In an AP article published in The Day, Jan. 18 entitled, “Medicine arrives in Gaza Strip: First Israel-Hamas deal since November brings supplies to hostages,” the authors write about the November cease-fire and the exchange of innocent hostages for Palestinian prisoners. They write, “... temporary truce in exchange for the release of more than 100 hostages ... for dozens of Palestinians imprisoned by Israel.” This is disingenuous as there were approximately 2.2 times more Palestinian prisoners released than innocent hostages (240 Palestinian prisoners vs 110 innocent hostages). By using the terms of “more than 100 hostages: vs ”dozens of Palestinians,“ one could easily assume that up to eight times more Israelis were released than Palestinians. This plays into the narrative of Palestinian abuse at the hands of Israel. In fact, in any prisoner exchange between Israel and the Palestinians, there have always been more Palestinians freed than Israelis. Deceptive wording skews the truth. Words matter!

Jeffrey Dubins

Mystic