PhotoDude.com

Tue. Aug 27, 2002

Palestinian Photo Bans

Palestinian Photo Bans – We’ve been here before, last September. When Palestinian behavior makes them look really bad, they don’t try to change the behavior, they try to censor the coverage of it: "The Palestinian journalists union declared on Monday that news photographers are ’absolutely forbidden’ from talking pictures of Palestinian children carrying weapons or taking part in activities by militant groups, saying that the pictures harm the Palestinian cause [...] ’We have decided to forbid taking any footage of armed children, because we consider that as a clear violation of the rights of children and for negative effects these pictures have on the Palestinian people.’ "

The pictures do indeed harm the Palestinian cause. There is no doubt about a clear violation of the rights of the children. But photographers aren’t creating that harm, they’re not the ones violating the children’s rights, they are documenting those who do: Palestinians.

"Journalists were also banned from photographing masked men." What’s next, ”journalists are banned from shooting using available light or strobe”? Don’t the Palestinians even realize how foolish they look, trying to create some fantasy land in which they can say, ”hey, stop taking pictures of those masked men with rocket propelled grenade launchers, those three year olds with suicide bomb belts, and those 10 year olds firing AK-47’s, what are you trying to do, MAKE US LOOK BAD?!?”

No, they’re trying to show the facts, and how badly your cause has lost its wheels. Thanks for helping by issuing these demands.