'IT WAS OBVIOUS THAT THE WHOLE THING WAS STAGED'

-----
B'H

In the world of "see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil" about evil newsworld, it is amazing how many logical summersaults they will do to report bad things about Israel, even when the truth is staring them in the face.

M
-----



'IT WAS OBVIOUS THAT THE WHOLE THING WAS STAGED' HAMAS DIM BULBS IN FAKE-BLACKOUT RUSE
By ANDY SOLTIS
http://www.nypost.com/seven/01302008/news/worldnews/it_was_obvious_that_the_whole_thing_was__688294.htm

January 30, 2008 -- Call it the Bogus Blackout.

Hamas legislators in the Palestinian parliament worked in staged darkness at least twice this week to convince the rest of the world that they were suffering as a result of Israeli power cuts.

The lawmakers invited photographers to snap them - hard at work at their candle-lit desks in the Gaza City building - where they claimed they were forced to squint in the dark because an Israeli blockade had turned off their electricity.

But Palestinian reporters pointed out the obvious: It was daytime.

And anyone who looks out the curtained windows and saw the sunshine would realize it.

"It was obvious that the whole thing was staged," one journalist told the Jerusalem Post.

"They had closed the curtains in the rooms to create the impression that Hamas leaders were also suffering as a result of the power stoppage."

Reuters, however, defended the photo.

"This is a legitimate picture of a photo opportunity covered by the world's media. Our caption described the scene accurately," said Reuters spokesman Ty Trippet.

Israel blocked fuel and other deliveries to the Gaza Strip earlier this month to pressure the Hamas-led government to crack down on terrorists who were firing homemade rockets on a daily basis across the border into southern Israel.

Under heavy international pressure, Israel relented and allowed fuel shipments.

Meanwhile, Hamas gunmen blew up a fence on Gaza's other border to allow Palestinians to buy goods in Egypt.

But Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh, a Hamas honcho, and legislators continued the candle-lit ploy.

One Palestinian journalist said he and his colleagues were told they had to wait a few minutes outside the Palestinian Legislative Council chambers so that the lawmakers could light their candles before the press was let in, the Jerusalem Post reported.

Meanwhile, traffic across the Gaza-Egypt border slowed to a trickle yesterday as security forces worked at sealing off breaches and cold, rainy weather discouraged travelers.

With Post Wire Services