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Born at the Crest of the Empire

Monday, December 29, 2008

Picture of the Day


Something to watch. Israel has banned news reporters from Gaza, although some are there, and other agencies are working with locals.

But, what I wanted to point out is this. Unlike Iraq, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, Colombia, or anywhere else with a longstanding conflict, Hamas has an extremely effective PR arm. In their asymmetric warfare, they long ago realized that media and image were primary weapons.

That's not to say the images aren't real, or that any deaths aren't a tragedy, but, be aware that the images coming out of Gaza might be collected or posed for effect.

Even with that recognition, this is a very hard picture to look at.

(The bodies of five Palestinian siblings lie at a hospital morgue following an Israeli air strike overnight in the Jabalia refugee camp in northern Gaza. (AFP/Mohammed Abed))

4 Comments:

  • Commenting on Israel and Zionism is definitely a 3rd-Rail case but at some point people have to start admitting the truth about the situation. No one wants to be the 'first'. Some on the BBC TV/Radio have been heroic but not on this side of the pond.

    By Blogger matt, at 2:45 PM  

  • I find the ITV reports generally the best US available coverage on Israel Palestine. They're generally facts and they're on McNeil Lehrer.

    By Blogger mikevotes, at 5:43 PM  

  • Serious mainstream debate has been effectively silenced in the US. Strangely the best place to find it now is in Ha-aretz.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 11:01 AM  

  • Agreed. They're pretty good, although they do sometimes print stuff from the Israeli government for propaganda objective.

    But broadly, they do a pretty good job if you read it all in context.

    By Blogger mikevotes, at 2:06 PM  

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