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Palestinian media company says Benny Gantz ‘stole’ Gaza destruction footage

January 28, 2019 at 1:23 pm

A man rides a bicycle past a political campaign poster of former Israeli chief of staff Benny Gantz, in Jerusalem, on 28 January 2019. [THOMAS COEX/AFP/Getty Images]

A Gaza-based Palestinian media company has accused Israeli electoral candidate Benny Gantz of stealing footage for a campaign video, reported +972 Magazine.

“Media Town” said that Gantz – who was Israeli military chief during “Operation Protective Edge” in the summer of 2014 – used video shot by the company without permission to boast of the destruction wreaked on the occupied Gaza Strip during the unprecedented offensive.

According to the report, “the company published a post on Facebook accusing Gantz of stealing their footage and publishing it on his social media accounts. Media Town further claimed they were the only company to have flown a drone over Gaza during the war.”

READ: Gantz’ election videos shouldn’t come as a surprise 

“It is difficult to see a video in which Gantz takes pride in destruction and killing,” said Ashraf Mashrawi. “It has nothing to do with where I am from, it has to do with basic humanity. A moral person must want to build and create life, not the opposite.”

He added: “It’s not nice when your work is stolen, it’s copyright infringement. Anyone who respects other people’s labour must first ask us for permission.”

Asked to comment, spokespeople for Gantz’s newly-founded Israel Resilience Party “initially said they were not aware of Media Town’s claims. They later chose not to respond, yet never said they purchased the video footage.”

Mashrawi said he also demanded YouTube remove the video but has yet to receive a response from the company. “Usually they take down the video within a few hours, but it has been two days and they have still not answered us.”