"it was great to see people picking on the desperate attempt of the media to divert public's attention from what israel is doing in lebanon by focusing on gels, drinks, snakes and shampoos on planes!"

Don't you think that is a little brainless? If one of those bomb plots had been (could still be) successful and a plane exploded over Toronto, perhaps you'd think a little more before making such idiotic comments.

Great to see such a demonstration. Good to know that awareness exists in the west despite the subjective media. Great pics.

"My shampoo is innocent" - it took me a while to figure out that one ;-)
On the subject of "diverting attention": I'd say that by focusing to what happens when the war decides to come over to the warmongers' part of the world, that would be a pretty bad way to achieve it. Let's not forget that the attaks that happened in London last year, and were about to happen again apparently, is part of 'daily life' in Baghdad since the US and UK invaded. Same for the Lebanon through the Israeli bombings.

an eye for an eye makes the whole world blind

Actual sign:
"Stop the war on liquids, gels and shampoo!"

It's no longer a clash of civilizations but a clash against different states of matter. Next on the block is ice, because it's clearly trying to take over Canada.

Over 3,000 rockets has landed on Israel. There are as many as 1 Million Israeli refugees that had to leave their homes in northern Israel and find shelter inland. there is an Islamic terrorist group trying to bring down Democracy and the free world.
You better pray Israel stops them.

where as i find your images to be the most intresting on the web and have visited DDI on a regular basis. and whereas i too find WAR to be an abobination.. Do you suggest that the Lebanese government, and its people are innoccent in their support of Hezbolla and its continued attacks on the citizens of Israel. If both Lebanon and the Lebanesse people want to be deemed as INNOCCENTS, then they must not give safe haven to the folks from HEZBOLLA who feel it is thier god given duty to launch rockets into Israel.. If the US allowed terroritst who felt CANADA was an not a legitimate country to launch rockets into WINDSOR from Detroit or into TORONTO from New York. then the US would be just as guiltly as those launching.. Civilization cannot exist without government taking responsiblilty for both the protection and the actions wo what what goes on inside its borders

Your photography is great, I love this site and check it every day, but if your political views are what they seem to be, based on this post, you are completely out of touch with reality. Remember that Israel has never started a war it didn't have to in order to protect itself and it's citizens. Hezbollah deserves the blame for this conflict and the loss of innocent lives on both sides of the border. In a broader sense, consider this: If the Arabs laid down their weapons and asked for peace, the Israelis would too. If the Israelis laid down their weapons and asked for peace (though they have tried many, many times), the Arabs would drive the Israelis into the sea and there would be no more Israel. Israel, like any other country in the wolrd, has a right to defend itself and must do just that. This is what it has been doing for the past month in response to the cowards and terrorists of Hezbollah.

I don't get it what does shampoo and gel have to do with the war. Ad the Hilton building in the backround is really ugly!!

I enjoy your photos, checking your site for the new one(s) each day. But you really ought to stay away from editorializing, that is unless you want to turn it into a political site.

It is the Coward, lying, murdering, Hezbollah who started this shit! They all deserve to die. Hiding behind the women and children they will not let leave.

Now I see where your real interests lie. Traitor to freedom.

8 million children under the age of 5 die each year in India. And who cares or tries to stop it? One child every four seconds.

Two guys vs hundreds. ha. I think we know where Canadian public opinion is. :-)

On another note, I went to take pictures of Whitby Psych, yesterday. There's only two buildings left standing. All the underground tunnels are dug up and there were backhoes digging everywhere. Looks like they're building another subdivision. Go suburbia go. :-(

Great series Sam. I like it when you post a group of images like this - it tells a more complete story. The last shot is my favorite - and funny at that!

Wearing skates to escape? lol cowards. I'm glad people were protesting in Toronto, Canada shouldn't be like the states. I really feel sorry for those innocent people that Isreal killed, especially those children of Qana. Nothing can justified killing innocent kids, period.

i've been looking at your pictures for almost 2 years now and i have always been awed by them but i've never left a comment until now! just wanted to say it's nice that you're not afraid to express your political consciousness in this atmosphere of suffocating one-sidedness in the west. keep up the good work!

nice pictures sam...it's good to see that there are still people in the world who do not fall for the medias diversions of reality..free lebanon and palestine

Lebanon has its share of the blame also but war never solves anything. The shampoo comments were pretty funny though. i'm flying to the US in a week and this security alert is driving me crazy. i won't know what to do if they forbid me to bring my camera equipment on board... :(

Maybe you should all see what the Hizbala doing to Israel. and don't forget who started the whole thing.

