AP Repeats Palestinian Claims That Israeli Sniper Also Caused Challenger Disaster, Chernobyl

IDF representatives continued the Israeli military’s anemic equivocation on the matter.

Jenin, May 30 – Major media continued their uncritical parroting of anti-Israel propaganda today while treating Israeli claims with skepticism, with one leading outlet stating as fact that the same nonexistent IDF gunman who they previously reported as having targeted an Al-Jazeera journalist during a firefight with militant here has a history of such irresponsible behavior, including the post-launch explosion of a space shuttle and, later the same year, a nuclear reactor meltdown in Soviet Ukraine.

The Associated Press, which three weeks ago reported matter-of-factly that an Israeli bullet had killed Shireen Abu Akleh, relying only on tendentious witness accounts and dismissing Israeli denials or explanations, as well as objective, documented fact, went even further today by conveying without comment Palestinian activist allegations that the posited sniper in the Abu Akleh case also set off the Challenger and Chernobyl nuclear plant disasters in 1986. That a 5.56mm bullet killed her indicates that it came from an assault rifle such as the American-made M-16 used by Israel and Palestinian security forces and terrorist groups, not an Israeli sniper rifle, which would fire 7.62mm rounds. That empirical data failed to make its way into AP and other media reporting on the incident except when quoting Israeli officials, the credibility of whose words the journalists downplayed by means of phrases such as “the IDF claims” or “Israeli military officials assert.”

“Palestinian accounts emerged today that the same IDF sniper who assassinated Abu Akleh fired the bullet that severed an important component during the failed 1986 Challenger Launch,” the AP reported. “As a result of that bullet impact, proper flow of materials failed, ultimately causing the main fuel tank to explode,  destroying the orbiter, and sending the crew compartment plummeting into the ocean, whereupon the astronauts were killed. The same sniper disabled critical safety equipment at Chernobyl later that year, producing the worst nuclear disaster in history, killing dozens, rendering vast stretches of Ukraine uninhabitable, and, ultimately, contributing in important ways to the downfall of the Soviet Union, a staunch supporter of Palestinian rights.”

IDF representatives continued the Israeli military’s anemic equivocation on the matter, adhering to circumspect language in the face of their opponents’ establishment of a narrative that even subsequent refutation, if it occurs, will not dislodge from the public consciousness. “We urge everyone not to jump to conclusions before the facts are in,” stated the organization’s official spokesperson’s office. “Our records indicate that no serviceman active in 1986 would still be active in 2022, but we have requested archival assistance from NASA and [Russian Federation President Vladimir] Putin to help us clarify the matter.”

Please support our work through Patreon.