IDF Claims Royalties From Hamas On Clips Doctored To Show Killing Of Palestinians

“Firing rockets and incendiary devices into our communities is bad enough, but appropriating the recordings of our soldiers and editing the footage to make it look like the soldiers did something they didn’t – well, we’re not going to tolerate that.”

Tel Aviv, January 22 – Israeli military officials initiated legal action today against a group of Gaza Strip activists who used images of IDF soldiers without consent in propaganda videos edited to imply the wanton killing of Palestinian rioters, and asked the court to impose on the terrorist organization payment of wages for the appearance of its soldiers in the group’s fictional video productions disseminated as factual in global media.

The motion in Magistrate’s Court petitions the authorities for the assessment of per-appearance fees on Hamas and the propaganda operations of related groups commensurate with the use of the images of Israeli soldiers in clips that purport to show Israeli military personnel targeting Palestinian demonstrators without cause. The lawsuit demands payment from the video producers for the appearance of Israeli soldiers on camera, in addition to punitive fees for the use of those images without prior consent.

IDF Spokesperson Maj. Tvia Kaspit told reporters that the army had documented more than forty cases over the last year in which Palestinian or pro-Palestinian propagandists had spliced footage of Israeli soldiers firing with other staged footage of Palestinian protesters getting hurt, or, more frequently, Palestinian actors pretending to get hurt. In none of these cases, she noted, did the producers of the videos seek permission for the soldier to appear.

“We will continue to pursue these cases of misappropriation or copyright violation as long as necessary to deter such wanton criminality,” stated Major Kaspit. “Firing rockets and incendiary devices into our communities is bad enough, but appropriating the recordings of our soldiers and editing the footage to make it look like the soldiers did something they didn’t – well, we’re not going to tolerate that. And the courts will address this wrongdoing.”

Analysts noted that individual soldiers may not claim the restitution, as they remain subordinate to the IDF for all public functions. “Military regulations in fact require that individual soldiers’ faces be blurred by default in all images unless approved otherwise,” observed commentator Ron Ben-Yishai. “But I can see how this might be frustrating to soldiers whose images were taken by Hamas, Al-Jazeera, or whomever, and used in the making of propaganda clips, because it could have been a path into the filmmaking industry for some of them, but they were given no credit. In any case, however, once they are discharged from military service, a handful will probably find their way to Pallywood.”

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