"Do you suggest that the Lebanese government, and its people are innoccent in their support of Hezbolla and its continued attacks on the citizens of Israel?"

Umm... the Lebanese government and most of the citizen's of Lebanon do NOT support Hezbolla, Al. In fact, Lebanon has always been a moderate entity in the middle east, and have not granted "safe haven" to terrorists. It was only recently the country had been released from what was essentially Syrian control. Lebanon was moving in the right direction the past little while, tourism had increased, and things were turning around. The only problem is that the government has not been able to garner enough power to properly police the nation. The state does not support Hezzbollah, they just have been too weak to remedy the issue. Israel, instead of bombing the shit out of the country should probably have worked WITH the Lebanese government in the form of funding and man-power and perhaps the problem could have been solved internally.

Everyone is entitled to his or her own opinion as is Sam. For everyone who thinks the US is really fighting a "war on terror" I say take your head out your ass you ignorant bastard!

Sam, as always your pictures are gems. I truly enjoy visiting this site regularly. For the rest of those who post and who don't know Sam. let me say as a person who has known him for several years, that Sam is one of the most open-minded, considerate, and sensitive people I know. Without doubt, he is a person who can be described as non-racist and against all forms of terror. And as a person who has witnessed the horror of real terror in his life, we could all learn something from his pictures. I believe we should never stop asking ourselves the questions and never allow ourselves to be blinded by the easy-to-digest rhetoric that is often served up by our media and those behind it.

I believe Sam was simply trying to highlight the all-too-often presence of the gatekeeping function in our media and I say 'Bravo'. I do not believe Sam supports any kind of terrorism be it from Israel or the Arab states that surround it.

Steve

man, i saw this coming when i saw these photos...

blind support for either side is foolish, but just the fact that Hezbollah is placing their armaments in civilian territories (remember the Geneva convention?) speaks volumes about only anti-Israel protesters.

yes, war is stupid - but so are these people.

I guess everyone forgot to bring their signs condemning Hezbolla.

Nice photos. It's too bad you've had to censor yourself - free speech is a beautiful thing, and people should understand that we've all got different views. Being right or wrong has never stopped the world's superpowers from fighting terrible wars, so there's no reason it should stop us from expressing how we truly feel.

Photos of this nature like this should include some facial expressions. I'm afraid most of these are from the back of people's heads. They just don't show the anger/emotions of the day.

Sam, nice pictures..

And THANK YOU for expressing your opinion whether I agree with it or not.. It seems a group of people these days are trying to scare people away from voicing their opinions by labling them as anti-semites and terrorists. They want only one type of opinion to be expressed but you just cannot kill ideas.

Your title of this series is wrong, Sam. Your photo shows someone carrying one of the terrorist Hezbollah flags -- so these protestors are not saying no to war. They're saying no to Israel defending itself against the criminals who started a war.

Sam, I love this set. And dugg this before I read the hullaballo in the comments. Too bad your words were misunderstood. And thanks for all the enjoyment I've had from your work over the years.

Lebanon got a X'mas tree on their flag. cool! I am proud to be ignorant and totally subscribe to the notion of terrorism. Someone has to call it something.

"Your photography is great, I love this site and check it every day, but if your political views are what they seem to be, based on this post, you are completely out of touch with reality. Remember that Israel has never started a war it didn't have to in order to protect itself and it's citizens." - Derek

If this is what you think then you are the one out of touch with reality. Israel tries to portray itself that way to sway public opinion in it's favor but that isn't the truth. Israel engages in many false flag operations for this purpose. Some of which are well documented and undeniable. Take a look at the Lavon Affair or the King David Hotel bombing where Israeli soldiers dressed up as Arabs and bombed US, Britsh and Egyptian buildings in order to sway public opinion in their favor against the Arabs. And then we can take a look at Israeli spies trying to find classified US military technology, or them selling the military technology that we've given them to China and India. They aren't nearly as good an ally of the US as they pretend to be. If you really have no knowledge of these things then you have a limited knowledge of 20th century history.

