al AP at it again with staged photos

Here is a perfect example of staging. Notice this car has a wall-hanging positioned on the door. An Arabic reader tells me this board has verses from the Koran on it. Because Islam does not allow for images of the Prophet Mohammed, Muslims use verses to adorn their homes the same way some Christians use paintings of Jesus. If you want to make the argument that this wall-hanging got where it is by chance, then feel free, or you can just acknowledge what anybody with two brains cells to rub together can see, the board was placed there for the photo.

Here is the caption.

Lebanese men stand as civil defense rescuers, unseen, work to recover the bodies of citizens believed to be trapped under debris and concrete of destroyed buildings, attacked late Monday by Israeli forces, in the southern Beirut suburb of Chiah, Lebanon, Tuesday Aug. 8, 2006. The raid on the Muslim southern suburb next to a Christian neighborhood killed at least 15 people, police officials said. (AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis)

Here is another image of the same car without the Islamic verses.

Here is the caption.

A Lebanese civilian stands next to a wrecked car August 8, 2006 as he watches rescue works at the site of yesterday's Israeli strike on Chiyah, a residential neighbourhood. Police confirmed 13 people were killed and scores wounded after a strike on Beirut's southern suburbs. REUTERS/Eric Gaillard (LEBANON)

As you can see, the religious paraphernalia was not included in the Reuters shot, but it was in the AP photo. Looks like Reuters might have learned the lesson of photo shopping stringers and the AP hasn't. The only possible reason for the Islamic verses to be placed as they were was to inflame Islamic passions. The symbolism is clear, Israel is trying to destroy Islam. And nobody would reasonable argue the verses landed in that position from the blast (notice I said reasonably). So this photographer had to know this was a set up most likely by Hizbollah and took the photo for the symbolism it would invoke. And AP was happy to publish this propaganda for hizbollah.

Update: thanks to LGF, Jawa Report, Newsbusters and others for picking this up. For those who are new to my site, check out the Saddam Dossier, a column I and "Sammi" (a translator and all around great guy) write for Fox News.com.

We hope to have more articles running soon, depends on how the Hiz/Israel war goes.

Comments

[frank]

The board with the verses is face down under some debris in the lower right-hand corner of the Reuters photo.

[Rick C]

Frank, no, I don't think it is. If you look closely at the leftmost part of the AP photo, you can see someone squatting who is probably the dark blue-shirted guy in the Reuters one. Just to his right is what I believe is the board you are seeing in the Reuters photo.

that last comment made no sense, and i am now dumber for having read it.

While I do think there is plenty of propaganda creating/use going on, is it not possible that the "board with verses" was innocently placed there? Maybe someone digging trough the rubble laid it there with the intent to keep it, or prevent it from being damaged?

I think to, with 100% certainty, claim that the thing is staged is a bit of a reach.

Now if the caption had decried the "holy verses" being damaged or something, then I'd wonder.

[wooga]

My money is on the verses being placed there by the guy with the bull horn, and not as a form of trickery. He's probably some street corner preacher, and the verses are his sandwich board. He set them on the car to be visible while he preached about the evils of the joos. When he finished his sermon, he took the verses with him.

It's not like he can afford an Al Gore-style powerpoint presentation.

[zen_less]

Boy, you guys are really reaching for it, aren't you? The obvious question: why would someone put a wall hanging on a blown-up car? Unlike the darkening of the clouds or adding tracers, this move has absolutely no propoaganda value in the West, since most non-Muslims wouldn't recognize it for what it was and wouldn't know the significance. Among Muslims, they don't have to change anything to rile up passions. If they're going to Photoshop something there, why not a child's head or something with shock value. Go ahead and theorize all you want but "anyone with two brain cells to rub together" as you so arrogantly put it, would see that this is totally pointless.

Or, did you ever consider they're playing games with YOU?

RR: umm, brainiac, nobody said it was photoshopped, we are saying it is stagged. Do you understand the difference? yes, most westernors wouldn't have known this, propaganda targeted at an Islamic audience is still propaganda. Or do you support creating false images. What if this was in Israel and it was a Star of David placed on the car? Got a problem with that?

[Vincent]

Hey, what about the biggest staged photo in history: raising the flag on Iwo Jima? Little Green Footballs and othe Right-Wing nuts are using the doctored photo crap to advance their agenda. I wonder how come when Time doctored O.J.'s photo it was ok?

[BD]

It seems kind of ironic to me that defenders of the Bush administration are going nuts over photos that may be staged for propoganda purposes.
Tell me, wingers, has there yet been a single photo of Bush that hasn't been staged?

[happy talk]

Nice.
So because zen less dares to question your conspiracy theory you therefore 1) label him a supporter of false images (which makes no sense) and 2) accuse him of anti-Israel bias.

Its amazing to see how certain conservatives are becoming more and more like their liberal counterparts with each passing day.

[alan]

We're reaching, people. It's a prayer rug, not a wall hanging.

It doesn't strike me as out of the ordinary that it was picked off the ground and placed on the car as a matter of course.

Are these photographs timestamped? Or were they just taken at different points during the day. I.e., pre and post prayer.

I'm not getting my panties all bunched up over this.

"Nice.
So because zen less dares to question your conspiracy theory you therefore 1) label him a supporter of false images (which makes no sense) and 2) accuse him of anti-Israel bias.

Its amazing to see how certain conservatives are becoming more and more like their liberal counterparts with each passing day."

Translation
booohooo....booohhoooooo...he was just trying to defend Hizbo'allah and you automatically assume he is a jooo hater....booo hoooo

"It doesn't strike me as out of the ordinary that it was picked off the ground and placed on the car as a matter of course."

Translation:

So what if the WALL-HANGING was positioned to incite Islamic hate of Israel. So what? We already hate the jooos, so what? So what if we blow up our own children with suicide vests, they kill infidels, so what? So what if we teach are children to kill jooos, so what?

You can see the wall hanging in both photos of course. I have no clue which was taken first.

[benning]

I wish this was so unusual as to be a surprise. But it isn't. It's old hat for the Izlamist apologists in the MSM. AP is just slow off the mark.

Idiots!

[ROC]

THESE FAKE PHOTOS JUST GIVES NOTICE THAT "THINKING" PEOPLE SHOULD NO LONGER PURCHASE NEWSPAPERS IN ORDER TO
ASCERTAIN THE TRUE STORY..