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Thursday, April 17, 2008

Pallywood, redux?

This BBC video (which bears the Hamas TV logo) has Richard Landes's reader asking several questions:
Two young men (and one bicycle) lie in the road. The young men show some traces of blood, the form of which resembles that produced by a knife wound. No sign of a shell crater or other damage is visible. In the distance is seen a collection of cars, one of which is claimed to belong to a cameraman killed by the the same shell. The footage continues by getting closer to this car. No obvious damage, fire or smoke is visible. A new camera angle then shows a vehicle marked with TV insignia in flames with heavy billows of smoke surrounding it and spreading prominently into the air. The camera of the camerman is displayed amid scenes of grief.

My puzzlement is:

- whether the injuries displayed on the young men are compatible with a tank shell
- whether a tank shell could have hit both the youngsters and a car 100 meters away
- why the car is not on fire in one image and is very prominently in flames in the other
Gates of Vienna points out that the BBC report itself
The events are drawn entirely from Palestinian accounts, presented from the Palestinian point of view, and transmit uncritically all the conclusions and value judgments of the Palestinian stringers who supply the material.

In contrast, anything that would reflect badly on the Palestinians is invariably preceded by the phrase "Israel says". Palestinian accounts are reported as fact, while Israeli versions are alleged, and obviously meant to be questioned.
"Indiscriminate shelling"?

Or staged?

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1 Comments:

At 8:59 PM, Blogger Pat Patterson said...

Late news reports indicate that the American-made sabot packed with flechettes was fired at a range of 1/2 mile(well within range of the German-made smoothbore cannon on the Merkava III or IV). The round can be set by the loader to break apart at a range designed for maximum coverage which showed in some of the footage because there were less flechettes recovered near the cameraman than the SUV which was probably another 400m back. The area covered by the flechettes can range up to 50m wide and some 400m long.

The footage I saw also showed puffs of smoke and dust of impacting mortar fire on the ridge where the two Israeli tanks were enfilade vs. the area where the camera crew was filming. One can only assume that the tankers were firing at mortar implacements with civilians standing in the descending cut in the road nearby watching the fun.

Though the legitimate question would be, the rounds themselves are legal both by Israeli law and Article 3 of the Geneva conventions, why weren't there more casaualties if indeed the roadway was packed with Palestinians.

 

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