
minutes. I had already lost three liters of blood and
was losing consciousness. I said "Shema Yisrael" --
the declaration of faith that a Jew says before he
dies. I tried not to black out, because I was sure if
I did it would be the end.
Because it was the eve of Rosh Hashana, the image of
a shofar flashed through my mind, and I recalled a
Biblical story I'd learned in school. The prophet
Gideon and his 300 men were badly outnumbered against
the Midianite army of 130,000. So Gideon's troops
banged pots and blew shofars, hoping that the noise
would scare the enemy. With God's help, the ploy
worked, and Gideon won the battle.
So I yelled at the top of my lungs. The Palestinians
were startled momentarily, and I was able to get up
and run. Unfortunately, I am heavily nearsighted and
my contact lenses had fallen out. So there I was --
barely able to see a thing, with blood pouring down
my face and my leg badly wounded -- being chased up a
hill by 40 Palestinians throwing rocks at me.
It was a miracle, but I somehow outran them and
reached a gas station where Israeli soldiers were
posted.
I collapsed on the ground, and that's when a group of
freelancer photographers started snapping pictures.
An Israeli policeman was protecting me, yelling at
the Palestinians to back off from finishing the
lynching. But the photo -- sent throughout the world
by the Associated Press -- identified me as a
Palestinian. The obvious implication was that the
Israeli policeman had just beaten me. In truth, it
was the total opposite. I was a Jewish victim of
Palestinian attackers.
It's bad enough to be beaten bloody, get stitches up
and down my head, and have my leg so severely stabbed
that therapy is required to regain use of it. But to
be used as a pawn in the media war, as part of the
Palestinian propaganda to gain international
sympathy, well, that hurts even more.
When a photo gets published, there are many links in
the chain, and in this case, I don't know where the
fault for the garbled caption lies. But it is deeply
disturbing that the New York Times, the Associated
Press (and everyone else in-between) assumed that if
it's a victim, it must be a Palestinian.
There is a great struggle here in Israel and this
event highlights the power of the media to influence
public opinion. If truth is to prevail, we can't just
"read" the newspaper. Be discerning and become part
of the process. Otherwise, you're just a passive
object of someone else's agenda.
Who are the innocent victims and who are the
aggressors? I'm living proof -- the truth is often
the opposite of how it appears.