This isn't exactly new--some of my posts are things I might want to refer to in the future. The controversy about Jaher Abu Rahma reminds me of the poison balloon story from early 2007. (Yes, "reminds" is a vague word.) Here are the complete texts of two Naharnet articles that illustrate what the initial reports were like, and which document that the story was fairly quickly debunked. Notice all the specific details in the first article. The headline of the
first article: "8 Hospitalized after Inhaling Toxic Gases from Israeli Balloons":
Eight people were hospitalized Saturday after inhaling toxic gases from poisonous balloons dropped by Israeli warplanes over Upper Nabatiyeh in southern Lebanon, the National News Agency reported.
NNA said among those who were rushed to hospital suffering from nausea and fatigue were a Lebanese staff sergeant, a recruit and An Nahar reporter Rana Jouni.
The agency said Israeli warplanes dropped at least 10 poisonous balloons with Hebrew markings over Upper Nabatiyeh at about 9 am Saturday.
NNA said contacts have been made between the Lebanese army command and the U.N. Interim Force in Lebanon, which has instructed an Italian peacekeeping unit to take samples from the balloons for examination. The agency said the results are likely to come out on Sunday.
NNA had earlier said that the Lebanese army's engineering unit headed to the area and destroyed the balloons by explosives.
The army, in a communiqué issued Friday, warned civilians against messing with the balloons and urged them to report finding them to the closest army unit.
The second
article's title: "Panic over Israeli Balloons in South Lebanon":
The issue of poisonous Israeli balloons that soared over southern Lebanon on Saturday and the ensuing admittance of eight people to hospital suffering from nausea remain vague.
Agence France Presse said Sunday the balloons were advertising an Israeli newspaper.
AFP cited witnesses and officials as saying the balloons drifted across the tense border into southern Lebanon, causing panic among locals and scrambling the Lebanese army.
The National News Agency said eight people were hospitalized Saturday after inhaling toxic gases from poisonous balloons dropped by Israeli warplanes over Upper Nabatiyeh in southern Lebanon.
NNA on Saturday said contacts have been made between the Lebanese army command and the U.N. Interim Force in Lebanon, which has instructed an Italian peacekeeping unit to take samples from the balloons for examination. The agency said the results are likely to come out on Sunday.
The army, in a communiqué issued Friday, warned civilians against messing with the balloons and urged them to report finding them to the closest army unit.
AFP said the green and orange balloons -- branded with the Hebrew word Ha'ir (The City), the name of a Tel Aviv newspaper -- appeared Saturday in the southern cities of Nabatiyeh and Tyre.
Local health officials told AFP that five people were admitted to hospital in Nabatiyeh complaining of nausea and dizziness, as the army -- with help from UNIFIL -- rounded up the balloons for a controlled explosion in an open field.
"While our investigation and analysis are continuing, we have told local inhabitants not to touch such balloons in case they contain toxic gases," an army spokesman said.
An Israeli military spokeswoman in Jerusalem said the balloons had been filled with helium for distribution at "a kind of party" thrown by the Ha'ir newspaper.
"It was a public relations thing," she said. "They gave out balloons with helium in them and the balloons flew away and into Lebanon."(Naharnet-AFP)
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