Mavi Marmari photos faked by Israel? Probably not
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Word is spreading that photos allegedly showing weapons seized aboard the Gaza aid convoy ship Mavi Marmari have been faked by Israel, taken years ago. This particular conspiracy theory doesn’t have legs. The allegation centres on this set of photos posted on Flickr by the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and especially this image of bullet-proof vests (below) and a shot showing dozens of knives and a screwdriver.
“A stack of bulletproof vests with the Turkish flag and red crescents has ‘EXIF data’ saying the vests were photographed in 2006,” says Palestine Note in a typical report. “A photograph of an ax [sic] and box cutters appears to have been taken in 2003. The theme continues with pepper spray, another purported weapon, being photographed in 2003, an electric saw photographed originally in 2006 and a shot of binoculars and night vision equipment with a slingshot was also taken in 2006.” Digital cameras use EXIF data to embed information into image files — the date and time the photo was taken, the camera used, technical settings like exposure and shutter speed and more. If the image is edited in Photoshop or another image editor, further data can be added. Yes, the photo of the bullet-proof vests is indeed timestamped ‘7 February 2006 at 4.49am’, something you can confirm for yourself. But this doesn’t mean the photo was actually taken at that time. That’s just the camera’s clock setting, and they’re notoriously unreliable. Digital cameras, like most digital devices, have an internal battery that keeps the clock running when the camera is turned off or when the main battery goes flat. Alas, they only last a few years. Once they’re dead, each time you swap your camera batteries the clock resets — typically to January 1 in the year of the camera’s manufacture. This photo is tagged as taken by a Nikon D2Xs — which can’t have taken any photo on February 7 2006 because Nikon didn’t even announce the camera until June 1, 2006. Similarly, the photo of knives supposedly taken in 2003 is dated January 1, 2003 and timestamped 14:34:55. That’d be the release year of the Pentax Optio 550 camera with which it was taken, says the Anarchogeek blog, not just after lunchtime but 14-odd hours after the photographer loaded fresh batteries. “A huge percentage of cameras have incorrect or bad internal batteries and therefore have incorrect date/time stamping. Despite all the New Year’s photos, January First simply is a data outlier in terms of digital photos,” it writes. If Israeli intelligence agencies can make convincing Australian passports, they can probably do a better job of faking photos. |
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24 Comments
Who cares whether the photos are real or not? Who on earth would arm themselves with little knives to take on an armed navy? Please!!! A real Jew is one who walks towards the light.
My attention has been drawn to this story at The Arabist which notes that Flickr originally showed the “Taken on” date for the first photo as 7 February 2006 but it was later changed by the Israeli MFA to 31 May 2010. Sorry, but once again this is not evidence of malpractice.
When you first upload a photo to Flickr, it automatically sets the displayed “Taken on” date to whatever date is recorded in the image file’s EXIF data as the capture date. However this can be wrong because the camera’s clock can be incorrectly set or, if you’re scanning old photographic prints from the 1960s, the scanner sets the capture date to the date you did the scan. Assuming the scanner’s clock was set correctly.
Similarly, Flickr allows you to change the location data to something different from that recorded in the image file’s EXIF data. Why? One example would be a smartphone with GPS recording the photo’s location as wherever the phone was when it last got a decent satellite fix, as opposed to where the phone was when the photo was taken.
In all likelihood, all we’re seeing here is the normal workflow for publishing sets of photos on Flickr. Step 1, batch upload the photos. Step 2, fix the broken metadata.
If someone wants to make a case for the photos not being genuine, then they’ll need to come up with some actual evidence that places the photos at a different time or place.
Odd choice of “initial phraseology” - Lateline last night - during the interview between Tony Jones and that “Israeli rep(?)” - something about legitimate retaliation against a “rubber hose” then, quickly, “iron bar”?
Imagine a grown man actually weilding an “iron bar”, that size, with that ferocity? How many broken bones, or even an “Israeli defenders” death?
The raid on the ship was a grievous mistake but it is clearly wrong to claim that those on board did not attacked the rappelling commandos and with the the kinds of weapons the Israeli’s have displayed. The video footage released by the Israeli’s is compelling evidence of that.
If you attack soldiers in that way it is unsurprising that they respond with lethal force - it is almost inevitable.
