Israel Matzav

Live by the sword....

This morning, I reported on the kidnapping of an al-AP photographer in Gaza, and noted with some surprise that the photographer is Spanish and not a local stringer. Arutz Sheva has more details about 37-year old Emilio Morenatti, who apparently consorted regularly with terrorists of 'moderate Palestinian President' Mahmoud Abbas Abu Mazen's Fatah's al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades.

Morenatti, 37, was forced into a car near his apartment by four armed men in Palestinian Authority-controlled Gaza, according to another AP employee. Spain's Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos told reporters in Madrid that officials were acting to free him "as quickly as possible," and that he had contacted PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas and other PA figures on the matter.

Morenatti was apparently trusted by PA terrorists, as his photos include inside views of Al-Aksa Brigades terrorists preparing for attacks against Israeli civilians and IDF soldiers. Morenatti has photographed an Al-Aksa terrorist laying a bomb, and another one carrying a reel wire; the caption of the latter specifies that the terrorist had set "up an anti tank bomb following an Israeli strike."

Yet another photo by Morenatti shows an Arab mother of eight carrying an apparent suicide explosives vest. Its caption states that the woman is "one of a group of at least 20 women in the village that [sic] are given, according to the local Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades commander, suicide belts every night in preparation for an expected Israeli assault on the town."

Yet another photo by Morenatti, taken this past summer, shows a close-up of armed and ready-to-fire "Palestinian militants from Islamic Jihad [taking] position during an Israeli army incursion... Israeli soldiers and Palestinian militants exchanged fire for several hours..."

Click here and here (and here) to see some of Morenatti's terrorist-close-up photos.

But here's the part I find most curious:

A source from one of the major wire services told an Arutz-7 correspondent that all the agencies are given such access to pre-terror preparations, and that Morenatti's photos are not an indication of heightened involvement with the groups. Asked if the terrorists are not concerned that the photographers might warn the Israelis of an impending attack, the source said that "trust," as well as possibly the fear of getting killed, offset these concerns.

But I'm sure that never influences what the wire services write about the terrorists.

/sarcasm

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 6:04 PM