Yesterday’s award for over-acting has to go to this palestinian protester, for this Linda Blair Exorcist impersonation.
An injured Palestinian is helped by foreign activists after clashes between demonstrators and Israeli border police officers erupted during a protest against Israel’s separation barrier in the West Bank village Naalin, near Modin, Thursday, Aug. 7, 2008. Israel says the barrier is necessary for security while Palestinians call it a land grab. (AP Photo/Muhammed Muheisen)
In case you are indignant that I would accuse this man of over-acting (or even acting for that matter), consider that there is not even one news story – not from the palestinian sources nor “human rights” organizations terror enablers such as the ISM – mentioning anyone injured at Naalin yesterday (see update below). And trust me, when a protester suffers as much as a scratch, they’re sure to mention it.
This is reinforced by the captions accompanying the other photos taken of this man.
Take this one from AFP/Getty Images:
Activists hold a comrade who was hurt during a scuffle with Israeli soldiers at a protest against the construction of Israel’s controversial separation barrier in the West Bank village of Nilin near Ramallah on August 7, 2008. Over the last four years the village of Nilin has been the scene of near daily demonstrations against Israel’s barrier of concrete and steel that cuts through parts of the West Bank. Israel says that the barrier is needed for its security, critics describe it as a land grab. Earlier in the week a young Palestinian boy was fatally shot in the back of the head at one such demonstration in the village.
A scuffle is a minor fight or altercation. You would not expect someone from a scuffle to emerge looking like Jim Morrison after a bad trip.
Now consider this next picture and caption from Reuters, in which the caption writer does not even make mention of any injury.
A Palestinian reacts during a protest against the construction of the controversial Israeli barrier in the West Bank village of Nilin near Ramallah August 7, 2008. REUTERS/Fadi Arouri (WEST BANK)
Yep, that’s some reaction.
Once again, proof that for the palestinians and the mainstream media, the whole world really is a stage.
Update: I have subsequently found a palestinian report claiming demonstrators were injured after being “showered with rubber-coated metal bullets and sound bombs.” However, I still smell a rat, especially considering Ma’an’s track record in unreliability, as well as the captions mentioned above.
Update: Commenter Ms Missive writes:
It looks more like an epileptic seizure which, in all seriousness, can be triggered by stressful situations.
Again, I am sure the palestinian media, as well as the likes of the ISM, would have reported such an occurrence had it occurred. And the caption writers from Reuters and AFP would not have written of a man merely “hurt during a scuffle” or “reacting.”
If I am proven wrong, I’ll retract my contention that this seems like an act. But until then, I stand by it.
Update: Soccer Dad raises a good point:
I thought something looked off about the picture. But notice something else. There’s a guy off to the left with a kerchief over his mouth standing around nonchalantly holding a water bottle. If there was a real emergency, I don’t think that’s the pose he’d likely have. Even if he weren’t among the throng attending to the eye-rolling guy, he’d be looking at them – not looking away.
