This post follows up on last night's NewsBusters post ("They Never Learn: CNN Withdraws Apparently Faked Video of CPR Attempt on 'Dead' Palestinian Child").
CNN has reposted a video it withdrew yesterday. That video purports to show the death and hasty burial of a cameraman's 12 year-old younger brother, one of two children allegedly killed on the roof of their home in rocket fire from an Israeli drone.
Charles Johnson of Little Green Footballs, Ed Morrissey at Hot Air, Bob Owens of Confederate Yankee, and several NB commenters yesterday all questioned the credibility of the video. Johnson, Owens, and Morrissey still believe it was staged.
Here are some excerpts from CNN's explanation for re-posting the video, and why it believes it to be genuine (the video itself is here):
There's no truth to accusations by bloggers that a Palestinian camera crew staged a video showing the death of the videographer's brother after an Israeli rocket attack, said the team's employer.
"It's absolute nonsense," Paul Martin, co-owner of World News and Features, said of accusations leveled by bloggers at videographer Ashraf Mashharawi.
"He's a man of enormous integrity and would never get involved with any sort of manipulation of images, let alone when the person dying is his own brother," Martin said. "I know the whole family. I know them very well. ... [Mashharawi] is upset and angry that anyone would think of him having done anything like this. ... This is ridiculous. He's independent."
Raafat Hamdouna, administrative director at Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, said Friday that "Mahmoud Khalil Mashharawi, a 12-year-old, was brought to the hospital, and he was breathing, but he was hit in the head and all over his body by shrapnel. He died later in the hospital. He was treated by the Norwegian team. When he was brought in, he was breathing. The team did their best to save him. I am not really sure if they even tried to rush him to the surgery room, because he was badly hurt."
..... In a brief conversation with CNN, Mashharawi said that doctors tried everything they could to save his brother and that he rejected suggestions that any of his work was inauthentic.
Before bloggers made their accusations, Mashharawi told CNN, "I believed at that moment if I didn't record that nobody will believe what's happened to my brother. Because it is unbelievable. Until now, I can't believe what's happened."
Johnson at LGF isn't impressed:
If they really had “little hope” the patient could be saved, they’d be going all out with CPR, which means very vigorous chest compression (it’s not unusual to break ribs if it’s done right), and ventilation to oxygenate the blood—not delicately touching the boy’s abdomen with the tips of their fingers as we see in that video.
Morrissey isn't either:
It’s not only a fake, it’s an absurd fake. It’s not even done well, and Gilbert’s dramatic headshake at the end of the supposed CPR — in which Doctor #2’s hands keep coming off the body — is only the cheesy coup de grace. Why did CNN republish this?
..... Maybe Martin can explain how a missile hits a roof and kills two boys but does no more damage to the roof than what a pickaxe could do in five minutes — and how the furniture didn’t get disturbed.
Here's a bit from Owens's post:
CNN has also yet to explain what kind of Israeli drone could have fired the purported missile, and what kind of missile would cause the minimal damage shown on the rooftop where it is claimed these boys are killed.
Me? I'm just cynical enough to believe that CNN spent the past 24 hours making sure that there was no one on the inside in Gaza who could directly refute a claim that the video was legitimate.
Also, note the non-denial denial in the text accompanying the video:
The cameraman isn't accused of "manipulating images." He and others are accused of staging the video.
Cross-posted at BizzyBlog.com.
—Tom Blumer is president of a training and development company in Mason, Ohio, and is a contributing editor to NewsBusters




















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Comments Policy
NOT CPR
January 9, 2009 - 23:49 ET by NorthCoasterI train people to perform CPR. The Individual in the video is not performing CPR. It looks like he is bouncing the body from the side with his hands while standing below the childs waist. He certainly is not putting enough pressure in the right place from over top and to the side of the child, to effectively perform the resuscitation.
If you watch the film, notice how you never see the face of the child. The adults are blocking any good view of the body in the first shots and later the head is facing away and the torso and limbs are wrapped in a shroud.
The child may very well be dead, but this video does not show an attempt to rescuscitate.
That is one ruddy faced
January 10, 2009 - 00:01 ET by BDThat is one ruddy faced dead body they are hauling around. Dead bodies turn pale, a condition that is called cyanotic where the lips and other portions turn a slight shade of blue. It is a condition we are taught to look for in Combat Lifesaver Course and is a telltale condition of someone who requires CPR.
By the way, that was a comical CPR example. What were they chest compressing, an infant?
