Selfie with Bodies of ISIS Terrorists Sparks Controversy in Tunisia, Criticism of Al-Jazeera TV and Qatar

A selfie of Tunisian soldiers posing with the dead bodies of ISIS terrorists, posted online on March 7, following the lethal Ben Gardane clashes, sparked controversy in the Tunisian media. Tunisian reporter Fatime Triki, who works for the Qatari Al-Jazeera network, criticized the Tunisian soldiers. "What kind of fodder do they feed them?" she wrote on her Facebook page. In response, Nessma TV host Borhane Bsaïes lashed out at Triki and her Qatari employers, questioning their professional ethics.

Host: "I've quoted the comments by (Tunisian) journalist (Fatima Tiriki), who works for the Al-Jazeera network. She wrote that no matter what, she adheres to here professional ethics. She means the profession of wars. She wrote that in wars, regular armies must not carry out ethic transgressions. She considered a selfie taken by a group of our soldiers, with bodies of (ISIS) terrorists in the background, to be a great catastrophe and something unheard of in professional armies. Who knows? Perhaps she was referring to the army of Qatar, where she lives. Maybe in the Qatari army they are not used to taking such selfies. Or maybe she was referring to the military of the United States, the great democracy, which beat up many journalists at the Al-Udeid Air Base, which is located not very far from the Doha-based Al-Jazeera network. Perhaps they taught Al-Jazeera reporters the ethics of professional coverage, and how to make comments about the armies of their own countries.

"Regardless of what the soldiers did, the timing obscures the content in this case. Regardless of what the soldiers did... Let's assume they were wrong in doing it, but when she writes (on her FB account): 'what kind of fodder they feed them,' it means she is treating them as animals. These people are fighting to protect your family, your children, your home, your land, and your honor, yet you refer to them as animals, as cattle, in the name of empty and stupid professionalism. I challenge you to talk about professionalism with regard to the Al-Udeid Air Base, which was used to bomb Iraq and Lebanon, and which supplies cruise missiles to all the warships, which bomb our innocent people. You talk nonsense so you'd better keep your mouths shut. You must not talk about these soldiers, who are the best, noblest, purest, and bravest. We are sitting in front of a camera, but they have their finger on the trigger, in order to defend us, our families, our children, and the land of our forefathers."