Information Warfare: Staging Atrocities Works

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October 25, 2010: Staging atrocities has become a Palestinian specialty. For example, a striking photo recently appeared worldwide, showing a Palestinian boy being hit by an automobile. The accompanying story described the two boys as having thrown stones at the car (driven by an Israeli), which then ran them down. The boys were injured, and four other photos were made available showing concerned adults tending to the injured boys. What was not reported was that the incident was staged.

Some twenty rock throwers had stationed themselves along a road near Jerusalem, known to be used by Israelis, along with a news photographer ready to make a few bucks if something really interesting took place. An Israeli car did come along, and the Palestinian men and teenagers surrounded the vehicle, throwing rocks. Glass in the vehicle was shattered and the driver tried to drive away, but the Palestinians wouldn't make way. The driver hit the gas and drove down the least crowded part of the road, hitting the two kids. In a way, everybody won. The driver got away alive, the two kids became heroes, the photographer made some money, and the media had a great photo. The only victim here was the truth.

All this is nothing new. The Palestinians long ago learned how to deceive the Western media, portraying themselves as victims rather than ruthless terrorists. The most useful Palestinian tactic was the staged "atrocity" or "funeral." For the staged atrocity, they would escort Western reporters (or just use their own cameramen and reporters) to a carefully prepared site where "innocent civilians" had been killed or wounded by an "Israeli attack." Dead bodies, and real or fake "wounded civilians" would be available, as were victims fluent enough in English to give a heart wrenching (and well rehearsed) account of the tragedy. These events eventually became so blatant and obvious that the deceptions were quickly (thanks to the Internet) picked apart, and more (but not all) editors became wary of running this stuff without some assurance that it was real.

Same deal with the funerals, although these were unmasked via a famous Israeli UAV video, showing mourners approaching, with the deceased on a stretcher, held at shoulder height. Suddenly, one of those carrying the stretcher stumbles, and the "body" tumbles to the ground. The body then gets up and lays back down on the stretcher, which is again raised to shoulder height and the funeral procession resumes its sad, but newsworthy, journey to the waiting reporters.

Palestinian organizations also find that they can get unfavorable (to their cause) videos on sites like YouTube removed by just complaining to YouTube management. These videos are often, but not always, restored after someone points out to YouTube that they have been played by terrorist supporters.

 

 

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