Prisoners were blindfolded but soldier was blind to professionalism

Eden Aberjil, a soldier in the Israeli army, was punished by her superiors after sensitive material was discovered on her Facebook account. The images that were published on the soldier's account show bound and blindfolded Palestinian prisoners in scenes with Aberjil after they were captured. The ethical outrage these photographs sparked stems from the inferences that can be made from the soldier's demeanour in relation to the prisoner's. In the photographs Aberjil is displaying positive emotion, despite the reality of the situation she is in and the responsibility she has to exercise discretion when involved in the management of prisoners.

Comments that were attributed to the photographs reveal a casual exchange of humour between Aberjil and a friend in reference to her and the prisoners. An excerpt from the comments marks Aberjil's career with an indelible stain – "Ha ha, what a day that was, see how he completes my picture. I wonder if he's on Facebook! I have to tag him in the photo!" – it can be seen to embody the contentious relationship between the Israeli occupying force in the West Bank and the Palestinians who live there, although it fails to present overt abuse or gratuitous hatred towards the prisoners, making the meaning especially dubious in this context.

For Israeli soldiers operating in the West Bank it is commonplace to convert the negative into the positive, but this mostly translates into abusive behaviour when third parties are witness to it. The reproduction of this negative mentality owes its survival to the nature of the Israeli occupation; the territory dispute that carries significant religious weight is a constant source of frustration for those on both opposing sides of the occupation. The landlocked West Bank is perceived by the Israeli authorities as its property, which is a state of national mind that filters through into direct interaction between the separate peoples, the Palestinians in the West Bank continually coming off worse.

This recent case of prisoner abuse is not in the same vein as the infamous depravity illustrated by American forces in Abu Ghraib prison back in 2004, but nevertheless it acts as a sombre reminder of the need for professionalism at all times when dealing with human rights in the media. In the 21^st Century, where globalisation and technology have induced a bittersweet advancement beyond the traditional face-to-face aspect of human nature, human rights has never been so pertinent. Establishing the wellbeing of an individual in this way is a commitment that transcends the rush of information that could potentially leave an innocent person behind. The hands of the media locked onto this general truth years ago, but its ears are still attuned to those two divine bywords for instant legitimate journalism. On their own they stand disinteresting and unpopular, but combined they attract the eyes of audiences and stimulate a buzz so strong it can dominate entire nations, usually in an unfavourable sense.

It is for this reason that when dealing with the treatment of people who come under your country's occupation you must remind yourself to behave accordingly, professionally, wisely. The ignorance Eden Aberjil portrayed when she used her photographs as comical detail in conversation is symptomatic of a particular type of discrimination that is native to Palestine, but concurrently it reflects the growing attitude of apathy towards the relentless media machine that can turn an ostensibly innocuous photograph or statement into the pillory of a person's reputation.

Combat personnel like Eden Aberjil working in occupied Palestinian territory will be expected to act as if Palestinians are not human because this is the mindset of a soldier, to dehumanise the enemy is what makes shooting them bearable for these men and women. The fact of the matter is that Miss Aberjil may well have not considered the consequences of displaying these otherwise neutral photographs of her working conditions, but people in positions of power must remind themselves that the media will enable others to view and judge, and in cases like this the judgements from critics are not positive but life-threatening.