Snapped Shot

I've run across a very interesting celebrity sighting on the Palestinian newswires today:



Cue: car crash sound effect. At least I get an "F" for e"F"fort, right?

If you want to see the original that spawned this mess, be sure to click on over here. The original caption was:

A Palestinian man shouts as he hold up his empty cooking gas canister as he waits to fill it from a gas station in Gaza May 6, 2008. Gaza has been in the grips of a fuel shortage for weeks, the result of sharp Israeli cutbacks in supplies to the Hamas-controlled territory as well as a strike by an association of Palestinian petrol owners over Israeli supply limits. REUTERS/Mohammed Salem (GAZA)

Here's a nice example from Reuters, dutifully pointing out the obvious:

Palestinian children hold up a placard reading "Don't kill childhood in Palestine" during a protest against the Israeli army in Gaza April 7, 2008. REUTERS/Mohammed Salem (GAZA)

Oh, and in case you were wondering, this is who killed "childhood in palestine."

As I predicted on Friday, the flames of hatred against Denmark are nowhere near spent at this point. From this morning, we see the peace-loving children jihadist killers of the Palestinian Popular Resistance Committees, raging against Denmark as hard as they can:



If this keeps up, Friday is going to be the best day of raaaage (and puppies), ever. Until then, at least we have plenty of the PRC "funneh" beyond the fold.
Continue reading »

Our eternal allies in Egypt seem to have a "slight" problem on their hands:



I'm tracking the photos beyond the fold. Continue reading »

Don't have any of the recently-deceased handy in order to host yet another dramatic, media-driven funeral? Don't let that stop you:

Here's the proper way to dress at a funeral:

REUTERS photographer Mohammed Salem was caught in the crossfire between Israeli soldiers and a pack of rampaging Palestinians this morning. While he wasn't killed, he does appear to be in quite a bit of pain—I hope you have a speedy recovery, Mohammed!



As an aside, I want to make it immediately clear that it can not be determined whether Mohammed was shot by the IDF or not at this point—Just because the IDF was "involved" in this incident does not imply that it was the only group with guns on the scene. After all—Palestinians would never endanger civilians, would they? Continue reading »

Overnight, two Palestinian children were reported as being killed by "an explosion" in the northern region of the Hamas-occupied Gaza Strip. Generally, when events like this occur, the first reaction reported by the press is that the evil Zionists were responsible, with quotes from "sources on the ground" confirming the dastardly Zionist machinations to an all-to-willing press corps.

That standard storyline is what I expected to hear as soon as I heard about this event, so it goes without saying that I am very surprised to see that the press is reporting things factually for a change:



Even though we get the traditional crocodile tears, I'm definitely pleased at this new honesty, and hope that it continues to find its way into more of the coverage coming from the region!
Continue reading »

You'll recall that Israel released 255 "Palestinian" prisoners on Friday, an opportunity for the "Palestinians" to participate in a massive festival of propaganda.



Fast-forward to today, and notice how the tone is:



Now, it's important to point out that the top picture, of the prisoners being released, is of released terrorists peace-lovers from the "moderate" killers of Fatah, whereas the bottom picture comes from the "extreme" bloodthirsty killers of Hamas. From this, we learn that the Hamas response to Israel's release of "non-violent" Fatah prisoners is to yell, shout, scream, march, and cajole the international press until Hamas has a "Me Too!" prisoner release all its own.

It's not like these types of temper tantrums are unusual for the Palestinians. After all, it's the only form of "dialogue" in their vocabulary.

It'll be interesting to see how long this persists before Israel caves in the next time.

See the response from REUTERS at the bottom of this article.

Eagle-eyed reader Universalgeni has sent in via e-mail this amazing story from Aftenposten. It seems that a reporter at that newspaper has analysed two photographs sent across the newswire by Mohammed Salem, who is frequently featured here at Snapped Shot.

What's curious about these photographs is, according to Aftenposten, the background. Pay particular attention to the pictures on the wall--you can click on the photograph on the right to view an enlarged copy. What is significant about this is that a wire photographer has potentially participated in the correction of a scene, inserting a more sympathetic picture into the background where previously was only a picture of a known and admitted terrorist. At the very least, there is a possibility that Mohammed was aware of the change, and elected not to take notice of it.

It's interesting to see that Aftenposten takes its role as investigative journalists seriously, instead of immediately rushing to the defence of a wire photographer who may have taken part in something which is against the very ethics of photojournalism. And alas, it is something which seems to have completely escaped the notice of the Reuters editor's desk, yet again.

Here's a translation of the article, courtesy Universalgeni, whose English is far better than my Norwegian.

Tampering with the back ground: Hamas altered Reuters photo from bomb attack
By KURT HAUGLI

First published: 12.06.07 | Updated: 12.06.07 kl. 14:01

On the first photo that the Reuters photographer took after a shell hit the home of Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Hanieyh, it is Hamas' founder Sheikh Ahmed Yassin that is hanging in a frame on the wall.

