Marcel Ghanem, a lebanese TV presenter in Kalam Ennass, has shown tonight a photo of burned bodies from Cairo, claiming that it was taken in Tripoli, Lebanon after the deadly explosions which hit the city.
Ghanem added :”the photo was sent to us by Dr. Ahmad El Ayoubi (our guest) and it shows how the human being can turn into a charred body in Lebanon, these photos are taken from today’s massacre, and this massacre cannot but drive us into feelings of anger, tears, and revolution, people have all the right to be indignant with us and with the politicians; and the media has to question: tomorrow where to?!”.
On the 14th of August 2013, Different websites in Egypt had previously published this photo of burned bodies, and claimed that it was taken at the University of Cairo when the police raided a sit in at Al Nahda square organized by the supporters of the isolated president Mohamad Morsi.
This photo that was claimed to be taken in Tripoli and Cairo was initially taken in Morocco, for the martyrs of Feb 20 movement, who died in a fire at one of the local banks in the city of Housseima, on Feb 20, 2011.
The most important question that should be asked- addressing our local media- after publishing a photo without checking its credible source is:”Where is the Lebanese media heading to?! “
UPDATE: The program, after publishing this article, published a statement removing its responsibility towards the image.
The guest of the program, in yesterday’s special episode about Tripoli, Dr. Ahmed Al-Ayoubi, was the one who provided us with pictures of the Tripoli bombings and the victims. The journalist, Marcel Ghanem, previously mentioned this source during the episode, and the program does not bear responsibility.
Co-authored with Salim Allawzi