David,
There’s consistency amongst those later kidnapped that the Marmara was attacked prior to boarding by the Israeli commandos. Folks on other vessels also relate horrific abuse by Israeli brigands - so the grievous assaults weren’t just confined to the Marmara.
Here’s an excellent interview by Al Jazeera journo, Jamal Elshayyad
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0cQ69oKFtVg&feature=player_embedded#!
Verbal testimony by a British hostage here about half way through
http://aud1.kpfa.org/data/20100603-Thu1700.mp3
Al Jazeera is collecting some testimonies here:
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2010/06/20106193546785656.html#vall
http://www.abc.net.au/lateline/content/2010/s2916676.htm
‘BEN KNIGHT: Australian, Ahmad Talib, is believed to have been on the deck of this ship with his wife and sister when he was shot in the leg. His wife, Jerry Campbell, has told their lawyer the shooting began from the air…. See more
IBARI SHAHDA, LAWYER FOR JERRY CAMPBELL: Soldiers came down from the planes, from the airplanes, the helicopters from upstairs and with guns and shooting and they shot her husband.
BEN KNIGHT: So they were shooting, she says, while they were still in the helicopters? So before they hit the deck?
IBARI SHAHDA: Before they came down on the deck.”
For god’s sake, what are you on about? After Israel bombed the UN food depot to bits they released film from 2 years earlier claiming that
“terrorists” were firing from the area.
Let’s not get carried away with this did they or didn’t they change or use phoney photos drivel. Because Kate’s photos show the attack was in the dark, the Israel photos claim it was light.
Remember the children over board crap here? Photos taken a day later were passed off as proof children were thrown.
I would believe the crazy old coot locked up in any mental asylum in the world before I would believe Israel on anything.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/jun/03/gaza-flotilla-attack-henning-mankell
While you whine about photos people who were there are telling their own stories.
Another in the Guardian says that doctors were handcuffed and not allowed to help the injured, this is backed up by an Israeli MP.
Why is it that the shills for Israel try and justify everything they do by focussing on these silly stories.
The EXIF data is a bit of a red herring in that it can be changed within software later. And anyone providing digital images would know that. But it also is unlikely that a professional photographer’s camera would not be correctly configured, not only because they take a lot of care with their gear but it is important to properly archive and access the mountain (multi-GB) of data/images the collect.
Marilyn, it is important to have as much independent verification of what happened. As any cop will tell you just one bystander’s memory of an car accident is very unreliable, not to mention the political dimension.
What I want to know is where is the evidence of IDF personnel that were shot? I haven’t seen anything about that other than claims by Israeli PR guys.
EXIF data is unreliable. It can be edited easily. Google “EXIF editor”.
Incidentally, talking about Israeli PR guys, the Israeli PM’s media person Mark Regeve, according to Wikipedia: Regev was born Mark Freiberg in Melbourne, Australia in 1960 to Martin and Freda Freiberg. He graduated from Mount Scopus Memorial College, received his Bachelor’s degree in Political Science and History at Melbourne University.
As Seinfeld would say, and there’s nothing wrong with that.
Michael R James, I wouldn’t be so certain that a professional’s camera would always have the clock set correctly. I’ve seen plenty more than one media professional mutter “Oh, frutz!” after having produced hours of footage or gigabytes of data with the wrong settings. Plus we don’t know the skill level of whoever took these pictures. The Pentax Optio 550, for instance, is a consumer-grade compact viewfinder cameraq, the sort of thing grunt soldier or minor functionary would toss into their pocket.
I go back to Occam’s Razor. The simplest explanation is wrong camera clocks. I know people are looking for reasons to implicate Israel, but this ain’t it.
Therer’s a lot opf judge & jury posters tonight.
Ever heard of hard evidence jasps?
Regardless, the legitimacy or otherwise of Israel’s actions do not rise or fall based on a single photograph of knives
Let’s wait for the transparent inquiry…sorry, Israel doesn’t do that type of inquiry.
It simply attempts to deligitimase & disinform……sad but true.
As I said,this silly focus on photos is just another ploy to try and erase what happened.
9 people were murdered and you whine about this crap.
Good grief.
And David Sanderson, when armed soldiers attack people at pray why on earth would you think they have no right to defend themselves? The raid was illegal.