I have no problem with the existence of a Jewish state, but understand, in the late 19th century the Jews were 5% of the population there, many of the Arabs were pushed off land that was their ancestors. How would you feel? And don't give me the "there was no Palestinian country or an official people called Palestine". That same logic could be applied to any country or any group of people. Including us Americans. Every culture and nation started somewhere.

At the same time, I feel for the Jews wanting a nation of their own in a region their ancestors once inhabited. But unfortunately the fact is, Israel has committed more atrocities than we see in media in North America. Go look up Gush Shalom. Many of the Arab countries in the region are responsible for atrocities too. Both groups have blood on their hands in the Middle East conflict. So there probably isn't going to be an easy solution to this sad situation.

How in the hell can people be "pro-war" (?!?!?) I don't understand...

Good shots, but Kevin L makes a good point about facial expressions.

Well done Sam,
Another set of magnificent pictures. I do not understand why people are judging your political views by your pictures.
A photographer shows the world exactly as it is and that's what you have done. Unfortunately it seems that some fenatical Jewish Extrimists are amongst those visiting your photoblog and it's such a shame that they are saying the bunch of lies they heard from their kind of press and media. It is time for them to open their eyes and see the world as it is.
There was no country called Israel about 100 years ago, nobody was born in a land called Israel about 100 years ago and nothing has been written in any history books about a place called Israel at all.
To begin with, yes, Israelies attacked Palestinians and Muslims in particualr to capture their land and homes, so they started the WAR. On this particular occasion, the jewish government has started the attacks and then missiles were launched to retaliate. These jews are really greedy, they want to attack people's homes, kill their children, not to be retaliated and still be clear of any inhumane activities.
I hated to use the word 'JEW' as I have some great jewish friends, all of them agreeeing that what is happening in Lebanon is cruelty and injustice so to blame Israel for what is going on there.
It's a bit disgusting as well to see those girls protesting for their shampoos and drinks, showing that there are still idiots living in this world obsesed with their bloody cosmetics and accessories so precious to them yet meaningless to those are being killed.
Shame on world to have such people and well done to you to show the world how it is.

I normally find your images quite interesting, but these are, to say the least, a disappointment. You would be better serving your viewers by staying out of the political fray. It's a real turn-off.

Call them terrorists, fenatics, fascists.... whatever. Maybe in 50 years, we will learn to call them criminals. People who blow up 100s of unsuspecting people are criminals, that's what they are. The fact that they kill themselves along with their targets make it harder to catch these criminals. But does that make it alright to compromise the lives of defenceless innocents?

The devil does not discriminate. He sits on whatever shoulder that it finds convinient. Just because I saw the devil sitting on the other guy's shoulder a moment ago does not mean he is not sitting on mine this moment. We should always, always keep that in mind.

As to Sam's images, this is perhaps the best thing about photoblogs, it's not quite as controled by the big media. Thanks Sam.

Did you get pictures of the protest against the Hezbollah/Syria/Iran attacks a few weeks ago? before Israel hit back? Exactly. These people aren't against war, only against the West and Israel.

Love your photographs. Shows what ostriches some people are.

As much as I usually like your photography - it was the caption re: the hair gels and shampoos that made me laugh on this day. Good work Sam!

Ok first of all let me say this . KILLING INNOCENT PEOPLE IS WRONG . Be to the name of god or name of freedom . BOTH ARE BULL . Now there in lebonan we have the same situation . First of all some f@@@ed up extrimist in lobenon think by just lunching rockets in Isreal they can achive something . In the other hand a terrorist government is bombing innocent people who have to flee their homes for sake of their childrens safety and call it defending their own right . I am sorry for for decades Isreal was ruled by some mass murderer , sharon .Well dont take this from me go type in sharoon CBC in goegle search engine and read those articles about what he has done in the past . And now that country has no better government . I beleive both sides of the conflict are sick and terrorist . Hezbollah for lunching rockets into Isreal and giving Isreal more reason to bomb innocent people and Isreal killing innocent people with sofisticated weapons . KILLING IS WRONG . No matter who does it or for what reason does it . End of discussion .

