Here's How NYT Covered This 'Disfigured Woman' Who Was One of Palestinians Released From Jail

Michie · Nov 28, 2023

As part of the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas, imprisoned Palestinian criminals have been exchanged in return for some of the approximately 240 hostages taken by Hamas. Many of those hostages include innocent women, children, and the elderly, while among the Palestinian prisoners included Israa Jaabees, who was released on Sunday. The New York Times, in covering the negotiations as part of their updates on the Israel-Hamas War, had a rather curious way of profiling Jaabees.

“A disfigured woman whose case has become well known is among the Palestinians released," read one such update. As the coverage on Jaabees read in part:

Perhaps the most well-known name on the list of 39 Palestinian prisoners and detainees released from an Israeli jail early Sunday was Israa Jaabees, who was accused of attempted murder by Israel and had been in jail since 2015.
She was arrested that year after her car exploded at a checkpoint near Jerusalem in the West Bank, leaving her disfigured and an Israeli police officer seriously injured.

Such paragraphs are a classic example of the mainstream media providing such coverage as if an inanimate object--in this case, Jaabees' car--could act on its own. The update also pointed to a supposed motive behind Jaabees criminal actions, with added emphasis:

She claimed that it was an accidental fire, according to an account from Addameer, a prisoners’ rights organization. The Israeli authorities said it had been an act of terrorism.
Her story was featured in the documentary “Advocate” about the Israeli lawyer who represented her, Lea Tsemel, that was released in 2019 and was shortlisted for an Academy Award. Ms. Tsemel floated the idea that Ms. Jaabees might have beendepressed and trying to commit what’s known as “suicide by cop,” according to write-ups of the film.

Continued below.