On September 28, 2008, a Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR) published a press release headlined “Palestinian Shepherd Killed by Settlers in Nablus” and condemned “this heinous crime.”  PCHR also accused the “Israeli Occupying Force” of complicity in the “murder,” and demanded that “Israeli authorities disarm all Israeli settlers, who pose a serious and continuing threat to the lives of Palestinian civilians.” As noted by the Jerusalem Post, PCHR’s version of events was repeated in Israeli and international media without question, providing another example of the NGO “halo effect”.

However, an Israeli police investigation determined that the victim died after mishandling unexploded ordinance and that there was no evidence of shooting. Yet EU-funded PCHR has not corrected the mistake, and the original press release is still on the PCHR website. (PCHR, whose lack of credibility and bias has been documented by NGO Monitor, is funded by the European Commission, European governments, church groups and other sources.)