On Corpses and Cameras

August 4, 2006 - 2:12 PM by

Mobius observes astutely what I think is the bottom line on Qana — not the (valid) question of whether or not there was staging, but the whole issue of corpses and cameras:

I keep trying to hit home the point that this battle is being waged in the media. That being the case, it’s evident that Israel is losing on the media front. I think, frankly, that this is because Israel does not share with Hezbollah the “cultural ethic” (if you could call it that) of parading around dead children for cameras.

In Judaism it is prohibited to “derive benefit from the dead.” Hareidim, for example, riot when police attempt to carry out autopsies on Orthodox murder victims. Because of this tradition, most — but certainly not all — Jews have a cultural aversion to exploiting corpses for propaganda purposes (not the crazy right-wingers, for example). Thus, I am told by my friend Kitra, a photojournalist here, that photographers are reacted towards harshly by Israelis who tend to feel violated by the invasion of such emotional, tragic spaces. On the other hand, I recently learned that the Israeli propaganda engines, like the Jewish Agency for Israel and the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs, believe that images of dead Israelis embolden Israel’s enemies (a statement which is possibly true and/or possibly racist, depending on your paradigm) and that they therefore avoid displaying such images altogether.

Unfortunately for Israel, “if it bleeds, it leads” is the summation of modern journalistic ethics. Countless images of mangled Lebanese and Palestinian corpses are therefore scattered across newspapers, computer monitors and television screens, while few ever see the Israeli parallel. This is not because the media is necessarily biased, as some would like to suggest, but rather because these images are not pushed onto the press — neither by Israeli civilians nor PR strategists. The end result is, ultimately, the diminishing of Israeli suffering and the exultation of Lebanese and Palestinian suffering. This completely fucks Israel in the media arena.

I’m certainly not advocating that Israel start showing off corpses (it’s assur!), and I’m not necessarily condemning those who put the dead on display, because I think it’s necessary for people — Israelis in particular — to see the havok being wreaked upon Lebanon in strong graphic representation. It is nonetheless necrophilic. I don’t find it unfair to say that dead children are not display models and should not be treated as such. For a parent to be shown crying “Look at what’s happened to my child” is understandable, and I will join them in grieving. However, for a terrorist organization to take that body from one camera crew to another is unethical and exploitative.

Media consumers need to be aware of these complexities and their role in justifying such behavior.

Tags: • Category: A New Reality 

Comments

One Comment on On Corpses and Cameras

  1. yuyume on Fri, Aug 4th 2006 8:30 PM

    2. Having worked for many years as a press photographer i was often faced with that dilemma, not from a “pr” point of view, but simply out of respect for the families of the victims as well as the victims themselves, asking myself if they would have approved of the world seeing them “this way”, would they have been given the choice.

    I tended to be rather conservative in my approach, and so were many of my collegues.
    Decisions were not made during photographing itself, but afterwards in the editing stage.
    Although digitially fuzzing sensitive details is an option, i usually selected not to pass on the material or asked to photoeditor not to use it.
    I think many of my collegues did the same.
    Yet at the same time i recall the sheer power of being faced with difficult images, be it of e.g. the Mylay massacre or Sabra and Shatilla.

    It’s a question i suppse of “why”, carefully considering the weight of “letting the world know” (and perhaps change its ways) and respect for the victim and family.

    Similar questions can be asked about e.g. the Abu Ghraib torture scandal . Had people been told (without the images) about it, would the horror have been as big?
    The shocking image of the little girl on Gaza beach or Mohamad Aldura in his father’s arms?

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