Sandy Hook Victim Photo Used to Memorialize Pakistani School Massacre
“We owe it to our coming generations to eliminate this scourge of terror, for once and for all.”.-Pakistani Army Chief of Staff, General Raheel Sharif
Several photographs of children allegedly killed in a December 16, 2014 Taliban attack on the Pakistani Army Public School and Degree College in Peshawar include a familiar image of one “Noah Pozner,” the youth who was also purportedly shot to death on December 14, 2012 at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown Connecticut.
[Image Credit: aworldatschool.org(1)]
The above photo collage appeared at public memorials for the children and circulated thereafter in several foreign media outlets, including the BBC[2]. In the assemblage (bottom center) the Sandy Hook massacre’s Noah Pozner is the Pakistani Army Public School massacre’s “Huzaifa Huxaifa.”
Several photographs of children allegedly killed in a December 16, 2014 Taliban attack on the Pakistani Army Public School and Degree College in Peshawar include a familiar image of one “Noah Pozner,” the youth who was also purportedly shot to death on December 14, 2012 at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown Connecticut.
[Image Credit: aworldatschool.org(1)]
The above photo collage appeared at public memorials for the children and circulated thereafter in several foreign media outlets, including the BBC[2]. In the assemblage (bottom center) the Sandy Hook massacre’s Noah Pozner is the Pakistani Army Public School massacre’s “Huzaifa Huxaifa.”
“By the time the
hours-long siege at Army Public School and Degree College ended early
Tuesday evening,” CNN reported on Wednesday, December 17, “at least 145
people — 132 children, 10 school staff members and three soldiers — were
dead, military spokesman Gen. Asim Bajwa said. More than 100 were
injured, many with gunshot wounds, according to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
province Information Minister Mushtaq Ghani. ‘They started shooting
indiscriminately,’ Bajwa said, ‘and that’s where maximum damage was
caused.’”[3]
CNN also played a central
role in publicizing the Sandy Hook massacre. The emergence and apparent
use of the well-known photo to memorialize the December 16 Taliban
school attack victims calls into question the authenticity of both
events.
The photos of Pozner and Soto also appear on the Pakistani Army Public School Peshawar Massacre Memorial Facebook page, which has received over 18,000 “Likes” as of January 2.
Pakistan’s political and
military leaders have seized upon the mid-December incident to force
through drastic measures targeting political prisoners and
anti-government militants. One day after the massacre event the
Pakistani government led by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif cited the event
as it lifted a six-year moratorium on capital punishment in a vow “to
eliminate terrorists in Pakistan irrespective of whether they targeted
it or neighboring Afghanistan or India,” McClatchey News reports.
“Officials said those 23 terrorists would be executed within days, and
they’re likely to be followed by dozens more hangings at prisons around
the country.” Pakistan presently has over 3,000 prisoners on death
row.[4]
On December 26 Pakistan’s politicians lifted formal constraints on
the army to pursue a two year military campaign against “Islamist
terrorists.” “We owe it to our coming generations to eliminate this
scourge of terror, for once and for all,” army chief of staff General
Raheel Shariftold advised political leaders gathered at the prime
minster’s residence. Almost immediately following the December 16
massacre, Shariftold advised “unchallengeable powers for the military to
pursue, detain and pass verdict on Islamist militants and their
abettors.”[5]
Notes
[1] “Tributes to Peshawar Teachers Who ‘Paid With Blood for Sake of Education,’” A World at School, December 19. 2014.
[2] “Busted: BBC Taliban Report Contain’s Sandy Hook’s ‘Noah,’” Jay’s Analysis, January 1, 2015.
[3] Sophia Saifi and Grego Botelho, “In Pakistan School Attack, Taliban Terrorists Kills 145, Mostly Children,” CNN, December 17, 2014.
[4] Tom Hussain, “Pakistan’s Gallows Await 3,000 Convicted Terrorists; First Will Hang Within Days,” McClatchy News, December 18, 2014.
[5] Tom Hussain, “Pakistan Military Wins Free Reign Against Terrorists,” McClatchy News, December 26, 2014.
About the author:
James Tracy is an educator located in South Florida. His work on media history, politics and culture has appeared in a wide variety of academic journals, edited volumes, and alternative news and opinion outlets. Tracy is also an affiliate of Project Censored. Additional analyses and commentaries are accessible at memoryholeblog.com.
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www.globalresearch.ca contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available to our readers under the provisions of "fair use" in an effort to advance a better understanding of political, economic and social issues. The material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving it for research and educational purposes. If you wish to use copyrighted material for purposes other than "fair use" you must request permission from the copyright owner.
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