'War' is the ugliest, most disgusting, hated and American/Israeli word that we hear every day now-a-days.
I can remember from years ago that the best military boots were Israeli, the best military weapons were Americans and there was no other kind of military goods as good as theirs.
This really makes me think, why should you have the most strong military if you claim that you are the most peaceful nation? Then I think, why should you buy/cumpolsory purchase a huge amount of people's land without informing them, then push them out and call the land yourselves? Would you need some strong military to keep it? And then my logic says 'YES'. I mean I can ask my little boy and he would give me the same answer.
OK, so we can find out the roots to the recent conflicts from so many years ago. This recent WAR in Lebannon started with capturing two Israeli privates and then Israel said we will get them back and untill then we will bomb Lebanon where the soldiers were caught. Why did Israel had to has any military forces in Lebannon anyway? And why when ever there was a negotiation for releasing some jews, there were hundreds of Arabs being traded for? Don't you think it means that Israel's prisons are full of Arabs?
And why should the people of Lebannon have to be punished for what HEZBOLLAH is doing? HIZBOLLAH (god I hate them as much as Israelies) is just a political party who won the most seats in Lebannon Congress just recently, I am just wondering why should Lebannese being punished for this. What did people knew about such things in Qaza? What did those children know about war, politics, religion and hate? Don't you think that little girl who her family was killed by Israeli forces by the sea while having a family picnic, is full og hate now, hate for Jews? God, I would kill as many Jews as I could if that happened to me, wouldn't YOU?
We better open our eyes and see the world in a wider angle as the narrow view of Western Media is not showing the right spot. They show you what they want and it's simply because their bosses, meaning their Government earn their bloody money off selling Weapons of Mass Distruction to the War-Mongers all over the world, that's why they get angry if anybody else can make those kind of weapons or sell them to their customers.
I also think that what would you do if you were desperately sick of Israel's massacres and occupation, sick of having your family died because of Israel's bombing, sick of their segregating 8 meteres Wall beside your home and sick of their propagendas about your nation being fullish, terrorists and un-civil?
Infact, what is the difference between a bomb and a suicider? They both kill people, one has a name and is killed himself too, another one is actually trained to do it over and over again with no name at all.
ISRAEL makes people kill each other, simply because there are some JEWS desperate for money and nothing else means a crap to them, be it poeple's lives.

Christmas Tree on Lebannon's Flag????????????????????????
Boy, these people are really blind, no wonder they can be misleaded by wetern media so easily.

I am disappointed with the lack of understanding many people have about the situation in the Middle East. Some commented that Israel has the right to defend itself. True! Any individual or country has the right to self defence, but when that person or country takes over a land that belongs to someone else we can't blame the victim! (we can certainly disagree with the methods of response - for ex. I completely disagree with suicide bombings or firing rockets on civilians, but we can't blame the victim. We have to help the victims restore their lands and then we can label them terrorists if they continue their actions. But not yet). Give the Palestinians their land back and take away the Israeli oppression over the Palestinian people and I guarantee you no more suicide bombs or rockets on civilians.
For all of those who commented that Hizballa is a terrorist organization I have to disagree with you and point out a fact that Hizballa was born in 1982 in response to the complete Israeli invasion of Lebanon that year. Hizballa are not Iranians or Syrians proxies. Hizballa is made of some 20% of the Lebanese population. They get their support from Syria and Iran. True. So what?! Israel gets its support from the United States. So what? In addition to weapons, tons of air jet fuel were shipped to Israel from the States a few days before the attack on Lebanon. How come no one comments on that!
The situation in the Middle East is much more complex than what it looks like in media. And we are unfortunately uninformed and mislead by the media. Let me give you an example: The next time you watch news and see images of Palestinians throwing rocks or firing on Israeli soldiers watch for the language the reporters use. They will most likely say “Israel retaliated to an attack from Palestinians”. When you’re done listening to the news go ahead and do some research on the area where the fighting took place and you will most likely find out that it was on Palestinian soil that Israel took over illegally (beyond the 67 borders). So the truth is that those Palestinians were defending their land and not “attacking” Israel. And the Israeli were “oppressing” and not “retaliating”. Here’s another ex: Can you name one Lebanese or Palestinian currently in Israeli prison? I bet you can’t. While you’ve watched enough documentaries and read many stories on the two Israeli soldiers kidnapped by Hizballa! And I’m sure you can name their family dog by now. Why? They’re all human beings! But through North American media Palestinians are ghosts.
Just watch for these little things because unfortunately many North Americans are misled by North American Media. If you really want the truth go and talk to the people. Listen to their stories. Many Israelis disagree with what their government is doing to the Palestinian people and many Palestinian stories are left untold. Peace.

