Lies, Damn Lies and Statistics: The false report on sexual abuse of Palestinian Children run by the International Business Times. Image: Screenshot

At least two major media outlets have this week reported the shocking statistic that 40 percent of of Palestinian children detained in Jerusalem have been sexually abused by Israeli police. There’s only one problem – the statistic is entirely fabricated.

Writing for the International Business Times, contributor Tabatha Kinder reported the following:

Around 600 Palestinian children have been arrested in Jerusalem since June 2013, the International Middle East Media Centre news agency reports. This means approximately 240 minors could have been abused during their arrest or investigation by Israeli authorities, according to the Palestinian Prisoners Club (PCC).

The PCC say the “daily arrest campaigns” inflicted on young Palestinians living in the historic capital are a “collective punishment against Palestinian residents of Jerusalem”.

Kinder’s claim was then picked up by Daily Beast writer Creede Newton, who stated, in an article condemning Israel for destroying the homes of Palestinian terrorists, that “Israeli jails are known to be brutal and the Palestinian Prisoner’s Club, a group that campaigns for Palestinians arrested inside Israel, recently released a report saying that 40 percent of Palestinian children detained in Jerusalem have been sexually abused.”

Popular Jewish blogger Elder of Ziyon has decisively debunked the false claim. Kinder’s article, Elder said,

“…links to Muslim News UK, which copied word for word an article from the rabidly anti-Israel IMEMC website.

The IMEMC made this up.

Even though the Palestinian Prisoners Club is run by convicted terrorists, and even though it is known to have made up plenty of lies about conditions in Israeli prisons, in this case the IMEMC completely misreported what the PPC had said.

Although I cannot find the original PPC report online – their webpage has been down for a while – their Facebook page has a summary of the report, and it was widely reproduced in Arabic media last week.

According to the actual report, 600 youths between 14-17 have been arrested by Israeli authorities since June 2013 – which are 40% of the total number of people arrested. The report further claims that the “bulk” of them were physically abused during arrest or interrogation.

Nothing at all was said about sexual abuse. And even the allegations of physical abuse are probably based on asking them leading questions for which they know what answer the interviewer wants to hear. Any physical contact when detaining them becomes “abuse ” according to these “rights groups.”

The accusation that Israeli forces engage in the sexual abuse of Palestinian women and children has long been a favored theme of anti-Zionist agitators, despite the overwhelming lack of evidence. In February this year, an Israel-related student event at the University of California Davis was disrupted by members of the violently anti-Semitic “Students for Justice in Palestine” (SJP,) whose members screamed “How many women have you raped? How many children have you raped? You are a child molester!” at a Jewish and a Druze speaker sharing the platform.