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News :: Miscellaneous |
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CNN using 1991 videos of celebrating palestinians |
Current rating: 0 |
by Marcio via Joe Futrelle
Email: futrelle (nospam) shout.net (unverified!) |
14 Sep 2001
Modified: 15 Sep 2001 |
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The often-repeated footage of celebrating Palestinians being shown in the U.S. media is from 1991. Indymedia contributors are searching for tapes of the 1991 Gulf War coverage to prove it. |
I'd like to add some ideas from here, down south. There's an important point
in the power of press, specifically the power of CNN.
All around the world we are subjected to 3 or 4 huge news distributors, and
one of them - as you well know - is CNN. Very well, I guess all of you have
been seeing (just as I've been) images from this company. In particular, one
set of images called my attencion: the Palestinians celebrating the bombing,
out on the streets, eating some cake and making funny faces for the camera.
Well, THOSE IMAGES WERE SHOT BACK IN 1991!!! Those are images of
Palestinians celebrating the invasion of Kuwait! It's simply unacceptable
that a super-power of cumminications as CNN uses images which do not
correspond to the reality in talking about so serious an issue.
A teacher of mine, here in Brazil, has videotapes recorded in 1991, with the
very same images; he's been sending emails to CNN, Globo (the major TV
network in Brazil) and newspapers, denouncing what I myself classify as a
crime against the public opinion. If anyone of you has access to this kind
of files, serch for it. In the meanwhile, I'll try to 'put my hands' on a
copy of this tape.
But now, think for a moment about the impact of such images. Your people is
hurt, emotionally fragile, and this kind broadcast have very high
possibility of causing waves of anger and rage against Palestinians. It's
simply irresponsible to show images such as those.
Finally, I'd like to say that we all regret and condemn all that has
happened in the last days; but Nikos has a point here. I really don't want
to be misunderstood here, but the truth is that US government had shown no
respect for other countries in the last decades. In the 60s and 70s they had
halped lots of military coups throughout the world (including Brazil in 64).
Later, with Reagan and Bush Father, the Washington Consensus have been
demolishing the bases of our economies, making us more and more dependant
(and, many of us, prehocupied with this situation).
Your current president quickly made things worse: Kioto Protocol, Star Wars,
Colombia Plan, the exchange of rain forest for pieces of external debt, tha
abandonment of the position of third party in negotiations between IRA and
England, and between Palestinians and Israel. All those mistakes in US
external politics made your country more hatred than before, and, of course,
more vulnerable.
Listen, I'm NOT justifying the terrorist actions that took place in your
country; but it seems to me that, if your leaders had come along another
path of thoughts and actions, you wouldn't be suffering what you are now.
Best regards, and the hope that everything is resolved for the best of all
of us
Márcio A. V. Carvalho State University of Campinas - Brazil |
See also:
http://indymedia.org/front.php3?article_id=63288&group=webcast
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Maybe, Maybe Not |
by Mike Lehman
(No verified email address) |
Current rating: 0
15 Sep 2001
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There has been some discussion of this on IMC e-mail lists. It was noted that there has been some dispute about this:
"You might like to read this: Go to Counterpunch
(http://www.counterpunch.org)
and click on "Recycled Tape Charge Baseless"."
I want to note that the link provides a story that is simply CNN's denial that the charge is true. The only independent support for this position is the link to an article in The Jerusalem Post, which seems to be rather biased against the Palestinians itself.
This is not to say that the original charge is now true, but I don't think this proves that it wasn't true either.
I think the jury's still out on this one.
I think what is the more important part of this story, assuming the tape was NOT faked, is the fact that a news organization like CNN knows that those photographed only represent themselves, not the Palestinian people as a whole, but they chose to run the tape in such a way as to portray ALL Palestinians as feeling this way about the tragedy. That itself was sick and perverted and the issue of whether it was faked or not actually distracts from their distasteful and propagandistic decision to use the tape at all.
It is simply inflammatory at a time like this, not newsworthy without the story being written about in such a way as to moderate and explain that the images that television provides are simplifications that lead to hate crimes if not properly managed. This was a failure of the CNN editors to use proper discretion in this tense and uncertain time. |
