{"id":78234,"date":"2016-08-29T12:00:52","date_gmt":"2016-08-29T11:00:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=78234"},"modified":"2016-08-24T11:26:22","modified_gmt":"2016-08-24T10:26:22","slug":"the-man-behind-the-viral-boy-in-the-ambulance-image-has-brutal-skeletons-in-his-own-closet","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2016\/08\/the-man-behind-the-viral-boy-in-the-ambulance-image-has-brutal-skeletons-in-his-own-closet\/","title":{"rendered":"The Man behind the Viral \u2018Boy in the Ambulance\u2019 Image Has Brutal Skeletons in His Own Closet"},"content":{"rendered":"

WARNING:\u00a0This article may disturb some readers. The purpose of sharing it is to convey the complexities of\u00a0the Syrian conflict.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

19 Aug 2016 – <\/em>The photojournalist behind the viral images\u00a0of\u00a0\u2018the boy in the ambulance<\/a>\u2018, which continue to make headlines around the world, has been identified by the Associated Press (AP)<\/a> as Mahmoud Raslan (also spelled Rslan). His\u00a0photo of a\u00a0shell-shocked boy who barely survived an airstrike in Aleppo has captured the hearts and emotions of millions and conveyed a powerful momentary glimpse into the senseless and horrific devastation endured by Syria\u2019s innocent children. But while\u00a0some praise\u00a0Raslan, he appears to\u00a0have some horrific skeletons in his own closet.<\/p>\n

\"Mahmoud<\/a><\/p>\n

Skeleton #1<\/strong><\/p>\n

Raslan\u2019s social media history reveals a bizarre twist, which demonstrates the ironies and complexities of the Syrian conflict. The photographer has posted photos of himself posing with known child-killers from another recent viral moment: the infamous filmed beheading of a 12-year-old Palestinian boy<\/a> captured in Aleppo by the \u2018Zenki\u2019 militant group.<\/p>\n

The Palestinian boy, filmed surrounded by his Zenki executioners in the back of a pick-up truck just prior to his beheading, had been reportedly removed from a hospital<\/a> and had intravenous lines (IV) attached to him.<\/p>\n

On 5 August, about two weeks after the public beheading<\/a> committed by unmasked men whose identities were made clear by the camera, Mahmoud Raslan uploaded a selfie with two men who had apparently been\u00a0among those carrying out the shocking execution on his Facebook page<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\"Mahmoud<\/a><\/p>\n

Raslan is grinning in the bottom left corner and behind him stand two men who appear to have been featured prominently in the prior child-beheading video [screenshot]:<\/p>\n

\"Mahmoud<\/a><\/p>\n

At least one of the two child-beheading men has an identify that\u2019s been clearly established. The man directly behind Raslan in the selfie on the left is\u00a0Umar Salkho. He\u00a0is often described in Arabic media as a leader of the Zenki Movement<\/a>, the group responsible for carrying out the atrocity \u2013 the video footage of which was uploaded to the internet on 19 July 2016. Ironically, the US-backed Zenki group claimed<\/a> it had quickly arrested the individual perpetrators and said they would face swift justice. But Salkho can be seen again in a video uploaded on 28 July 2016 here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Raslan wrote the following caption for his 5 August Facebook selfie in Arabic as follows [translated by The Canary<\/em>]:<\/p>\n

When you see the leaders on the front, know that victory is coming, with God\u2019s permission. From besieged Aleppo, wherein they all have their faces blackened<\/em><\/p>\n

It is deeply disturbing that the photographer now being lauded globally for the \u2018the boy in the ambulance\u2019 photo only a short time ago posed with and praised men who were well-known for having publicly beheaded a wounded child. Incidentally, Raslan is also wearing the same shirt on both occasions<\/a> (see him go in and out of the footage<\/a> which captured the moments the little boy was placed in the ambulance).<\/p>\n

Skeleton #2<\/strong><\/p>\n

Raslan, who identifies himself on Twitter<\/a> as \u201ca Syrian media activist\u201d [translation], has also made multiple statements publicly praising suicide bombers.<\/p>\n

The below screenshot from Raslan\u2019s Facebook page<\/a> reads as follows [translated by The Canary<\/em>]:<\/p>\n

With the suicide fighters, from the land of battles and butchery, from Aleppo of the martyrs, we bring you tidings of impending joy, with God\u2019s permission.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"Mahmoud<\/a><\/p>\n

Another post reads:<\/p>\n

Thousands of suicide fighters and tens of booby-traps are being prepared for the great battle in Aleppo, the first battle where I see men weeping because they can\u2019t participate on account of the number of attackers.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"Mahmoud<\/a><\/p>\n

Many more videos and images exist on Raslan\u2019s social media accounts which praise inghimasiyin<\/em> (an Arabic transliteration which in the Syrian war is a reference to \u201csuicide-fighters<\/a>\u201c).<\/p>\n

A complex propaganda war<\/strong><\/p>\n

It is a sad testament to the complexities and ironies of the seemingly endless war in Syria that even some of\u00a0its most celebrated photographers would associate with child-killers while at the same time attempting to illuminate the tragic plight of children in the country.<\/p>\n

Syria has produced the ugliest of all propaganda wars, in which all sides now compete to place before the world the most iconic and moving images of suffering. This fact should make us wary and cautiously critical, not of the innocent children featured in such images, but of the motives of those who glorify brutality one day while snapping pictures of its victims the next.<\/p>\n

__________________________________<\/p>\n

Brad is a native Texan and US Marine veteran who after leaving the military began wandering around the Middle East, eventually making Damascus, Syria his second home. His coverage of leaked and declassified US government documents has been cited in publications ranging from<\/em> The New York Times to<\/em> Jacobin to<\/em> CounterPunch to<\/em> The Intercept.<\/p>\n

Go to Original \u2013 thecanary.co<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

WARNING: This article may disturb some readers. The purpose of sharing it is to convey the complexities of the Syrian conflict.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[62],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-78234","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-media"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78234","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=78234"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78234\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=78234"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=78234"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=78234"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}