Burning Koran: Inflammatory Photo Adds Fuel to the Flames

Simon Plosker

Nothing is guaranteed to whip up a frenzied response from Palestinians and their supporters more than a perceived Jewish threat to Muslim holy sites and religious objects. Tension is currently centered around the Temple Mount as Palestinians vent their anger at wildly exaggerated reports of efforts to enable Jewish prayer at Judaism’s holiest site.

On Tuesday night a West Bank mosque was burned in what Palestinians are claiming was an arson attack by Jewish settlers. While this is certainly a possibility, Israeli police have not yet reached a firm conclusion. The Irish Times chose to publish the above photo taken by Ramallah-based photographer Atef Safadi of the European Press Photo Agency in its story on the mosque.

But why would a Palestinian Muslim allow his holiest book to continue burning other than the opportunity to provide a photographer with a deliberately constructed propaganda opportunity? After all, the most natural reaction to anything burning in the mosque should be to put out the flames. Yet this Koran is not only charred and burnt but is still alight.

The photo is not an accurate depiction of the scene as the photographer is no longer a passive observer. We’re not accusing any Palestinian of igniting a Koran after the initial fire. However, either a Palestinian villager has intentionally brought the already burning Koran to the photographer or the photographer himself has requested the active cooperation of those in the mosque to create the most emotive image possible.

In this case, emotive means (literally) inflammatory. Is this a case of a Palestinian photographer deliberately constructing a photo for propaganda purposes? If so, the Irish Times should reconsider its use.

And does the EPA have a policy of encouraging its photographers to take the most inflammatory photographs? Only days ago, HonestReporting drew attention to another EPA photo that appeared by virtue of a camera trick, to show an Israeli flag flying atop the Dome of the Rock on the Temple Mount in what was also guaranteed to provoke Muslim ire. 

Simon Plosker, HonestReporting, November 13, 2014