Sam,
Bravo for posting controversial pictures! Be political, it's your forum to post whatever you want. Both the people in these pictures and you are exercising free speech.
I liked that you, for the most part, didn't show any faces. I think it alludes to the anonymity of war and violence. Showing the back of a protest is also counter to what the media would show (angry faces yelling into the camera).
Keep on clicking!

Great pictures, they always are. I find reading posts on issues like this so sad and scary. There seem to be way more radical people on both sides than people with a balanced view.

I hope you never stop posting images of this nature because of the political implications.

This is to all the people on this comment page who have condemned islamic terrorism be it by Hezbollah, Hamas or individual palestinian suicide bombers: GET YOUR FACTS STRAIGHT! Why don't you people pick up a history book on Israel or at least research it on a balanced site like wikipedia or something.

Israel is a terrorist state! It was a terrorist state from the get-go because its very establishment came about through terrorism. Why don't you people read about the bombing of the King David Hotel and the Semiramis Hotel in Jerusalem in 1947!

The bombing of the King David Hotel was not provoked by any event. No Jews were being attacked or killed. The hotel was merely the headquarter for the British Mandate of Palestine's administrative wing. The motivation behind this was to force the British authorities to leave Palestine so that the Jewish authority can take over. And it worked because it caused such a huge public outcry back in Britain that the government had to pull out of Palestine and leave the Arabs to the mercy of Jews. We all see how great that turned out.

The King David attack was orchestrated by a militant Zionist offshoot of the Haganah called Irgun and what's interesting is that the 6th Israeli Prime Minsiter Menachim Begin was the leader of Irgun at the time of the bombing!!! You may also look up the bombing of the Semiramis Hotel in the Jerusalem in 1947 which was a completely unprovoked action by the Haganah itself!!!

Israel has been a terrorist state from day one and so have been its leaders. It continues to commit state terrorism on stolen land. So please get your facts straight! You'll keep hearing your biased one-sided media report out of Jerusalem for a long time to come believe me because NO JUSTICE = NO PEACE!

Sam & Others,

This is your site Sam. Post WHATEVER in the heck you want to. Feel free to post WHATEVER images or comments that you want to.

Anyone that uses labels and insults (terrorist, brainless, idiotic, cowards, to name a few from people's comments) is attempting to silence discussion and thought.

Now for today's photos & subject:

Excellent images. Cool to see so many different people out in the streets, taking time and effort to express their thoughts.

Now I have a few questions. Which country in the middle east:
-Is the only one with nuclear weapons (and hasn't signed the NPT)?
-Is the only one to invade, and occupy surrounding nations(Palestine, Lebanon, Syria) for dozens of years?
-Claims to be democratic yet denies representation to millions of people in lands it occupies and elects indicted war criminals?
-Awards automatic citizenship to people born anywhere in the world while barring natives from citizenship, all based on their religion?
-Receives more $ from US taxpayers per year than all of sub-sahran Africa combined?
-Has the most high tech weapons like F-16s, Apaches & "smart" bombs yet manages to kill ten times as many civilians as a militia firing low tech unguided rockets?

This sh*t wasn't started one month ago when Hizbollah caputured some Israeli soldiers. Our memory needs to go back further than only one month.

"War never solved anything."

You mean except for Fascism, Communism and slavery.

You are a leader in the photoblog community and someone that people look up to. Do not be afraid to voice your opinion. You may not always be "right" according to the critics but really, who is?

There will always be people that misunderstand and people that don't agree. In the end, one can only hope to encourage intelligent discussion, be it with words or with images.

The worst enemy of the jewish people is not Islam.
Nor nazism.

The worst enemy of the jewish people is zionism.

And the best America's friend is not Israel.
It's only a political business : Whithout war and victimization, no dollars to take from the US, no weapons to sell to Israel and arab countries.

When americans understand this "friend" is a manipulator, it will be the end of zionism.

