Sabra and Chatilla

Palestinian Souad Srour al-Mereh, one of the survivors of the Sabra

and Chatilla massacres in Lebanon, leaves the Palace of Justice in

Brussels, Wednesday, June 26, 2002. A special Belgian court in

Brussels ruled Wednesday that the complaint against Prime Minister

Arial Sharon for his alleged role in the 1982 massacre at the Sabra

and Chatilla refugee camps was inadmissible.

a very intense shot.

You keep pushing your anti-Semitic and pro-Arab propaganda on Photonet.Why don't you show us some pictures relating to the thousands of Israelis killed by Arab terrorists in recent years? or all the crimes of the Belgians in Congo? Or the six million Jews murdered in Europe in World war 2? Journalist are supposed to be objective but you are clearly not so.

Excellent and right to the point as usual Geert. As you see from the number and the content of the comments, your photos never pass unnoticed.

BTW, don't show any photos from the Holocaust. I won't believe you shot them ;-).

Dear Diggy Dog, It looks like you've seen the devil in my pics. I think I posted 3 pro palestinian pix and 2 pro israeli pix on photonet untill now. You interpret my journalistic and documentary pix as propaganda and that's your good right, but calling my pix anti Semitic is a bit over the top I think. As a journalist I try to shoot what I see without manipulating anything else but my camera. I'm a neutral person, I'm not against Jews, I'm not against Palestinians, but if you really want to know my personal idea...I'm against both the Israeli and Palestinian leader, they make it s*ck....Dear Diggy Dog, I don't care you write a political comment under my pix, I even like it, but you should not call me anti Semitic or a Palestinian propagandist.

What your comment about the belgians in Congo or the Germans in 40-45 did, I can only say I'm sorry for that, it was very wrong, it should never happen again, but I wasn't born in that time so don't ask me to post pix of these drama scenes or to feel guilty about. Maybe you should take a look at my 'Israeli propaganda' pix in my portfolio, I'm sure you will like those :-) Best Geert

Dog, I would show pictures of israeli victims if I would be able to work as a journalist in Israel, but the government does everything to make it hard for a "belgian" journalist to get the required press documents...talking about freedom of press, huh.

as an israeli these pictures (the anti israel ones) generate very strong feelings for me too, but i look beyond that, and would never hold anything against the photographer of these pictures, he just brings a piece of current events to the table. i am glad you added the pro israeli pics too, but you didn't HAVE to. it's a beautiful thing this thing we call "freedom of speech/expression".

excellent work, great portfolio. now go take some more pro israel pictures ;). just kidding.

I see you got one of my pics in your 'highest rated' list. 7/6 for a Jewish woman waving the israeli flag. imo That pic has got the same aesthetic and technical quality like this one you rate 1/1. If you don't agree with the pics story, you should write what you think. If you like the pic because you think it's nice and beautiful you should rate. Best Geert

Roy, thanks for your comment.

Hi Geert, I find your Request for Critique comment at the start of this thread completely neutral and a simple statement of fact about how the photograph came about.

 

To me your pictures honestly reflect the world as it is today and have the journalistic integrity that many others should try to emulate.

 

Alas too many photographs here seem to be commented on and rated in favour of the viewers politics. I have received comments insinuating that I am anti-American in some way simply because I have only posted an anti-war march at the moment (interesting as my wife is 1/2 English, 1/2 Canadian). I suspect the same kind of response when I cover some of the pro/anti hunt marches soon.

 

I look forward to seeing more of the world through your viewfinder in addition to my own ... Tony

 

 

When i first saw this photo, i could not hold my feelings and the low rating was my way of "quiet protest". I am

sorry about it. I know that you are doing your job but i dont

think that this is the place to publish it.

I really think that you are a great photographer.

Your portfolio is very impressive and you have sensitivity

to people and nature but to me this photo is about hate.

We all here because our love to photography. It is great to learn and share and to be inspired from others. Critique can be constructive and make you better.Keep making great photos but be aware to the power some of them have...

Hi Tami,

 

As you have felt the emotion that this "photo is about hate", then maybe this is an even better reason for us to share it. Each person seeing a photo will hopefully feel an emotion based upon their own experiences.

 

If a photographer is to decide weather to publish or not based on the emotion of a picture then he/she is censoring the same as many authorities do to hide what is happening.

 

Many people love the works of Robert Capa (myself included), he was driven firstly by the hatred of fascists and later by his love of photography. Yet he has become an icon for war photography.

 

I hope you don't feel that I am "having a go at you", because I'm not. To me reportage photography is trying to reflect and record what is happening in a world which isn't really a very nice one, but could be if we all really wanted it to be. Publishing our art is the only way to show the world how it is and not what we are selectively told.

 

Geert I hope you don't mind my reply on your thread.

