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Will... that was my gut reaction to the film as well.
That aside... why would anyone be surprised *IF* something were being staged. For crying out loud, the US staged the "rescue" of Jessica Lynch, they staged the press conference in Gulf War I where the Kuwaiti minister's daughter claimed Iraqi soldiers were killing babies in a hospital...
My point here isn't to point a finger at the US. Rather it is to underscore the importance of Information in conflict. To be clear we should trust nothing we see in the media. Nothing.
Do you trust the casualty numbers given by the Palestinian authority? No. But here's the thing... I have no idea how far off they are...
Do you trust the numbers from major news organizations? I trust most of them to do their best to collect information in an unbiased manner. I can only trust that when (and if) they find out that they have been duped, they will come out with an explaination or apology.
What do you attribute the apparent acceptance at face value of these Palestinian faked incidents? As I see it, there were a number of camera crews on the ground. I don't know (because the film is vague on this) if there were any western reporters on the ground. Local corespondents and/or stringers would be looking for a news story to report to HQ. If they were on the scene and saw it being staged I would say they were corrupt and should be fired. However, if they were given footage from a "trusted" source and filed the story they are either lazy or too trusting.
The fact is many reporters won't go into area where there is likely to be fighting. They don't want to be shot.
You also have to add into this factors such as: deadline, slow news day, appetite for destruction and mayhem (if it bleeds it leads), etc.
New outlets are not purposeful in their spread of propaganda (from either side). They are now 24 hour machines that require immediate content. It is hardly surprising that these outlets, in an attempt to boost ratings and "get the scoop" on their competition are fed false information that makes it to air.
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"My hands are on fire. Hands are on fire. Ain't got no more time for all you charlatans and liars."
- Old Man Luedecke
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