Democracy in the arab countries ? It would be a catastrophy for Bush and zionists ! They prefer to choose and support their own lovely dictators, to control Petrol.

It "worked" a century.

Here we are.

Sam this is great. I am so happy that you posted these pictures to bring out your viewers' political views. It seems that everybody claims to love beauty of things, but when it comes to show them the ugliness of the fact that people are being killed by some fenatic, terrorist and criminals they don't like it. They think it's wrong. They think the world is as beautiful as they were shown.
The World is beuatiful, yes, but without terrorists, without criminals, without murderers and without occupiers.
Defending your home-land is a must for everybody, but when there isn't a land called yours, you can not and must not force people to accept your occupation of that land.
I hate killing, I detest it, but it really disgust me when they say Israeli Forces retaliated Lebanese rocket attacks. When they showed last night that just minutes before cease fire Israeli forces bombed some more empty houses and their tanks were still shooting cities to the last second of their dead lines it really made me angry as it was showing hatred and not retaliating. When BBC was showing that jewish people came out of their most safe sheds wich was apparently a sufisticated concrete bomb shed made specially for these purposes with all kind of furniture, it made me angry. The Jews are well prepared for WAR and they were actually really angry last night in their Congress for they did not achieve what they paid for and Ehude Olmert was talking about 'Next Time'. Who is an invader here? Who is the terrorist here?
And by the way, why is it that despite all the ignorance and denies, all the news cahnnels, websites and papers are showing pictures of protests against Israel WAR but not against Hizbollah's?
I have to confirm again that I do not like any terrorist group be it Muslim or Jew, but don't you think Jewish government is not as peace admirer as they claim to be?
Sam, we love your work and what ever you show us is great, be it about beauty or ugliness of our world. Thank you.

I love it that people on here are making fun of the guys behind the police line on roller skates "ready to escape." To those folks I ask, escape what? The other, larger group of protestors are supposedly tree-hugging, anti-war, peace lovers, so what would the other side be running from? A hug?

To the brainiac that came up with the innocent shampoo sign, get a frickin' clue. What a poor reference to something that is protecting her skanky butt everyday.

Wake-up Canada! You won't feel so bad for the terrorists when they do something in your great country. Until then, stay home and um, wash your greasy hair. No one is banning you from using your shampoo there!

thanx Sam I was in this event against this bloody war. Our world needs observers like you. The protest was against WAR!!! Israel do not care about 1949 agreement. "The truth is that if tomorrow all the Arab states put down their weapons, there would be no more war. If tomorrow Israel put down all its weapons, there would be no more Israel."
What does this mean? who is the real killer?
Israel should kill people and use watever they want against humanity and others must seat and see wat they do against people?
they are not doing better than German killers

Oops, the correct spelling is 'hullabaloo' ;)

Sam,

I agree with some of the posters... you need to stay away from political commentary. That will only hurt your site and peoples perception of you. Remember, almost every "issue" has at least 2 sides. If you alienate 1 side, you have the potential to lose half your audience.

I don't say this to be mean but:

I love your site and visit it quite often, but I come here for your eye for good pictures, not your views on world events.

Thanks

From the distance of Australia (whose forces are part of "The Willing" in Iraq), I had thought that Canada had kept clear of that? Was I mistaken? Or have things just changed recently?

PS: The village mostly spelt Qana in current reports is spelt Cana in most English versions of the New Testament (John:2,1-11).

I cannot believe some of the idiot comments that I have read on this particular series of photos. First of all, Hezballah started the war on Iran's orders. Israel had every right to defend itself. There was no occupied land in Lebanon before Hezballah started this. Now there is again. Ain't Israel's fault. If you wanna argue otherwise, bugger off, cause I'm tired of explaining to pinheads. Oh, and as for Qana, have you been living under a rock, or have you not seen all the of staging that was being done there by the Hezb's? I'm talking about photography manipulation, staging of bodies, parading dead children from photoshoot to photoshoot. The number of bodies originally reported were not the number that were eventually found at Qana. Oh, and there would not have been any strike on Qana if not for the Hezballah guerillas firing from an occupied building. They knew innocents were there and sacrificed them for propoganda purposes. If you're too effing dense to realize this, then go play on some railroad tracks, cause this idiocy has got to stop. It was idiots like the Hezb sympathizers who cheered Neville Chamberlain, too. As for the two anti-anti-war protestors wearing skates, do you know how many anti-anti-war protester have been attacked in England, the States, and Canada by the so called "peace activists"?