 

Tony

 

Tony, you said almost everything I wanted to say on Tami's comment. Tami, I just want to add that a press pic can be seen as any other photo on photonet. You perfectly can discuss the light, composition and emotion. Sure, I understand this kind of pic can be very emotional for some people, but that's no reason for me not to publish it. I really do understand how hard it must be to live with a daily terrorist treat, but it's not my job to find a solution for the middle east conflict, that's the job of politicians. My job is making a pic of people involved in a news story. I really hope there fast will be a solution bringing real peace for the Israeli and Palestinian people and not just the 50th roadmap, attacks and high walls. Thanks, for your comments. Best Geert

Unfortunate distortion... but great mood. Nice use of the poster to add impact and explaination to the shot

I try to understand you but it is not easy for me: press photos canot be objective. They always show one side of the story. This is the main difference between them and a drop of water, for example.

 

I can publish here a picture of a 4 years old boy that had lost his parents in a a terror attack but i will never do it. not here. I can catch an expression on his face that will shock everyone, but again, not here.

 

Let's hope for a better future in which we can show the beauty side in our world without violence, fear and hate.

I think that you understand me better now..

Tami, I faced so many people all over the world with different expressions and reasons for those expressions that they only personally hurt when they come from the few people I really love. So I really do understand your reason why you never will post a pic of the 4 year old boy who lost his parents because it looks to me you know his murdered parents. I'm sorry for that, I mean it.

But for newspix you should face it the other side. If there's an hostage taking in a theater in Russia, you also want to see some pix in your daily newspaper about that "breaking news". Facing the far away from home misery doesn't hurt that much as the close to home misery. Tami, don't understand me wrong, but presspix will always be kind of propaganda, but I do my very best to report in a pure and objective way.

Hello Geert,

 

I admire your photographs and this is no exception. You have managed to capture a striking composition and a powerful moment in the conrasting expressions of the two women.

 

Having said that, I can't help but be frustrated by the political message of this tableau (I'm not blaming you for this, of course, you managed to capture it beautifully, but it's something you saw, not a staging you created.)

 

What frustrates me is the self-destructive reality of Palestinian efforts like this. If they had focused their efforts into creating a workable society, one with law and order and justice, they would have had a state long ago. Instead, they, and the corrupt Arab governments in the region (I'm excepting Jordan here) continue in a fantasy of blaming everyone but themselves for their problems.

 

In this particular case, a jury trial in the US two decades ago against Time magazine (over an article by an Israeli reporter!) pretty much settled that PM Sharon had never directed the massacre at Sabra/Shatilla, nor did he even know about it while it was in progress.

 

I'm tired of hearing Palestinian and other Arab spokesman blame Sharon and "the proxies of Israel" for this attrocity. Who *were* these "proxies?" South Africans? Bolivians? Fijians? No! They were Lebanese ARABS who ruthlessless slaughtered other Arabs. Somehow, that fact is always "forgotten."

 

Believe me, I don't make these accusations against the Arab world lightly, nor do I make them out of hate, but rather love. In the Torah, it records that Isaac and Ishmael came together, after years of living apart, in order, together, to bury their father Abraham/Ibrahim. The world today is depsarately in need of repair, and as part of that, Jews and Arabs must once again come together to heal the rift between them.

 

That explains the frustration I feel when I look at this photo. Blame Sharon. Blame Barak. Blame Natanyahu. Blame Peres. Blame Rabin....

 

Brothers! You need to look inward to find the source of your problems!

 

Best regards,

SteveR

 

Steve Rosenbach

 

Stephen, I fully agree with your point the Palestinians could have had a land long ago if they had a decent leader and laws. But they don't. To be honest, I don't know and understand enough about the middle east conflict to make a fair and balanced statement on that but I just feel bad by the fact the average Israeli and Palestine man/woman can't do much about it and suffer every day. In general, fanatic movements, groups or governments don't bring solutions but blood. Thank you for your friendly and intelligent words. All the best, Geert

Een foto met veel betekenis...

fantastisch!

There is a common confusion - fueled in part by israeli propaganda - that anti israelism (or anti sharon, or anti-whatever you want that relates to Israel) is anti semitism.

 

Not only I don't agree with this confusion, I find it dangerous, especially for israelis and jews!

 

I do hate Sharon, I do believe he's an assassin (and I don't need to go into the past for this, suffice it to look at what goes on today in the occupied territories).

 

I'm not anti semitic. I'm israeli.

 

BTW, this is a good picture.

Ilan, i think you should keep your political opinions to yourself,either that or just move to gaza and write to us from there.. thank you.

Roy, why do you think I shouldn't express my political opinions? Why do you think then that yours are worth expressing, as it seems you do express them in your answer?

 

Assuming "stupidity", the title of your comment, summarizes what you think of mine, I'm sorry to admit that your comment didn't contain enough information to help me understand how this opinion of yours was formed.

 

Maybe my comment wasn't clear enough? You seem to say that if I repost it from Gaza it would be easier for you to understand. Is it so?

A great picture, powerful and worthy of being shown.