

Instagram photo published by Mor Ostrovski, 20, Israeli sniper

The Instagram photo posted by an Israeli soldier, of a Palestinian boy’s head in crosshairs, has now become an international scandal, thanks to Ali Abunimah’s discovery of it. We are surely jaded by seeing evidence of this dehumanization all the time; but this image has demonstrated a power that other reports have lacked; and the optics of the Israeli miracle are changing before our eyes. Is this startup nation or the child-targeting nation?

ABC News is covering it, and it is the top story on Yahoo.

JERUSALEM – A photo posted online by an Israeli soldier showing a child in the crosshairs of a rifle scope has created a firestorm on the internet, drawing widespread criticism. The photo was reportedly posted on Jan. 25 by Mor Ostrovski, 20, a member of an Israeli sniper unit. It shows crosshairs zeroed in on the back of the head of what appears to be a Palestinian boy in a village. The photo has since been taken down and Ostrovski‘s account has been deactivated. “There are no other images to suggest that the photographer actually fired at the person in the image in this case,” wrote Palestinian activist Ali Abuminah who runs the site Electronic Intifada and drew much of the attention to the photo. “The image is simply tasteless and dehumanizing. It embodies the idea that Palestinian children are targets.”

But Palestinian children are targets: nearly 400 were killed by Israel just four years ago in 3 weeks in Gaza. It does not appear that the New York Times has covered the story yet. No it is covering the pistachio ice cream scandal, Netanyahu’s ice cream budget. How long can it postpone that hour?

The Guardian’s Phoebe Greenwood made it international a day back: