John,

I don't see that the photo is "clearly doctored" or that taking the particular photo would be unusual in any way.

This is a courageous act of non-violent civil disobediance; it's the very sort of thing that activists would take a picture of in order to tell the story eternal story of Resistance Against Oppression.

If you had been standing there with a camera, standing where the photographer was, would you have considered taking this picture? Would you have said to yourself, "Hey look, US activists are placing their bodies in the way of Israeli bulldozers in order to protect Palestinian homes. That might make a decent picture to show other people." Well... you make up your own mind; I would have taken that picture.

As for your assertion that the image is "clearly doctored," I do not agree. While I can see how you might consider such, there are simple and reasonable explanations other than manipulation.

1)Grass/Brush Height: can vary considerably within a given area due to many factors. Here, it appears that the dirt in the foreground has been upturned recently, which would explain the particularly short grass on top of it. The background does not appear to have been upturned, so the grass there could easily be much higher.

2) Also, since the foreground dirt is raised, it causes a visual obstruction of the subjects' feet. Variations in dirt height could easily account for differing amounts of feet/legs visible.

While the above points do not "prove" that the photo was not doctored, they DO provide simple and reasonable explanations in support of a non-manipulated image.