{"id":9870,"date":"2014-07-13T18:00:23","date_gmt":"2014-07-13T18:00:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wilayah.info\/en\/?p=9870"},"modified":"2014-07-13T18:00:23","modified_gmt":"2014-07-13T18:00:23","slug":"twitter-uproar-over-pic-of-applauding-israelis-watching-night-attacks-on-gaza","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wilayah.info\/en\/twitter-uproar-over-pic-of-applauding-israelis-watching-night-attacks-on-gaza\/","title":{"rendered":"Twitter uproar over pic of ‘applauding’ Israelis watching night attacks on Gaza"},"content":{"rendered":"

An image of Israelis in Sderot who gathered on a hill to watch and celebrate Gaza being bombed has gone viral on Twitter. The photo posted by a Danish journalist caused uproar online.<\/p>\n

Allan S\u00f8rensen, the Middle Eastern correspondent for the Danish newspaper Kristeligt Dagblad, said that he took the image on Wednesday in Sderot, a city about two kilometers from Gaza.<\/p>\n

Sderot cinema. Israelis bringing chairs 2 hilltop in sderot 2
\nwatch latest from Gaza. Clapping when blasts are heard.
\npic.twitter.com\/WYZquV62O7<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Allan S\u00f8rensen (@allansorensen72)
\nJuly 9, 2014<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

in just a few days the scandalous image has gathered about 8,500 retweets.<\/p>\n

The picture sparked confusion and outrage among social media users, with many questioning the morality of making a scene of murder a public spectacle and celebrating it.<\/p>\n

@allansorensen72<\/a>
\nshame on them. Those lights are killing inocent people!<\/p>\n

\u2014 Muly (@muly_) July
\n10, 2014<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

@allansorensen72<\/a> If
\nthis is true then God help us all. What’s become of the human
\nrace?<\/p>\n

\u2014 baydu.co.za (@Baydu) July
\n10, 2014<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

@allansorensen72<\/a>@MusaratZAhmed<\/a>
\nsickening!<\/p>\n

\u2014 Rizwan Shafiq (@rizshafiq) July
\n10, 2014<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\n

One more user commented that people like those in the picture were \u201cencouraging a culture of death.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n

The newspaper\u2019s follow-up\u00a0article\u00a0on Friday described the scene in details where over 50 people had gathered for a\u00a0\u201cparty.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cThe hill has been transformed into something that most closely resembles the front row of a reality war theatre. It offers a direct view of the densely populated Gaza Strip,\u201d<\/em>\u00a0wrote the paper\u2019s Middle Eastern correspondent Nikolaj Krak.<\/p>\n

The article said that while the majority of the 25,000 residents of Sderot hid in their homes in fear of another attack from Gaza, others brought chairs and sofas to watch Israeli night airstrikes while enjoying pop-corn, hookah and chit-chatting.<\/p>\n

“We are here to see Israel destroy Hamas,\u201d<\/em>\u00a0Eli Chone, a 22-year-old American living in Israel told Kristeligt Dagblad. He then pointed to a dot of light in the sky explaining that,\u00a0\u201cit is a fighter who is about to dive. This means that it is about to shoot.”
\n<\/em>
\nFollowing the airstrike the spectators on the hill started cheering, and \u201csolid applause<\/em>\u201d followed, the Danish correspondent wrote.<\/p>\n