Israeli reporter Itai Anghel: Scoop in Daraa

Two days ago, Youtube users were busy watching a video on a report done by Israeli journalist Itai Anghel entitled “one day you will wonder why you didn’t do anything to stop the massacre”. The report was broadcast by Israeli Channel 2 earlier this month. The report shows the well-known journalist visiting homes of Syrian refugees north of Jordan, 100 meters away from the border with Syria, facing the town of Daraa.

Several pro-regime Syrian websites showed this video under dramatized headlines because the report shows that the Israeli journalist entered Daraa through the Jordanian border and met with residents. This means that Israelis are able to infiltrate Syrian borders.

However closer scrutiny reveals that the journalist did not enter Daraa and did not get a scoop by crossing into Syria. In fact, any translator who understands Hebrew will tell you that all Anghel did was capture long distance shots of Daraa and record gunshots heard coming from Syria.

The journalist, who had once entered with the Israeli army on the back of a tank to South Lebanon in order to cover the 2006 war, made many professional errors in his report. Several shots of people used in his report were actually lifted directly from videos on Youtube. They are the same images of torture broadcast by Arab TV stations and websites whether they support or oppose the regime. While interviewing Syrian refugees, Anghel neglected to ask questions about the humanitarian crisis. Furthermore, the report covers the faces of men and women asking for foreign assistance. In his report, Anghel only focused on “those responsible for the crisis” pointing his finger towards Hezbollah, Iran, Russia and China.