WAR PHOTOGRAPHY: FINE LINE BETWEEN REPORTAGE AND DEATH

YOU TUBE has removed the video of war photographer Tim Hetherington being laid out by staff at the Misrata Hospital in Libya.

The man who posted the video which also contained images of Getty photographer Chris Hondros, uploaded it in good faith, and only after much deliberation. The decision to do so took moral courage and carried a warning that it contained graphic images. Therefore, and as always, it was a personal decision whether one looked at it or not.

I saw the video before You Tube decided it was unsuitable for public viewing, a decision with which I disagree.

The images of the dead Hetherington were a closure. If you’ve ever lost someone as I have, in curious circumstances and with no corpse, there is no closure on his life. The doctors handled Tim gently and if any of his family and friends managed to see the video, they would certainly have been upset. But it was an end.

My problem with You Tube in this case, is that they allow graphic footage of wounded and dead Afghans, Africans - you name them - to be displayed, but censor respectful photos of a famous photo-journalist killed in action.

I never met Tim, but I admired his skill as a photographer and in particular his evident concern for the unfortunates displaced by warfare. I also believe he wouldn’t have minded being photographed as a dead man. He was after all, a film-maker.

May you rest in peace Tim and thank you for the many times you risked your life to depict people caught in conflict.

Tim Hetherington, 40 and Chris Hondros 41, were killed on 20 April in the battle for Misrata.

Images: Chris Hondros, Tim Hetherington, photo Chris Hondros/Getty

WHERE IS EMAN AL-OBEIDI?

While it is good to see Arab women protesting alongside male demonstrators in the Arab uprisings, it is appalling to learn how at the first opportunity, many men turn to rape.

The shocking attack on the CBS journalist in Cairo, and now this terrible video of the poor Libyan woman crying out for help to the international media, is a violent and graphic reminder that women face specific and harrowing abuse in times of war and conflict.

Someone has left a post on Twitter re Eman al-Obeidi, the woman beaten and raped by Gaddafi lackeys in Libya ---- what can we do, we must do something, she tweets. The terrible thing is we can’t. And as I write this blog, she is incarcerated, somewhere unknown, certainly being tortured, even being raped again, for boldly, desperately, speaking out.

On the outside, looking in, we can only pass on the message and support by whatever means, the brave women who dare to speak up. Women like Marvi Sirmed in Lahore, ‘Zeinobia’ in Cairo and Emma Al Nafjan in Riyadh, to name just three of many courageous female bloggers putting their freedom at risk for daring to write of unacceptable situations in their respective countries. .

And neither let us forget the thousands of African women in Rwanda, Congo and Darfur who have been gang-raped by soldiers. Pray for women at risk everywhere in this violent world and wish the bastards who commit such atrocities may rot in hell.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=26vYN_kxK3Y&feature=share

http://feb17.info/general/video-eman-el-obeidis-cousin-speaks-out-translated/

PROSTATE CANCER IS NO EXCUSE!

I`m sick of lawyers attributing prostate cancer by way of explanation for anti-social behaviour.

We have the widely publicised case of Megrahi, the `Libyan bomber` released because he is suffering from prostate cancer, in a deal involving the British government and Libya, in compliance with a `compassionate` but foolish, Scottish judiciary.

And now I read of a carer employed in a home for the intellectually impaired near Wollongong in NSW, who is reported to have unnaturally fondled female inmates.

Result: suspension on $52,000 full pay while the tribunal takes into account that he is suffering from prostate cancer and depression.

Whoa! Some 44,000 women are diagnosed annually with invasive breast cancer (UK figures) but do we ever hear of parallel misdemeanours?

Never! So let`s stop attributing unacceptable behaviour to prostate cancer and get on with a proper conviction.

The Australian case only involves the abuse of women in care, sadly unable to defend themselves, as opposed to the heinous bombing of Pan-Am Flight 103.

Megrahi, responsible for the deaths of 259 people and now free, after serving only seven years in detention, is nothing but a wicked Muslim.

I wonder is he fasting during Ramadan? Or is he exempt, because of failing health? He certainly didn`t look like a man with only ` 3 months to live` on his triumphant home-coming in Tripoli.

c.Christine Osborne