CNN using 1991 footage of

Palestinians

celebrating the invasion of Kuwait

Brazil

By Márcio A. V. Carvalho

All around the world we are subjected to 3 or 4 huge news

distributors, and one of them - as you well know - is CNN.

Very well, I guess all of you have been seeing (just as I've

been) images from this company. In particular, one set of

images called my attention: the Palestinians celebrating the

bombing, out on the streets, eating some cake and making

funny faces for the camera.

Well, those images were shot back in 1991. Those are

images of Palestinians celebrating the invasion of Kuwait!

It's simply unacceptable that a super-power of

communications as CNN uses images which do not

correspond to the reality in talking about so serious an

issue.

A teacher of mine, here in Brazil, has videotapes recorded

in 1991, with the very same images; he's been sending

e-mails to CNN, Globo (the major TV network in Brazil) and

newspapers, denouncing what I myself classify as a crime

against the public opinion.

But now, think for a moment about the impact of such

images. Your people are hurt, emotionally fragile, and this

kind broadcast have very high possibility of causing waves

of anger and rage against Palestinians. It's simply

irresponsible to show images such as those.

Finally, I'd like to say that we all regret and condemn all that

has happened in the last days; but Nikos has a point here. I

really don't want to be misunderstood here, but the truth is

that US government had shown no respect for other

countries in the last decades.

In the 60s and 70s they had halped lots of military coups

throughout the world (including Brazil in 64). Later, with

Reagan and Bush Father, the Washington Consensus have

been demolishing the bases of our economies, making us

more and more dependant (and, many of us, preoccupied

with this situation).

Your current president quickly made things worse: Kioto

Protocol, Star Wars, Colombia Plan, the exchange of rain

forest for pieces of external debt, tha abandonment of the

position of third party in negotiations between IRA and

England, and between Palestinians and Israel. All those

mistakes in US external politics made your country more

hatred than before, and, of course, more vulnerable.

Listen, I'm NOT justifying the terrorist actions that took

place in your country; but it seems to me that, if your

leaders had come along another path of thoughts and

actions, you wouldn't be suffering what you are now.

Best regards, and the hope that everything is resolved for

the best of all of us.

Márcio A. V. Carvalho

State University of Campinas - Brazil