I Once again wonder if we asked DR Mads Gilbert to produce the body, if poor young Mahmoud would mysteriously get two 7.62mm in the chest....
Phony as a Bill Clinton apology....
January 10, 2009 - 10:34 ET by bpjamThe camera never puts the kid in frame. The Norwegian doctor never even bothers to look at the kid because he is so busy looking around the room and at the cameraman.
But Hamas never apologized for the guy who fell out of the casket they were parading down the street during the last intifada (who then scrambled to his feet and had to jump back into the coffin). Hamas never apologized for the '12 year old boy who was shot hiding behind his father' who turned out to still be alive and there turned out not to be any Israelis shooting at him.
But considering the medias normal biases, this isn't much different than the Trig-is-not-her-son stories. The MSM will report stories which they agree with and create the ones which can't be found to be real.
Tom, These people should
January 9, 2009 - 23:54 ET by Clear thinkerTom,
These people should listen to this woman. This is NOT a joke!...The Most Heroic Woman On Earth
Making Fun of AGW http://giovanniworld.wordpress.com/
The link to the video at
January 10, 2009 - 00:05 ET by Mean Gene Dr. LoveThe link to the video at Giovanni's World doesn't work. Do you have any cross-links for it?
"An armed society is a polite society. Manners are good when one may have to back up his acts with his life." --Robert A. Heinlein, "Beyond This Horizon," 1942
Oh,oh... they must have
January 10, 2009 - 00:09 ET by Clear thinkerOh,oh... they must have pulled it down. Will check it out.
The Most Heroic Woman On Earth
Making Fun of AGW http://giovanniworld.wordpress.com/
Mean Gene... I just
January 10, 2009 - 00:14 ET by Clear thinkerMean Gene...
I just checked (that's my site by the way) and it's working for me. It could be that you just need to try again. That post has been getting major traffic since I posted it, so the vid may have had too many people trying to view at once.
Sorry but I don't have any other places for it. I will ask my west coast editor where she got it. Will let you know if I find anything.
The Most Heroic Woman On Earth
Making Fun of AGW http://giovanniworld.wordpress.com/
It's still not working
January 10, 2009 - 00:25 ET by Mean Gene Dr. LoveIt's still not working for me...it may be because I am in Korea. The Korean government blocks things sometimes.
"An armed society is a polite society. Manners are good when one may have to back up his acts with his life." --Robert A. Heinlein, "Beyond This Horizon," 1942
That may very well be your
January 10, 2009 - 00:40 ET by Clear thinkerThat may very well be your problem. So far you are the only one tonight that has had that problem.
The Most Heroic Woman On Earth
Making Fun of AGW http://giovanniworld.wordpress.com/
I could not get it to work
January 10, 2009 - 00:49 ET by general companyOn my Mac, but it did just fine on my PC?
"Television is a freak show" Bernie Goldberg
Where in Korea? I have
January 10, 2009 - 01:09 ET by BDWhere in Korea?
I have been stationed at CRC, Osan AFB, Yongsan, and done time at a few other places in between.
Right now I could go for an order of some really good Yaki-Mandu.
I'm at Kunsan AB, for the
January 10, 2009 - 03:57 ET by Mean Gene Dr. LoveI'm at Kunsan AB, for the 2nd time in 10 years.
"An armed society is a polite society. Manners are good when one may have to back up his acts with his life." --Robert A. Heinlein, "Beyond This Horizon," 1942
Ah, a member of the
January 10, 2009 - 09:20 ET by BDAh, a member of the "Wolfpack!"
Well, take care...
Mandu! I miss mandu! And
January 10, 2009 - 07:45 ET by GrannyGrump42Mandu! I miss mandu! And shabu-shabu. And galbi.
Now I'm homesick AND hungry!
Yeah, and a big old bowl of
January 10, 2009 - 09:22 ET by BDYeah, and a big old bowl of Chop-Chae to top it off....
Anything but Kimchee....
Clear thinker
January 10, 2009 - 00:34 ET by thebutlerdiditAmazing! Thanks for the great link. This woman is great. she is also brave, very brave. I hope those nuts don't try to kill her, they probably want to shut her up fast. She tells the truth about them, and they don't like that, now do they? CNN is such a joke. Unfortunately, it's a sad joke.
WOW!
January 10, 2009 - 01:08 ET by MichelleCJust WOW! Thanks, Clear, for sharing this video. She sums up the situation perfectly. I sincerely hope that woman has security with her at all times.
