snapped shot

Oded Balilty, photographer for the Associated Press, has won the Pulitzer Prize this year for a dramatic photograph published of a female Israeli settler trying to defy the IDF's attempts to remove her from an illegal settlement in the West Bank.

Congratulations to Oded—this photograph is very powerful. Heck, it's unusual enough to see the Pulitzer committee honour a photograph depicting Israeli suffering, so I suppose congratulations are due all around. The Committee does at least try to live up to expectations, though:—Notice that most of the entries they considered are related to the "brutality" of the Israeli state. (The exception, of course, goes to Barbaro.)

The photograph in question can be found following the break, along with a candid shot of Mr. Balilty's celebration. You can find more of Oded's work using the ol' Snapped Shot tag browser. Continue reading »

Whadda ya know? It's Friday yet again, and it's looking an awful lot like last Friday. Considering how often this happens (and happens, and happens, and happens), I fail to see why anyone considers this to be "newsworthy" enough to continue sending photographers to cover them.


As usual, the rest of Friday's festivities follow below the fold! Continue reading »

Rumour has it that there's a massive DAY OF ANGER!! (now where have I seen this before?) planned to protest the Israeli "destruction" of the al-Aqsa mosque. I haven't seen any photos of it yet, but considering that today is Friday, the Muslim holy day—and traditionally the day of the largest organized worldwide protests—I expect we'll be seeing quite a bit of action on the wires shortly.

Plenty of "anger" and "rage" are evident in the photographs, following the break. I ask you: Aside from "anger" and "rage," what else is there in the Muslim world?

Update: From what I can tell, there are two separate efforts underway. The primary is a large, "peaceful" protest, with plenty of flag-waving, propaganda posters, and other traditional elements of jihadi misinformation. The secondary seems to be an effort to goad the Israeli police into a firefight using "stone throwers" and other violent elements.

We shall see which side gets the greater coverage...

Previously on Snapped Shot: Selective Outrage Syndrome, Selective Outrage Syndrome, Day 2

Update: Here's the background on why all of this inflamed "protest" is genuinely fake. Thanks to LGF commenter BabbaZee for the link!

Update: In a rather interesting twist, it seems that this is a Palestinian day of RAGE, considering we haven't seen any action on the wires from Iran, Iraq, Pakistan, or any of the other usual hot spots. I'll keep an eye on the wires, of course, but I find it interesting that nothing's come across yet. Continue reading »

The press may not be covering certain other stories of importance, you can guarantee that they'll be there to lionize a terrorist "peace-seeking politician" being freed by the Israelis evil Zionist overlords.

Check out the photos of Nasser Shaer, Deputy PM of the Palestinian Legislative Council—AND member of Hamas—who was arrested earlier on terrorism charges. Nasser was the only one of the thirty-odd people arrested to be released, so I'm sure the Israeli Supreme Court knew what it was doing when it released him.

Right?

In any case, be sure to check out the royal treatment that was setup for him by a couple of AP photographers.

(Apparently, the AP has seen fit to send three photojournalists/stringers to cover this event, and Reuters has joined the fold by submitting the most ridiculous photograph I've seen come across the wires so far. To paraphrase a question I recall using somewhere around the 4^th grade, "If Reuters loves Hamas so much, why don't they marry them?") Continue reading »

Our dear friends on the wires have recently committed the sin of omission, when covering Israeli protests against the government's "behavior" in Lebanon. We're told by the Associated Press that these pictures are "reserve soldiers and activists" who are protesting "the Israeli leadership's performance during the fighting." What does the AP want us to believe? That these people are against the war, and that they are calling for Israel to hold its leaders accountable for starting war.

The reality, as usual, isn't so simple. What these reservists, according to Yoni the Blogger, are actually doing, is protesting Israel's lack of preparedness in the recent conflict with Hezbullah. The signs they're holding contain no anti-war messages. The protesters are not against what's happened in Lebanon. They merely want the army equipped with the material and provisions it needs to complete its mission successfully. So, instead of being an anti-Israeli protest against the war, these protesters are actually supporting the IDF against the ineffective and indecisive civilian leaders.

No wonder the protests weren't given more media coverage!
Continue reading »

I think I'm going to do my best to start a little tradition. Let's compare and contrast the treatment given to both sides of the war. After all, if the press was as impartial as they claim to be, wouldn't both sides be presented somewhat similarly in the news?

(AP/Oded Balilty) Displaced Israelis, right, wait at a school to be taken away from the town of Kiryat Shmona in northern Israel.

versus

(AP/Lefteris Pitarkis) Lebanese Samir Taan Waheb carrying some belongings leaves a damaged building adjacent to the destroyed buildings that were attacked late Monday by Israeli forces.

The Israelis are considered as merely "displaced," inconvenienced only enough to have to get onto a bus and drive away. On the other hand, we see pitiful scenes of Lebanese leaving their devastated homes, in sad tones, with ever more somber descriptions. Also be sure to compare the lighting and tone of the first picture, which appears somber, but not quite sad, with the second, which is in monochrome hues, and is intended to be more heart-breaking.

Of course, one thing that can be learned from this comparison is that the Israeli government CARES enough about its citizens to try and get them OUT of harm's way, BEFORE something happens to them. Contrast that with the Lebanese government, a mere puppet of Hezbullah, which is more than happy to PARADE its dead citizens around endlessly.

Quite a contrast, don't you think?