I am sorry that I am going to write this, but as this guy is really out of this world, infact just came out of ITS cave, and as ITS comments are really insulting to those were killed during the past month in Lebanon I have to say this:
Dear 'Descolada9'(if that's the way you prefer to be called), get your resources checked once again, 'cose you seem to have a very wrong information about everything. DO not trust your media, 'cose they do not give you the right information. Go and see it for yourself. Think about things you are saying and use your logic. How could the numbers of innocent people being killed in Qana be wrong? Do you think it's just the bodies they find count or number of missing people with birth certificates? Have you ever seen a man being turned to dust by a bomb explosion? What was the most scary situation you were in, at movies? How many picture of dead bodies have you seen from Israel's side? Can you compare them to what has happened in Lebanon? Even if Hizbollah was hiding in an occupied building with all the civilians in it, do you think it's right to kill those innocents for sake of getting rid of a few probable Hizbollah people? What about the Red Cross camp being shut by Israel on purpose? Was it a shelter for Hizbollah as well? What about all the help being barred by Israel to let more people suffer and die because of their innocense? What about Temporary Cease fire being broken by Israel? How can you say Hizbollah started the war by Iran's order? Where the hell did you get this crap information from? Even monkey-faced Bush could not say it this straight, so where do you get your news from? And who do you think you are to call people pinheads? What you try to say is a bunch of lies you were told with no official references and apprently being pinned to your own head, I know it's difficult to get rid of them but don't try it on us.
BBC was reporting the number of deads officially filed every night, and quite shocking number of lebanese dead bodies was always about 10 times more than Israelies, and bare in mind that those were innocent people. Occupation is Israel's task and for that they are prepared to kill more and more, be it Arabs or Christians. Israel is based on occuopation and is created by occupation. There was not such a country in early 20th century.
You better have read some books before you wanted to express any ideas which are all crap anyway.
Sam, I, as well as so many others, am so proud of your photos, site and opinions. If you are going to lose some of your audience because of expressing your views, let it be. We are leaving in a real world and let the real facts lead our lives. I come here for your good eye for good photos and I know you are not a ROBOT so you have some opinions and where else is beter to express your views than your won home and this is your home. I must appreciate your opinions when I come to your home without invitation, even if I don't agree with them. I, persoanlly, prefer to have a few good fellas around rather than thousands of enemies.
I adore your phot-blog and I know it is for a reason that it's rulling the world.
Keep on clicking mate.

Wow! Sam - can you calculate words per comment for this entry? :-)

question: How could the numbers of innocent people being killed in Qana be wrong?

answer: Truck in dead children from the local morgue. of course, they'll have rigor mortis, lividity, and no rubble dust, which is obvious in photographs & to the honest observer. but at least the body count is higher.

question: how to guarantee more lebanese are killed than israelis?

answer: hide your ammo in schools & hospitals and fire from occupied buildings and UN posts so that if you die, at least 50 innocents die with you. and if the building you're in isn't hit (like you had been planning), blow it up yourself & blame it on israel. add cadavers as necessary.

and if you don't like the answers, just keep listening to Al Jazeera & they'll tell you everything you want to hear, so you don't have to worry yourself about the truth.

sorry that your photoblog (wonderful, btw) as been turned into a political forum, sam. sign of the times, i guess.

Sam, when i posted I had no idea that such a fury would erupt. Of course as a photographer and artist ( both of which hats you wear with equal aplomb), I am amazed that the folks who will never believe that Israel has a place in the Middle East will go to never ending efforts to justify the acts of Hezbolla. They almost sound like Americian Republicans when they rail agaist the reporting in the press.. It is intresting that for the hawks in the US the press is ruled by the liberal left wing establishment, yet to the "oppressed in the middle east" clearly the press is OWNED by the RIGHT WING of the American collective conscience. A CONTRIDICTION that is perhaps indicitive of the deep roots of this conflict. With the exception of the Islamic world, Israel is a real country, with border and citizens, Untill such time as ISLAM comes to grips with that reality, innocents on both sides will be lost to the ignorace of intolerace.
I believe it was Cicero who said " I never knew a Good War, or A Bad PEACE. If Lebanon and the rest of the ARAB world would ACCEPT ISRAEL as a Neibhbor some day We can beat our swords into Plowshares. Untill then Israel will need to either stay armed and ready to STRIKE or simply fold its tent and wander back into the Sinai Desert.. OH THEN THE EGYTPIANS would come after them.. Catch 22... or should we do as some suggest.. Move ISREAL to GERMANY..

both are guilty. we just need peace.