But when one of Hamas' cleaning guys was showing the shrapnel to the photographer from Reuters in an arranged photo in the same place in the house, the picture of Ahmed Yassin was suddenly gone.

Instead there was a picture on the wall, where the Palestinian Prime Minister has a prominent role.

Smiling and waving

The Hamas founder Yassin is still in the picture, but less prominent. On this picture Ismail Haniyeh is pushing the wheelchair of the strongly disabled leader who was killed in an Israeli air strike on march 22. 2004.

It is very clear, that the Hamas leadership found it more correct to have a picture of their current leader as back ground for the photo - smiling and waving with the green Hamas cap on his head.

The attack this morning

It was this morning that a shell hit Haniyeh's home. Most likely it was Fatah who attacked the Prime Ministers house. The fighting between the heavily armed groups of the two government parties Fatah and Hamas resumed in Gaza this week.

Scores have been killed in increasingly severe fighting

So, yet again, we see a situation wherein a terrorist entity is using the Western press service to disseminate propaganda which suits its message. How much evidence of this propaganda do we need, before we've had enough? If our western news services really do have a problem with being used as a propagandistic tool, why do we continue to accept the lies and propaganda which these enemy-affiliated stringers send in?

Sadly, I suspect I already know the answer to that question.

My hat is off to Aftenposten, for refusing to blindly accept the propaganda at face value.

Update: Reuters has responded:

Photographers from Reuters and other news organizations were at the house taking pictures when one of Haniyeh’s sons decided he wanted a picture of his father on the wall, so he put it up in place of the one of Sheikh Yassin, in mid-photo shoot. We did not censor our shots by, for example, only using the pictures with Haniyeh’s photo in them, and we can’t very well stop people from rearranging their homes as they see fit. Indeed, both of those photos went out, side by side, to our photo clients: GBU Editor

In my opinion, once a newswire has been informed or notices that a scene of interest is being manipulated, no matter by which party, they should remove the photographs in question from their feed, as there is no longer any way to validate that the information being presented is factual.

Unless, of course, Reuters is not in the "fact" business.

I dare!

It would seem that Hamas has now gained almost complete control over the Gaza Strip after a long series of protracted gunbattles with their former partners in peace from Fatah.

May I be the first to demand that Hamas immediately withdraw all of its occupation forces from the Gaza Strip, and that a Sextuplet of Peace be convened to work out an international solution to this mire of quagmire that has encompassed the area?



Update: It seems that Hamas has some demands of its own. Touché!

I'm sure it's still not a civil war to the press and the assorted flower children who hold to the notion that this is Israel's Fault™.

I hate it when someone beats me to this, but credit is due where it's due. Good job on covering this first, Elder! I remain your humble servant, o mighty one!



Is savagery like this really newsworthy? Why is it appropriate for a news organization to be present at these events, transmitting unquestionably the terrorists' hateful propaganda?

Reuters is a disgrace upon the entire West. They have reduced themselves from being a vaunted news organization, to existing as a mere channel for terrorist propaganda. It's almost as if they were a shell of their former selves, isn't it?

I've got more pictures from this particular joke of a "news conference" beyond the fold. If you want background on terrorist press conferences, I've got that, too! Continue reading »

It seems that the Palestinians are staying true to their word, as usual. Was this rocket launched in commemoration of al-Naqba? One interesting thing, though: Check out the Israeli reaction to the shameless vultures of the press:



"Gestures?" It looks to me like he's doing a bit more than "gesturing," Amir. Could it be possible that the Israelis are exhibiting a proper restraint here, in trying to keep the jihad-friendly, death-loving press away from their tragedy? It certainly is telling that the Israelis do not consider this photographer to be a friend.

Compare that to your average Palestinian "funeral scene," where the subjects play up every possible emotion to the cameras, without a hint of shame:



The world would be well served by removing every wire photographer from the Middle East. Enough propaganda, enough vitriol. Being used by various factions in the area as propagandists, whether by accident or by cooperation, is not a valid function of the press.

I'm very glad to hear that nobody was killed in this latest attack on a civilian residence. Continue reading »

I bring good tidings from the "Palestinian" territories: The citizens of "Occupied" Palestine are marking the Naqba, commemorating and mourning the day in which Israel was founded in 1948. This would be Snapped Shot's first chance to cover this annual event, so if you already know the background of Naqba, please be sure to skip ahead and celebrate the "mourning."

For those of you who are new to Naqba, let me start by presenting the Palestinian party line, as dutifully parroted by our mindless "guardians" of truth in the press:



Notice two things: The "Palestinians" are mourning the establishment of Israel, and shortly after this establishment occurred, an Arab-Israeli war brought the "displacement" of hundreds of thousands of "Palestinians." Continue reading »