Was the photographer IDF?
Uniformity is the watchword of military organisations. It’s all but impossible to believe that a piece of digital equipment used by the IDF wouldn’t be set precisely and checked for accuracy before every deployment.
Crikey recently hosted an article about the Pentagon’s exacting stipulations for chocolate brownie recipes, and now some would have us believe that a military force trained and armed by the Pentagon runs around documenting evidence of terrorism with unconfigured cameras.
Pull the other one. It’s got bells on, plus a fertiliser bomb because Israel says so.
violent protests happen all the time in all the world’s major cities - that doesn’t mean the police are justified in showering the protesters with bullets.
Sancho, the set of photos was published by Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. No specific photographer credits are given, but since a wide variety of cameras was used, from professional equipment to consumer compacts, I think it’s safe to assume there was a similarly wide range of photographers. There’s at least two different cameras pointing at the knives arrayed on the green canvas, for instance, and only one has a bad timestamp.
I’m still intrigued that people imagine the IDF to be some awesomely professional that they couldn’t possibly have a camera clock set wrong, yet so awesomely incompetent that they’d try to use old photos as evidence of a current event without fixing the timestamps.
I should also add, for the hard of thinking, that I’m not defending Israel’s actions here. I haven’t expressed an opinion either way, and indeed haven’t really formed one yet, what with the cloud of propaganda. Just sayin’ these timestamps don’t prove nuffink.
I’ve no doubt those photo’s were taken aboard the Mavi Marmari, however, other than the antique knife I could probably take a similar photo with the contents of my kitchen draws and tool box. Screw drivers, wrenches and angle grinders are all tools I would be surprised not to see on a boat of that size. The same goes goes for binoculars and grappling equipment. These images really are very far-fetched and quite frankly if they were in international waters Israel’s boarding of the vessels was an act of piracy and the people onboard were well within their rights to defend themselves.
To summarise middle east politics for the last 60 years:
red team: “Israel boo!”
blue team: “Arabs boo!”
red team: “Israel boo!”
blue team: “Arabs boo!”
(pause: World Cup Football break, and then… )
red team: “Israel boo!” (foul!!! Umpire are you blind, didn’t you see that? Foul!!)
blue team: “Arabs boo!” (so biased… how biased, I can’t believe it!!)
red team: “Israel boo!”
blue team: “Arabs boo!”
(yawn)
In this technology age nothing is secure and nothing is authentic.
I’ve seen the Israeli pix and vids which may or may not be the real thing.
When do I get to see the activists’ pix?
Pity they didn’t take photos of the people they murdered.
Why on earth is this crap being passed off as “news”?
Pumping 5 9mm bullets into people from 8 inches is not self defence especially when they are in the back of the head.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/jun/04/gaza-flotilla-attack-autopsy-results
Gaza flotilla attack: Autopsies reveal intensity of Israeli military force• Victims found with up to six gunshot wounds
• Israel ‘about to lose a friend’ warns Turkey’s US envoy
(146)Tweet this (48)Robert Booth, Harriet Sherwood in Gaza City and Justin Vela in Istanbul guardian.co.uk, Friday 4 June 2010 22.00 BST Article history
The autopsy results reveal the extent of force used by Israeli commandos aboard the Mavi Marmara (pictured). Photograph: Reuters
The autopsy results released today by the Turkish authorities after the Israeli attack on the Gaza flotilla reveal in chilling detail the intensity of the military force unleashed on the multinational convoy.
Each of the nine victims on the Mavi Marmara in international waters off the coast of Israel in the early hours of Monday morning was shot at least once and some five or six times with 9mm rounds.
The results also reveal how close the fighting was. Dr Haluk Ince, chair of Turkey’s council of forensic medicine (ATK), said: “Approximately 20cm away was the closest. In only one case was there only one entrance wound. The other eight have multiple entrance wounds. [The man killed by a single shot] was shot just in the middle of the forehead with a distant shot.”
The details emerged as Turkey warned that it may reconsider its diplomatic ties with Israel unless it receives an apology.
The deputy prime minister, Bulent Arinc, warned: “We may plan to reduce our relations with Israel to a minimum.”
