A dodgy dossier of photographic 'proof' of Syria's chemical warfare


August 29, 2013
Sarah Benton


The caption to this Reuters story is ‘Slaughter: Syrian activists inspect the bodies of people they say were killed by nerve gas in Damascus’. It doesn’t say where it is or when it was taken. It  is one of 24 photos used by the Mail Online to illustrate its story Syria’s darkest hour: Hundreds of children’s bodies piled high after nerve gas attack near Damascus leaves up to 1,300 dead. Not one of the 24 photos shows 100s of children’s corpses piled high.

27 Palestinian refugees killed in Syria’s chemical attacks

By Palestinian Information Centre
August 24, 2013


This photo, posted to accompany this article, has no information of any sort attached to it.

DAMASCUS– 27 Palestinian refugees, including children, were killed on Thursday in chemical attacks by the Syrian regime forces and their allies in the towns of Zamalka and Ma’adamiyat Al-Sham in Damascus countryside.

The action group for the Palestinians in Syria said that 18 Palestinians from the same family were among the victims that were killed in Zamalka.

The action group also reported the exposure of the refugee camps of Khan Al-Sheikh and Dar’ah to several projectile attacks during the same days, with no reported casualties.

Both camps still suffer from an acute shortage of vital needs, especially the food and medical supplies.

Al-Yarmouk refugee camp, however, witnessed a state of cautious calm amidst military overflights.

The action group also reported that Palestinian refugees in Yarmouk camp staged a protest outside Hamza Bin Abdul-Muttaleb Mosque in Arouba neighborhood to demand an end to the projectile attacks and the military blockade, which caused a life-threatening humanitarian crisis in the camp.

In Al-Husseiniyeh refugee camp, armed clashes took place between the free army groups and the regime forces, while the humanitarian situation gets worse every day as a result of the tight blockade.

The Syrian regime forces also reportedly closed the checkpoint of Al-Aidin refugee camp and barred the Palestinian refugees from going out or in.


This photo was used, without credit or caption, to illustrate an August 24th AP story about the use of chemical weapons by the Syrian regime, Syria warns US not to intervene militarily; it also appears as an AP photo illustrating  an AP story on August 21, where the caption says it shows pictures of ‘lifeless children’ (the only faces visible are clearly of adult men) and in a Times of Israel story where the caption says it shows ‘A Syrian man mourns over a dead body after an alleged poisonous gas attack fired by regime forces in Damascus on August 24, 2013‘. It appears again in another AP story on that day, this time described as a ‘citizen journalism image provided by the Media Office Of Douma City, which has been authenticated based on its contents’. Bodies in white shrouds are authentication of what exactly? Douma, in the neighbourhood of Damascus, has long maintained an independent opposition to all Syrian regimes.


The caption to this photo, used in Times of Israel, reads ‘Dead bodies following the assault on Houla, Syria, in May (photo credit: AP/Shaam News Network. AP cannot independently verify this photo’.  Syrian mass atrocities and the international responsibility to protect

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