Who done it?

Things in the Mideast are not always as they seem, and here are two fine specimens that make my point:

-- Journalist Khaled Abu Toameh recounts a protest by outraged female Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons. What has angered them? False depictions in a Turkish TV drama series airing on some Arab stations. The program shows IDF soldiers raping a Palestinian prisoner who is subsequently killed by her family to preserve their honor.

The problem is, according to the real prisoners, that no such treatment occurs in Israeli prisons. Nor, they say, would the family kill the woman if a rape did occur. The series aimed to defame the Israelis, but the women say it hurts them instead: "We see this [drama] as an attempt to defame the image of Palestinian female prisoners and as a public insult to the Palestinian people."

-- A 15-year-old boy whom Gaza authorities said was murdered by the Israeli military turns up alive, if somewhat worse for the wear. He was captured by the Egyptians as he tried to escape reported inter-Palestinian violence via one of the tunnels under the Egyptian-Gazan border. The boy said he and others like him were tortured in prison for several days before being released.

The Egyptians and Palestinians should thank heavens every day for the Israelis. Who else could they hide behind? One wonders if the Turks won't soon see things the same way. (Thanks to Daily Alert.)