Saturday, September 2, 2006
Reuters just loves to do that Hizballah propaganda. Here they are legitimatizing the idea that Israel is "occupying" Shebaa Farms. Note the caption (same boiler-plate for a number of photos in the second sentence):
A U.N. armoured personnel carrier patrols in the disputed Shebaa Farms area as seen from south Lebanon August 31, 2006. The Israeli encampments, heavily defended and topped with aerials, loom over the villages bordering the disputed Shebaa Farms area, reminding the Lebanese they are under constant surveillance. Picture taken August 31, 2006. REUTERS/Ammar Awad (LEBANON)
Those poor Lebanese villagers. Of course, the only entity "disputing" Shebaa Farms at the moment is Hizballah. If the villagers are under threat of violence, that's who's presence it comes from, not hilltop listening posts. Don't bother expecting such nuance from Reuters, though. They're too busy encouraging the next war.
Here's one of those horrible "looming" sights:
A Lebanese soldier observes an Israeli position in the Shebaa hill while sitting in an armoured personnel carrier in the frontier Majidiyah village in the eastern sector of south Lebanon September 1, 2006. REUTERS/Karamallah Daher (LEBANON)
Do what thou wilt, oh Israel, but "loom" no longer...
That reminds me of about three years ago when two IDF soldiers climbed up a radio tower at one of these listening posts and were shot by snipers positioned inside Lebanon. There they dangled on their climbing belts and ropes. Too bad Israel didn't invade over that incident too like they invaded over the two hostages recently. That sends a bad message--kill two IDF soldiers and we won't invade, but take them hostage and we'll invade.
Reuters has long been the official PR Arm of anything and everything anti-Israel, so why should captions like this surprise you?