Republicans believe every day is the 4th of July. Democrats believe every day is April 15th ~ Ronald Reagan
When CNN as well as the
January 9, 2009 - 23:58 ET by kgWhen CNN as well as the other Democrats in the media want something to be true they will report it as fact even if they do not know the facts and at times when they know it is nothing but lies just so they can push their agenda.
"Forget change, I want improvement!"
KG---this is exactly what
January 10, 2009 - 09:06 ET by celatorKG---this is exactly what was going through my mind, also. The story, while provably false, was so juicy that CNN had to use it to prop up their point of view.
Truth? Naw. Truth is a nuisance at CNN.
For liberal Democrats and the MSM, everything is crisis, chaos, calamity and catastrophe. And only the government has the solution.
Maybe I wasn't destined to
January 9, 2009 - 23:59 ET by Mean Gene Dr. LoveMaybe I wasn't destined to be a freelance cameraman, but if my younger brother was in a tragic accident or "attack" the last thing I would be worried about is documenting everything on film. I've never been in a foriegn emergency room, but there seemed to be a lot of non-essential people milling about in the ER.
Even if it wasn't a fake, it is clearly propaganda, CNN should be ashamed of distributing propaganda...doesn't that violate objectivity?
"An armed society is a polite society. Manners are good when one may have to back up his acts with his life." --Robert A. Heinlein, "Beyond This Horizon," 1942
Yeah, that is his younger
January 10, 2009 - 00:03 ET by BDYeah, that is his younger brother, but he films in such a way to keep the camera from the boys body and face? Huh?
If I were him I would be watching the brother-perhaps through the camera but likely not.
It is Pallywood again... I wonder if Green helmut guy orchestrated this one for them.
Whether it is true or not is not the point.
January 10, 2009 - 00:03 ET by superconSome time somewhere a child has died in Gaza and in that sense the video is true.Maybe that particular video wasn't exactly accurate but it is a depiction of the truth when it does happen.
If it saves the life of one child then it is worth it.
The MSM will no longer be content to stand along the sidelines when they can be right in the middle of the action making things happen.They don't need everyone to believe them. They only need 52% to believe them.
supercon... Could you
January 10, 2009 - 00:07 ET by Clear thinkersupercon...
Could you splain your post just a wee bit?
The Most Heroic Woman On Earth
Making Fun of AGW http://giovanniworld.wordpress.com/
Clear,
January 10, 2009 - 00:16 ET by RESTLESS 1I had the same reaction, but upon seeing that it was supercon, I assumed there was some sarcasm involved. I am hoping that he is simply pointing out what the "excuse" will be for re-posting the video. Kinda like the "rathergate" where the excuse was "it is fake, but it is probably true so you should still believe us".
"This
liberal would be all about socialize -- uh, uh, would be about
basically taking over and the government running all of your companies."-Maxine Waters 2008
CT...my point is that they don't care if it is true.
January 10, 2009 - 00:34 ET by superconThe media today is result oriented and no longer worried about the little details of accuracy.They are saving the world you know.
I think that whoever decided to pull the video has had second thoughts when many may have defended it as close enough to the truth so that it doesn't matter.
delete
January 10, 2009 - 01:06 ET by JWFmust have misread.
wait supercon
January 10, 2009 - 10:44 ET by candanceOops! Didn't read your sarcasm. My bad!
Carry on.
I'm a typical white person.
As I said last night, when
January 10, 2009 - 00:09 ET by d1carterAs I said last night, when propaganda is your business, it all looks like news...
CNN: Fake hollagrams and
January 10, 2009 - 00:34 ET by TN MomCNN: Fake hollagrams and now fake video...
I'm beginning to doubt if Wolf's hair is real.
CNN...
January 10, 2009 - 00:38 ET by superconThe most busted name in news.
That's the most bogus
January 10, 2009 - 07:43 ET by GrannyGrump42That's the most bogus footage I've ever seen. It didn't just look staged -- it looked badly staged. I get the impression that the kid fell and hurt his leg, and while he was at the hospital his cameraman brother got the idea to do a dog and pony show.
1. Nobody was "bagging" the boy to put oxygen into his lungs.
2. You don't perform CPR by pushing on the upper abdomen with your fingertips.
3. Those doctors should have had blood all over their hands if they were treating a kid injured by shrapnel.
4. Just TRY getting a camera into an ER when doctors are working on a gravely ill or injured person.
5. That one doctor seemed far more interested in pointing to that piece of equipment, presumably showing that the kid was flatlining, than he was on saving the kid.
6. At no point did anybody defibrillate the kid.
Purported
January 10, 2009 - 08:44 ET by allanfIsn't CNN the same network that says Hamas is purported to be a terrorist group by the Bush Administration?
