WaPo Falls For Pallywood

**UPDATE** Apparently a stiff case of Rigor Mortis is at hand in this photo.

Opinion Journal turned over a great piece in yesterday's Best of the Web.

The caption reads: "Bodies of Lebanese residents of the southern village of Qana near the port city of Tyre, Lebanon, are laid covered after they were removed from under the rubble of a demolished building, background, that was struck by Israeli war plane missiles Sunday, July 30, 2006. At least 50 people, including scores of children, were killed Sunday in an Israeli air strike on this southern Lebanon village--the deadliest attack in 19 days of fighting."

The death toll subsequently declined, and a close look at this photo shows that the Hezbollah side of the conflict was exaggerating it with images as well as words.

... It's a little hard to see exactly what's going on at this size, but as luck would have it the Washington Post used the photo on its July 31 front page, and a sharp-eyed reader scanned it for us. Here's an enlargement of the portion in question:

... Plainly this scene was staged for the benefit of the cameras, though it is important to note we know of no evidence that the photographer was complicit in the staging. It is, however, a clear example of how terrorist groups use journalists to spread their propaganda.


But, no! The Media would NEVER stage the news...

And about time NY Times covered the Hajj photoshopping story. It took them 3 days, and a cover photo by Hajj after AP, Reuters, as well as everyone else covered the story.