In this France 2 scene, a young man who shows no obvious sign of injury, but might have hurt his hand, is manhandled by erstwhile ‘rescuers’ and possibly injured by them as they try to bundle him into a mis-cued ambulance for the benefit of the photographers. Following the original sequence as shot by Talal Abu Rahma is a replay of the footage, narrated by Richard Landes.
This performance is truly over-the-top. Note the long running jumps performed for effect and resolving into an acrobatic somersault, all performed for no apparent reason but to call the attention of cameramen and the traditional bevy of rescuers that characterize the staged scenes. Note the controlled roll, executed close to the ground. If the runner had been shot he would have either dropped like a sack or executed an uncontrolled face-plant. There is no blood whatsoever on the runner at ...
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The action in this scene is completely anti-climactic. A man bicycles lazily by in the foreground. A boy wanders by with a red knapsack. The “victim” bounds under his own power into the ambulance. A few people start towards the ambulance as they see the back door open, but the expected ‘action’ never seems to gather any momentum so everyone simply moves along. Nothing to see here. No one in the scene conveys any sense of imminent danger of being ...
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This footage is meant to show the evacuation of a man with a serious head injury, but it raises significant questions:
1) The “wound” does not produce anywhere near the amount of blood that would warrant the summons of an ambulance and the mad rush to evacuation.
2) Notice how the man with a head wound sits high and firm, rather than slumped.
3) The “rescuers” inexplicably rush the man back in front of the very Israeli position which is supposed to be ...
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All of the sound and fury in the previous clips starkly contrasts with the scene in this one, which shows what happens when someone suffers a genuine injury. Note the utter lack of commotion. No flurry of photojournalists. No crowd trying to ‘get in on the action’. Here, the blood on the inner right thigh from the lower body wound is obvious at the end of the clip as the injured man is loaded on a stretcher.. The limpness of ...
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Directly in front of the Israeli position, a swarm of young men -who all seem completely unafraid of being shot by the Israelis -summon a host of cameramen and a U.N ambulance as they rush to “evacuate” another young man.
The “rescuers” unceremoniously bowl over the evacuee in their exuberance – but pick him up and succeed in bundling him into the ambulance. Note how the evacuee raises his hand high for the camera, with his index finger pointed upward throughout ...
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This footage was shot by a Reuters cameraman situated behind the Al-Durahs by the barrel. It shows the broader context to Abu Rahma’s limited focus when filming the Al Durahs as they sit behind the barrel.
We can hear gunfire in the background but it does not seem to be coming from the Israeli position judging from the behavior of people exposed to the Israelis. Gazans milling around directly in front of the Israeli post without apparent concern for their safety. ...
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This footage was shot by an AP cameraman situated even further behind the Al-Durahs than the Reuters cameraman (wearing a white and yellow “press” vest) who shot the footage in the previous clip. Also behind the barrel is the fellow we saw ducking behind the Al Durahs near the barrel in the previous clip.
This makes a total of 5 people behind the barrel – at least 3 of whom would be exposed to Israeli fire – if the Israelis were ...
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This extended AP footage ties together the scenes captured in other clips analyzed here. In this footage, we hear what sound like exchanges of fire. Indeed, this AP segment is entitled “Gaza: Gun Battle”. But do we have reason to believe this footage contains newsworthy images of conflict or confirmation that most of the scenes here were staged for the camera?