Fake doctors killed that
January 10, 2009 - 09:07 ET by danboFake doctors killed that boy. They don't know how to do CPR.
Question. How did that pile of rubble get up on the roof? It seems a rocket causes a hole. Wheel barrels produce piles of rubble.
It can't be fake reports. So it must be fake doctors and fake rockets.
I watched the video. I hope CNN has the kahunas to keep it up. They're right up there with Dan Rather defending the memo.
Limited Disclosure: I used to belong to the Sierra Club untill they went crazier. Worse of all, I was bribed by Exxon with free New Orleans Saints glasses with fill ups in the 70's.
a few quick questions
January 10, 2009 - 10:50 ET by candanceWhy would you let a child play on the roof in the middle of a war zone?
Why was that doctor uselessly bouncing his hands on the boy's stomach?
How do we know that roof is really the roof to his house?
I'm a typical white person.
Uh oh !! Candance has been duped
January 10, 2009 - 10:54 ET by Free StinkerUh oh !! Candance has been duped by the Israeli propaganda!
/Sarscasm Off
C - you back from work already ?? ;-)
This is CNN acting as
January 10, 2009 - 11:05 ET by BKeyserThis is CNN acting as childishly as the editor from the ADN (Palin pregnancy conspiracy-NB today); they just can't stand being caught with their pants down, especially by those who they perceive are unqualified to pass judgement on their elite standing. So, to counter the ever-more-vigilant blogisphere, they seek out the newsroom poster that reads, "If you say it loud enough and often enough, it has to be true!"
You know, I think they did this sort of thing with the PE too... Its sad, dishonest, and someday- they will be rightly-judged for their impish behavior.
CNN now says it has
January 10, 2009 - 11:58 ET by fitzfongCNN now says it has absolute proof that the video is accurate. They found more footage from the scene, and here's how it happened...
CNN: The Most Trusted Name in News
"Government's view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it." -Ronald Reagan
fitzfong.blogspot.com
Another Pallywood Hit
January 10, 2009 - 16:00 ET by slickwillie2001During Rathergate, someone at one of the networks said 'sometimes a story is just too good to verify'. Happens a lot in the liberal media.
Looked like an episode
January 10, 2009 - 17:41 ET by BlazerLooked like an episode of General Hamas-pital.
"You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy. We must be cautious. "
- Ben Kenobi on Liberals, and the MSM.
" The Cake is a lie."
→ Blazer
January 10, 2009 - 17:44 ET by Cool ArrowYou're cracking me up. That's funny, I don't care who y'are
First off, if that's all
January 10, 2009 - 17:46 ET by midnight cowboyFirst off, if that's all the damage an Israeli missile did to a rooftop, they deserve to be refunded. Secondly, we are supposed to believe there was shrapnel and blood thrown around the entire roof but a cheap plastic chair which is a couple of feet from the point of impact doesn't even get knocked over. Ya right!!
→ Easy thar Cowboy
January 10, 2009 - 17:58 ET by Cool ArrowThat cheap plastic chair was a Barcalounger before the impact.
LOL ! "You will
January 10, 2009 - 18:06 ET by BlazerLOL !
"You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy. We must be cautious. "
- Ben Kenobi on Liberals, and the MSM.
" The Cake is a lie."
Lookouts?
January 10, 2009 - 18:24 ET by ammo johnFirst of all, why are there kids playing on a rooftop in a war zone? Secondly, maybe they were being lookouts spotting IDF for their HOMOS, I mean HAMAS, brothers. Lastly, where is Christine Im-a-man-opour when she could give herself more kudos for being so brave in a dangerous area?
Hamas?
January 10, 2009 - 20:20 ET by slickwillie2001What are the odds that the name of an islamic terrorist group would start with a forbidden product, HAM, from the 'unclean' pig? What's next, Bacon-iyah? Porkbellyjihad?
Baywatch
January 11, 2009 - 01:53 ET by parrotheadgiAs a modestly trained combat life-saver in the Army, I have seen more realistic attempts at CPR on Baywatch. Maybe they should recruit the o'l Hoff to produce some better video that some how always gets past CNN but not those pesky "bloggers".
Don't Hassle the Hoff!
I work in a hospital
January 11, 2009 - 21:20 ET by Rukusand the vid is BS!! Propaganda pure and simple. That was NOT cpr, period! Pure BS! Unfortunately people will believe it, sickening... CNN sucks!!!
Gary
"Mom's ROCK!!!" -Me