Namid Tan, the ambassador to Washington, warned that Israel was “about to lose [a] friend”. He repeated calls for an independent investigation of the raid and end its blockade against Gaza.
Asked if Turkey might break off relations, he said: “We don’t want this to go to that point.” But he added: “The government might be forced to take such an action.”
Speaking at the funeral of the youngest activist, prime minister Tayyip Erdogan accused Israel of betraying its religion. “You killed 19-year-old Furkan Dogan brutally. Which faith, which holy book can be an excuse for killing him?” he asked.
According to the scientists at the ATK, Dogan, who held US and Turkish citizenship was shot five times – from close range in the right side of his nose, in the back of the head, in the back and twice in the left leg.
The oldest victim was 60-year-old Ibrahim Bilgen, a Turkish politician, engineer and activist who was married with six children. He had been shot once in the right temple, once in the right side of his chest, once in the back and once in the hip.
Cetin Topcuotlu, a 54-year old former Taekwondo champion who worked as a coach for the Turkish national team, was shot three times – once in the back of his head, once in his hip and once in his belly. His wife, Cigden, who was with him on the Mavi Marmara said at his funeral on Thursday she would take part in further flotillas to Gaza with her son.
The detail of the wounds came as yet more survivors returned to the UK and gave their account of the attacks.
In a hastily arranged press conference in central Londonshortly after his Turkish airlines plane touched down at Heathrow, Ismail Patel, the 47-year-old chairman of the Friends of al-Aqsa, condemned what he called “the cold-blooded murder and killing of our colleagues”. He said: “These deaths were avoidable and I lay the blame squarely with the Israelis.”
Israel has previously said its troops had been left with no choice after they came under attack from activists armed with knives and iron bars when they were dropped by helicopter on to the ship.
Patel claimed that as soon as the Israeli Defence Force helicopter appeared above the Mavi Marmara, “it started using immediately live ammunition” without any warning being issued.
After the first victim fell the white flag was raised, he said, but Israeli forces continued firing. “I think the Israeli soldiers were shooting to kill because most of the people who died were shot in the top part of their bodies,” he said. He believed that later victims were injured in their legs after a “tactical move” by the commandos to wound rather then kill.
Alex Harrison, a Free Gaza activist who was on the smaller Challenger yacht, which was crewed mainly by women, said the Israelis used rubber bullets, sound bombs and tasers against them.
“Two women were hooded, they had their eyes taped,” she said, describing how the yacht was quickly overwhelmed. “We stood and tried to obstruct the armed, masked men and maintained no other defence and still they used violence.”
Harrison, 32, from Islington, north London, also witnessed the Mavi Marmara being stormed from above by helicopter and said the Israelis started firing before their troops touched down on the boat.
“I have seen some selective footage that the Israelis have chosen to put out suggesting that we responded with violence,” she said. “You must remember that these are unarmed civilians on their own boat in the middle of the Mediterranean. People picked up what they could to defend themselves against armed, masked commandos who were shooting.”
The violence was “initiated by the Israelis on a massive scale,” she said, adding she was pleased her colleagues on the Rachel Corrie, an Irish vessel, were continuing to Gaza this weekend.
“I am thrilled they are going,” she said. “They know exactly what risks they face. They are doing what our government’s haven’t and I thank them.”
Both Harrison and Patel criticised the British authorities for failing to provide sufficient consular assistance while the activists were detained in an Israeli prison in Beersheva.
Patel said he was not visited by anyone from the British mission and Harrison said the consul told her that Israeli officials had prevented him visiting captured Britons.
“I did see the British consul,” Harrison said. “He told me that he had sitting outside the prison all day … asking for access and not been given it. I see that as an insult from Israel to the British, that they were denying the British consul the right that citizens have. I also see it as a sign that the British don’t have the strength to stand up to Israel.”
Foreign Secretary William Hague confirmed that a total of 34 of the activists on the aid flotilla were British, with all but two of them having been sent to Turkey by the Israeli authorities.
In Gaza City, the de facto Hamas prime minister, Ismail Haniyeh, told crowds of worshippers at Friday prayers that Israel’s blockade was in its final stages.
“Now not only Gazans speak of the blockade, but also the [UN] security council and the international community. Everyone is demanding the siege be lifted.”
