Excellence In Ambush Journalism Awarded

For years, Palestinian rock throwers and press photographers have been feeding off each other. The kids appear in a steady flow of images reinforcing the David-and-Goliath narrative, and photographers fatten their paychecks.

Now, one photographer is getting honor as well. Ilia Yefimovich, who was one of a group of photojournalists in Silwan last October shooting stone throwers, received an Award for Excellence from Pictures of the Year International. The incident gave new meaning to ambush journalism.

I can’t prove outright collusion between the kids and photographers, but there’s clearly a dynamic resulting from each others’ presence.

Yefimovich discussed the award and the incident with the Jerusalem Post:

Yefimovich added that rocks were thrown at his own car on the way to Silwan that day, without any photographers present.

Which makes me wonder: Had Yefimovich’s car been surrounded by stone throwers and photographers, I assume the photographers would’ve intervened to stop an attack on a press car. Did David Be’eri, the man behind the wheel, deserve no less?