Today, in an op-ed prominently published in the Globe and Mail, Dianu Buttu (pictured right), a Palestinian-Canadian lawyer based in Haifa who previously worked as a legal adviser to the Palestinian Authority, made the following inflammatory and unsubstantiated allegation (emphasis added):

As protests against this policy intensified, Mr. Netanyahu further inflamed the situation, allowing Israeli security forces to fire tear gas, stun grenades, rubber bullets and live ammunition on worshippers, both inside the mosque and within its compound.”

Untold by Ms. Buttu, Israeli police were confronted by Palestinians who threw stones (many of them concrete slabs) and Molotov cocktails at them and on Jews at the Western Wall below. Many Israeli police and Israeli Jews were injured.

We asked the Globe and Mail if it and Ms. Buttu can substantiate the claim that Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu allowed Israeli police to fire live ammunition on presumably innocent worshipers in the Al Aqsa Mosque and outside on the compound.

Importantly, there were 0 Palestinian deaths during the rioting which shows a tremendous level of Israeli restraint in the face of violent Palestinian rioters, many who sought to murder and maim Israelis.

It goes without saying that any police in the world are allowed to use live fire in self defense, but what Ms. Buttu said is that Israel’s prime minister authorized its police to shoot at innocent Muslims at prayer. HonestReporting Canada was shocked that this claim was published by the Globe and have conveyed that message in a complaint sent to senior editors.

Stay tuned to this page for future updates.