Milking the Mural
One mural, two foreign press photographers with an eye for propaganda.
The AP’s Mohammed Ballas decided to go for the “angry palestinian boy driven to violence” angle:
I am not sure if it was intentional or not, but the boy is kicking the weapon of the IDF soldier depicted in the mural, and not at any of the soldier’s body parts, suggesting the boy is being careful not to hurt the “soldier.”
In contrast, the AFP’s Saif Dahlah went for the “palestinian boy just minding his business” route.
Again, perhaps it is a coincidence (perhaps not), but the boy just happens to be positioned in a way that it looks like the IDF “soldier” is about to strike him with his weapon.
You see what I’m getting at here?
By the way, what would make it an even more obvious case of staged photography is if the boy depicted in both these photos was the same boy (think Green Helmet Guy, or, in this case, White Cap Boy). While both are wearing what seems to be identical pants and a white cap, it is hard to tell from the facial features whether he is one and the same.
An Australian immigrant to Israel, Aussie Dave has been blogging since early 2003.