It is rediculous that people still think Israel is a real country with borders and ciizens. Don't get me wrong, in the new world gorvenmental maps there is a place called Israel and Yes, there are people living in that land. However, I am just wondering where was this country till about 60-70 years ago? Where were these people living? Why on earth there isn't any old map with Israel's name and borders on it? Did it have anything to do with Islamic World? Why is it that Jewsih people can not accept their land is an occupied land, not a 'promisd land' so to leave it to those they steal it from? Why don't they go back to where ever they come from, so to leave people of the world in peace? Why should Islamic World who is the victim of Israel's occupation accept this cruelty and forgets all its killed-for-the-same-reason people and moves on? So the homeless, countyless, rootless Jews, who their very own prophet cursed them to be like that, have a place to live? Why could it not happen the other way around? I refer to somebody called Seymour C. on this very same column when he says: "With the exception of the Islamic world, Israel is a real country, with border and citizens, Untill such time as ISLAM comes to grips with that reality, innocents on both sides will be lost to the ignorace of intolerace." This sounds like a strict rule with no humanity in it that Israel must be accepted by everyone in the world and untill then we kill and yes being killed. Is that what you mean by peace?
I am so so so so so so sorry for myself for living in such a time and very much more sorry for my little baby to be living in a worse world that I used to live, when it comes to his time.
I and surely the others who were defending innocent people's killings, am not supporting Hizbullah and any stupid political and religious group, be it Muslim, Jewish or Christian. I love people and when innocents are killed my heart hurts. I have lived in both sides of the world. You have to be lived there to fully understand of what is going on in Middle East. People of Middle East, just like other people of the world have eyes, ears and hands. They walk, talk and live. They eat, drink and dance. They love, marry and die. They are exactly like you, me and others. They might have more of a brain it seems, if you look at US's top scientific positions. They are People. What you don't know about those people is that their hearts are more pure and sensitive as yours. That's why they cry for weeks when somebody dies, unlikely to you who will have a funeral and a drink after. That's why they don't tollerate invasion of their country, because they love their country, they adore it, they call it their 'mother's land', so to love it more and more, unlikely to Israelies who never say where they are from.
It seems that you Western people think Middle-Easterns are not human. I really don't know what you think of them, but what ever you think is wrong. This might not be your fault, but your politicians exactly want you to think like that.
People, and I mean ordinary people are the last thing any politicians think about, the most obvious politician in this line is George W Bush, who was smiling on first day of Israel attack on Lebanon. He was smiling 'cose he knew money had started to role in, on the other hand he was grumpy and frowned on the Cease Fire day, 'cose he knew money has stopped.
Can you tell me where is Bin Ladan who America was after in Afghanistan? Don't you think if they really wanted to find him, they couldn't? Can you tell me where were Iraq's Weapoins of Mass Desruction? Don't you think they were just some lies to have another WAR?
Reading is good, thinking is better, using your logic means you have a brain to think right and having a chance to see people and talk to the real victims is the best thing to do, should you have a chance to do it. People are always around you, so you don't need to go to Lebanon to see them.

Dear Syemour C., I do appologise for my terrible mistake. I have to correct myself and reffer my statemnet to Al who wrote the 58th comment on August 18 here.

It's a great shame that many are DISCONNECTED from realities of the world.Sad that their reality is clouded by the biased view of the media, twisting the truth, manipulate and "brain wash" the masses into believing what they want them to believe.
I urge all of you to read more and at least surf the net for the news on both sides before you jump to conlusions.
Sam, thanks for your blog. An artist should not be gagged because of his views.There are many oppressive regimes who do that around the world.

I'm intreged by one of the placards in your first photo in this set. "My shampoo is innocent". What's that all about then?