The nine victims
Cengiz Alquyz, 42
Four gunshot wounds: back of head, right side of face, back, left leg
Ibrahim Bilgen, 60
Four gunshot wounds: right chest, back, right hip, right temple
Cegdet Kiliclar, 38
One gunshot wound: middle of forehead
Furkan Dogan, 19
Five gunshot wounds: nose, back, back of head, left leg, left ankle
Sahri Yaldiz
Four gunshot wounds: left chest, left leg, right leg twice
Aliheyder Bengi, 39
Six gunshot wounds: left chest, belly, right arm, right leg, left hand twice
Cetin Topcuoglu, 54
Three gunshot wounds: back of head, left side, right belly
Cengiz Songur, 47
One gunshot wound: front of neck
Necdet Yildirim, 32
Two gunshot wounds: right shoulder, left back
1 shot by sniper, three shot in the back of the head like executioners and you claim Israel took and released real photos?
Give us a break.
Occam’s Razor tells ME that these photos are not even legit. But if they are really are photos taken by Israel’s MFA, I’d hardly say the items photographed constitute ‘weapons’. Can certainly be *used* as weapons, as many of the things lying around my house could be (kitchen knives, lava lamp, BBQ tools, Times’ Atlas of the World, super strong hold hair spray, Jesus action figure etc.), but nowhere in that cache did I spot a semi-automatic rifle or a gun of any sort. Even the little sling shots are hardly a good defence against armed and organised Israeli terrorists.
The Israelis are total sooks. Start playing nice or you will be thrown out of the sandpit once and for all.
What a ridiculous article. A low point for Stig, I think. Still, I guess if Crikey pays for such piffle, we all have to pay the bills…
There is real story of blatant fakery associated with this photo, interestingly enough. Max Blumenthal tells the tale - see Under Scrutiny, IDF Retracts Claims About Flotilla’s Al Qaeda Links
On the day of its murderous assault on the Gaza Peace Flotilla, the Israeli military’s website screamed “Attackers of the IDF soldiers found to be Al Qaeda mercenaries”. This claim was widely repeated around the world.
But it was nonsense - just more Israeli lies. As Max points out, the claim was soon dropped (although no official correction was issued). Next to the lying headline was the photo that so fascinates Stilgherrian that he’s taken time out to debunk an obscure claim made by someone else that the photo was faked.
So what - when the IDFs OWN HEADLINE was an indefensible lie?
This is a classic case of ignoring the BIG lie, while fussing about obscure and irrelevant detail.
Incidentally, while visiting Max Blumenthal’s website, do take a look at the video that YouTube (i.e. Google) decided we shouldn’t see -
http://maxblumenthal.com/feeling-the-hate-in-jerusalem/
Why does Google censor material such as that?
That would be a better line of inquiry for Stig and Crikey to pursue, if looking for a real story as opposed to a puerile and distracting beat-up.
@shepherdmarilyn
Just a small critique: A little less strident and not so loooong would improve your readability and make you appear more rational.
I’m sure you have some good points and are a concerned poster, it just gets a bit too predictable after a while.
Please take this as a suggestion rather than an admonishment.
Max Blumenthal and Ali Abunimah have nailed at least some of the Israeli photo, video and audio forging at this point.
http://maxblumenthal.com/2010/06/nailed-again-under-pressure-idf-and-haaretz-retract-description-of-suspicious-idf-distributed-photo/
http://maxblumenthal.com/2010/06/ny-times-lede-blog-surveys-idfs-sea-of-lies/
http://maxblumenthal.com/2010/06/idf-admits-it-doctored-flotilla-audio-clip-washington-posts-kessler-must-retract/
http://aliabunimah.posterous.com/hasbara-comedy-video-further-exposes-idf-knif
http://aliabunimah.posterous.com/blog-post-israel-hasbara-fails-again-pics-sho
Robert Mackey at the NY Times (!) Lede Blog has catalogued some of the egregious findings also.
http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/06/07/photographs-of-battered-israeli-commandos-show-new-side-of-raid/
Paul McGeough says Israel is forging footage also.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/06/08/2921836.htm?section=justin
In the light of the above, any ‘evidence’ submitted by Israel has to be considered as highly suspicious and the thought of Israel investigating itself is just ludicrous.