Saturday, November 17, 2012

Did Israel Stop Reuters From Filming Their Operation on Gaza?

Last night and early this morning, Reuters had a live cam filming the bombing of Gaza.  The above video shows the first time that I saw the Reuters cam stopped.  The camera came back on within 2 minutes with a long lens shot that didn't move for a while and no talking. Twenty minutes or more later talking began again (also in a language I don't understand) and the camera began to move again, especially in the direction of bombings.  In one, case they focused as best as they could from apparently miles away on  building that had been hit, showing people arriving at a collapsed structure, but soon drew back.

When the sound of trucks were heard again they would stop talking and focus back on a generalized shot in front of them.

At one point one of the men said (that I could hear) "can't do that".  I don't know why.  That was the only English I heard.

At at least one other point I heard vehicles approach and the feed when down again repeating what happened when just after this video showing though without showing the arriving troops or vehicles.

Look at what you see last in the live video portion of above and tell me these guys did not feel they were under threat for what they were doing. Someone whips the camera around focuses on a canon style weapon on top of one of the trucks that had arrived with the (I assume) IDF just before the feed dies.

Video kept coming on after blackouts for an hour or so more, but then never returned, again suddenly cut off.

I hate to pick on Israel unnecessarily, but they don't seem to be acting with transparency in this case, nor with fairness towards our own people who Nettie wanted to use in a massive invasion of Iran which could have killed 100,000 young Americans and triggered a universal draft.
Update: The Reuters Live Stream camera covered Gaza last night as well. I viewed some video there during their very early morning hours, then it went down. I checked in an hour later and it had become daylight and they were filming again, for a couple of hours. It once went to the whining signal they give, but using alink at the side brought back live (I assume) video. That did not repeat then next time the video disappeared at about 1 am (my time), before I went to bed about 2 am. So, apparently they are not being stopped from their job, but I think it is obvious that they did feel there was a threat when they first encountered the troops. Last night a missel struck close enough to them get dirt on the lens, but did not explode as far as I could see. I assume that since they seem to be filming across a no man's land into Gaza that they are in Israel, and coupled with the fact that the site was not destroyed, that the missile came from Gaza, showing the huge difference in what the two sides are lofting. Some, apparently home made weapons, versus 500 pound monsters that destroy whole buildings and all inside them.