Saudi, Hungarian defense ministers discuss military ties    Al-Rajhi: Cabinet's decision is supportive to most vulnerable groups    King Salman appoints Dr. Majid Al-Fayyad as Royal Court advisor    Alkhorayef emphasizes Saudi Arabia's growing role as global industrial investment hub    Saudi Arabia adopts World Drowning Prevention Day as national health priority    GACA imposes SR2.8 million in fines for 87 civil aviation violations in Q2 2025    Desperate Gaza doctors cram several babies into one incubator as fuel crisis reaches critical point    ICC issues arrest warrants for Taliban leaders over women's rights violations    Syria issues appeal to EU for help battling massive wildfires along northwestern coast    Total e-messages sent to parties in lawsuits reach over 11.8 million during first half of 2025    3 arrested in assault case in Riyadh    New Property Ownership Law will take into effect in January 2026 Al-Hogail thanks King and Crown Prince for the updated law    HONOR returns to Esports World Cup as Official Smartphone Partner for 2025 The renewed commitment will see HONOR elevate mobile esports competition with cutting-edge AI technologies and industry-leading hardware    Riot Games responds to match-fixing allegations in VALORANT    BLAST responds to BESTIA Visa controversy ahead of CS2 Austin major    Christophe Galtier named NEOM SC head coach ahead of historic Saudi Pro League debut    Michael Madsen, actor of 'Kill Bill' and 'Reservoir Dogs' fame, dead at 67    BTS are back: K-pop band confirm new album and tour    Michelin Guide launches in Saudi Arabia with phased rollout in 2025    'How fragile we are': Roskilde Festival tragedy remembered 25 years on    Sholay: Bollywood epic roars back to big screen after 50 years with new ending    Ministry launches online booking for slaughterhouses on eve of Eid Al-Adha    Shah Rukh Khan makes Met Gala debut in Sabyasachi    Pakistani star's Bollywood return excites fans and riles far right    Exotic Taif Roses Simulation Performed at Taif Rose Festival    Asian shares mixed Tuesday    Weather Forecast for Tuesday    Saudi Tourism Authority Participates in Arabian Travel Market Exhibition in Dubai    Minister of Industry Announces 50 Investment Opportunities Worth over SAR 96 Billion in Machinery, Equipment Sector    HRH Crown Prince Offers Condolences to Crown Prince of Kuwait on Death of Sheikh Fawaz Salman Abdullah Al-Ali Al-Malek Al-Sabah    HRH Crown Prince Congratulates Santiago Peña on Winning Presidential Election in Paraguay    SDAIA Launches 1st Phase of 'Elevate Program' to Train 1,000 Women on Data, AI    41 Saudi Citizens and 171 Others from Brotherly and Friendly Countries Arrive in Saudi Arabia from Sudan    Saudi Arabia Hosts 1st Meeting of Arab Authorities Controlling Medicines    General Directorate of Narcotics Control Foils Attempt to Smuggle over 5 Million Amphetamine Pills    NAVI Javelins Crowned as Champions of Women's Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) Competitions    Saudi Karate Team Wins Four Medals in World Youth League Championship    Third Edition of FIFA Forward Program Kicks off in Riyadh    Evacuated from Sudan, 187 Nationals from Several Countries Arrive in Jeddah    SPA Documents Thajjud Prayer at Prophet's Mosque in Madinah    SFDA Recommends to Test Blood Sugar at Home Two or Three Hours after Meals    SFDA Offers Various Recommendations for Safe Food Frying    SFDA Provides Five Tips for Using Home Blood Pressure Monitor    SFDA: Instant Soup Contains Large Amounts of Salt    Mawani: New shipping service to connect Jubail Commercial Port to 11 global ports    Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Delivers Speech to Pilgrims, Citizens, Residents and Muslims around the World    Sheikh Al-Issa in Arafah's Sermon: Allaah Blessed You by Making It Easy for You to Carry out This Obligation. Thus, Ensure Following the Guidance of Your Prophet    Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques addresses citizens and all Muslims on the occasion of the Holy month of Ramadan    







Thank you for reporting!
This image will be automatically disabled when it gets reported by several people.



Images that haunt
Published in The Saudi Gazette on 05 - 09 - 2015

Two pictures of two Arab children went viral this week. The Syrian toddler whose lifeless body washed up on the shores of a Greek island after an attempt by his family to flee their war-torn country and that of an 11-year-old Palestinian struggling to free himself from the headlock of an Israeli soldier have stopped people dead in their tracks.
Three-year-old Aylan Kurdi was one of 12 Syrian refugees who drowned while trying to reach Greece and one of more than 2,600 people who have died trying to cross the Mediterranean to Europe this year alone.
But it was a picture of Kurdi's tiny body washed up alone on the shore that has caused particular outrage. It shook social media and outraged leaders because it shouldn't have happened.
Kurdi and his family wanted what anyone else does - what hundreds of thousands of people fleeing violence, who have flooded Europe want - a safe home.
What Aylan got instead was death at sea. It is the hope of many that the images of the boy lying on the beach and his limp body being scooped up by a rescue worker can be a turning point in the debate over how to handle the surge of refugees and migrants heading to Europe, although sadly, the migrant and refugee crisis shows no signs of abating.
The other picture speaks of a much older crisis. For a few years now, Palestinians in the West Bank village of Nabi Saleh have held a weekly demonstration to protest the Israeli occupation that has confiscated village land for a nearby Israeli settlement.
These protests don't usually make international news. But a camera in Nabi Saleh captured the panicked screams and gasps of 11-year-old Mohammed Tamimi held in a headlock by a soldier who claimed the boy was throwing stones at his comrades.
It was all caught on camera by the press who had attended the protest. The result was a video of an IDF soldier placing the child, his arm in a cast, in a chokehold, holding a gun near his head, and then sitting on him as he screamed in fear and pain.
Because the video is so brutal, yet so very typical of the daily norms of the occupation, it has taken on a symbolic quality. And as with everything in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, there are two narratives to this video.
The Israeli version is that it shows an Israeli soldier being attacked by a mob of angry Palestinians trying to free Tamimi. The Palestinian story is that it shows an Israeli soldier brutalizing a Palestinian child.
It is difficult to imagine how this soldier's treatment of the boy is even remotely justifiable. This is a story in which cruel and inhumane Israelis are so committed to forcibly maintaining their occupation of Palestinian land that they will attack even children.
The repetition of the thousands upon thousands of images of the nearly 70-year-old Israeli occupation has probably desensitized viewers.
Photos of the recent migration explosion, if it lasts long enough, may do the same. Pictures of these crises become such a common sight in the media that they are hardly noticed.
Unfortunately, it takes something truly out of the ordinary – usually something to do with human suffering - to grab our attention.
Aylan and Mohammed are distressing casualties of war and upheaval and images of them convey raw emotion and highlight the politics of neglect of the world. The children are small but they are the biggest indictment of our collective failure.


Clic here to read the story from its source.