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Friday, June 22, 2007

No photos of Bilin when Israelis get injured

Like clockwork, every Friday for many months, a crowd of demonstrators gather in Bilin to protest Israel's defensive barrier. every Friday, photographers show up en masse to try to take pictures of Israeli soldiers doing anything that can be construed as oppressing them:


Israeli border police shoot tear gas canisters at Palestinian demonstrators during a protest against Israel's controversial separation barrier near the West Bank village of Bilin May 25, 2007.

Tear gas grenades explode in front of a line of Israeli troops, partly obscured, during a protest against Israel's controversial barrier near the West Bank village of Bilin, June 1, 2007.

Demonstrators run away from tear gas canisters during a protest against Israel's controversial barrier near the West Bank village of Bilin June 8, 2007.

But on June 8, an unusual picture was taken:

A Palestinian demonstrator throws a stone at Israeli troops during a protest against Israel's controversial barrier near the West Bank village of Bilin June 8, 2007.

This is hardly "throwing a stone. " This is shooting a projectile that could be potentially deadly.

For some reason, this is the last Reuters Bilin photo I can find in Yahoo's archives. Nothing from last Friday nor today.

Yet today, according to PalToday, there was a not-quite non-violent incident today:
Israeli officer injured by stones demonstrators protesting against the wall in the village Blain
2007-06-22 16:47:45
An Israeli soldier injured at a "non-violent" protest - and no photographs?

Did the photographers stop coming, or did they just want to keep the narrative of a non-violent protest against heavily armed Israeli soldiers intact?