April 25, 2006

Pinner/Finner

Filed under: Beer Sheva

It is difficult to get an unbiased account of confrontations between Israelis and Palestinians. So, I will provide two articles.

Haaretz reports that Finner, a Jew, opened fire with an uzi on Palestinians being harassed by Israeli guests of the hotel at which Finner was working. A man was shot and wounded. Finner was sentenced to two years in prison.

The Israeli National News, on the other hand, reports that Pinner, not Finner, was the man in question. He was walking on the beach when a large group of Arabs began to throw rocks at him. Carrying an Uzi at the time, Pinner fired warning shots into the air until they left him alone. Later, they claimed a man had been shot in the chest, but then changed it to a leg wound. No physical evidence of any wound was produced at the trial, which the alleged victim attended. Pinner was sentenced to two years in prison.

Which to believe? Whether you are pro-Palestinian or pro-Israeli, the main thing is to find what actually happened. Now, from what I have read, an overwhelming number of people have posted on the internet that they were in town at the time or had some other good source of information, and these confirmed the INN take on the story (including that the man’s name is indeed Pinner). The persons I have read championing the Haaretz version have not given any evidence for why they believe it other than that it was published. I leave it to you to decide. If you have further information, I would be glad to know of it.