Tainted Photographs

I have come across a picture recently in a number of different locations. It purports to show a Palestinian child who is strapped to the hood of an Israeli jeep, presumably so that the child could be used as a human shield.

Some context is provided by a "witness":

Sheirman accounted on that the child was bewailing and shuddering of fear when the Israeli soldiers placed him in front of the jeep and tied him off to be a human shield. He added that he along with two peace activists were tied with the next military jeep

Sadly, the photographers apparently only felt that it was important to take a picture of the child, leaving Sheirman out of the public spotlight.

Obviously, some problems surface immediately:

1. The "restraints" presumably refer to the band on the child's upper left arm, since I can not see any other equipment in the picture that would do the job.


2. The boy is acting as a human shield for a smoking break


3. And neither of the first 2 points matters anyway, because the picture doesn't provide any context and could have easily been photo-shopped.

Wait, can photographs actually be faked in these days of digital photography? Some examples (from Snopes):

• John Kerry showing his big anti-war credentials


• Some silly 3rd world protestors.


• A satellite view of the big August blackout


• That stupid prez George Bush holding a book upside down.

Sometimes, the photo can be real, but the context can be falsified, such as this photo taken of a charging bull by a tourist in a heap of trouble. The picture is real, but the context is fake. Ditto for pictures of Hurricane Isabel, which sadly are not even pictures of a hurricane, go figure.

So, the question is, how can we determine, in this age of ubiquitous digital fakery, which photographs are legitimate? The answer is simple, we trust photographs that have substantiating proof or that are taken by verified news organizations such as Reuters or AP.

Previously, both major news sources have been happy to pick up pictures that painted Israel in an unfavourable light. The human shield picture would be especially powerful... if it was real. However, neither Reuters nor AP has carried the story. Some conspiracy theorists would believe that this is because the mainstream media is purposefully ignoring it.

The truth in this case is fairly obvious. The picture may or may not be a complete forgery. However, even if the picture is legitimate, the context is almost certainly faked. There is no corroborating evidence, no photos from a different angle or that provide a more complete view of the situation (such as the jeeps and the "protestors" in a single picture), and no legitimate source of verification.

It screams context-fakery.