Subscribe to Print Edition | Sat., February 02, 2008 Shvat 26, 5768 | | Israel Time: 13:57 (EST+7)
Haaretz israel news English
web haaretz.com
  Back to Homepage
Rosner's Domain
Diplomacy
Defense Jewish World Opinion National
Print Edition
Advertising
Books Arts & Leisure Business Real Estate Easy Start Travel Week's End Anglo File
Last update - 07:16 02/10/2007
GPO head: Death of Gazan aged 12 was staged
By Barak Ravid and Haaretz Service
Tags: al-Dura, Israel, shooting 

The September 2000 death of Palestinian child Mohammed Al Dura in the Gaza Strip was staged by a Gaza cameraman, Government Press Office (GPO) Director Daniel Seaman said Monday.

Seaman made the comments in an official letter, representing the Prime Minister's Office, in response to demands he strip France 2 journalists of their GPO credentials. France 2 had broadcast the original footage of Al-Dura's death on September 30, 2000, the second day of the Second Intifada.

The Prime Minister's Bureau said it had not received Seaman's letter, did not know of its contents nor did it grant its approval. However, it seems that the Prime Minister's Office's legal adviser approved the letter.
Advertisement
Seaman also wrote that "Israel was accused of murdering a small child after the event by the world press and his image has been burned into the collective Arab memory as a symbol of the brutality of the Zionist state."

Following a summary of the incident and the events that followed, Seaman wrote, "Here began the long path to exposing the truth and to base the facts that are known to us today, that the events of that day were essentially staged by the network's cameraman in Gaza, Mr. Tilal
Abu-Rehama."

Seaman nonetheless refused to strip the network of its GPO credentials. The disturbing images of Mohammed Al-Dura's death were shown around the world. In the France 2 report, the boy and his father cower in front of a wall amid a furious exchange of fire between Israeli forces and Palestinian militants at the Netzarim junction in Gaza.

The report shows the father gesturing to try to stop the shooting  then cuts to a shot of the motionless boy slumped in his father's lap. The report said the gunfire had come from nearby Israeli positions, though the circumstances remain in dispute.

The IDF initially said the gunfire apparently came from Israeli positions. But a military investigation subsequently determined he could have been hit by Palestinian bullets in an exchange of fire.

In recent years Israel has avoided relating to the incident, mostly because of the Foreign Ministry's recommendation that renewed handling of the affair would not help Israel's image in any case.

In 2005, five years after the shooting, the Prime Minister's Bureau refused Seaman's proposal to publish an official stance denying responsibility for Al-Dura's death.

Last month, a French court ordered France 2 to release unedited 7-year-old footage of Al-Dura's death for renewed investigations into the incident.

The court launched new hearings in the legal dispute between France 2 and Philippe Karsenty, a self-described media watchdog, who has accused the network and its Israel correspondent, Charles Enderlin, of staging the shooting.

Enderlin and the TV network filed a libel suit against Karsenty, and a Paris judge ruled in their favor last year.

Shurat Hadin Israel Law Center said it will petition the High Court of Justice to revoke all press cards and permits the GPO issued to Israel-based France 2 workers, unless the network admits that the report was staged and edited with prejudice.

Shurat Hadin is also considering filing a tort action against the network for the cumulative damage the report caused in the form of terror attacks and riots it provoked.
Bookmark to del.icio.us  
 
Blogging against bias
Online activists look to counter anti-Israel bias by posting 'bad news blogs' from other states.
Gaza divides U.K. Jews
A group of Jewish activists says Israeli policy in Gaza violates international law.
  1.   feeble attempt at whitewash 01:40  |  Josh Goldman 02/10/07
  2.   DUTCH, Nat.; What will your comment be if the murder was staged? 01:45  |  Murray of Montreal 02/10/07
  3.   `Staged` 02:01  |  jjvanka 02/10/07
  4.   You Cannot Believe Israel - Israel Kills Children Daily 02:04  |  Mr. Knowitall 02/10/07
  5.   #1 Josh Goldman (I`ll bet) 02:09  |  * BEN JABO 02/10/07
  6.   to #1 - Josh 02:17  |  Paul 02/10/07
  7.   Europen media - pathological liars 02:32  |  Mark Bernadiner 02/10/07
  8.   JOSH GOLDMAN 02:41  |  JOJO 02/10/07
  9.   Mr KNOWITALL 02:46  |  JOJO 02/10/07
  10.   The bigger picture 02:47  |  Fortuna Benmayor 02/10/07
  11.   B`TSELEM SAYS ZIONISTS KILLED 854 non-jewish kids 02:48  |  Ron 02/10/07
  12.   Information you don`t know... 02:57  |  even 02/10/07
  13.   Where is the blood??? 02:58  |  Dr. Jack 02/10/07
  14.   to mr,knowitall 03:03  |  charlie 02/10/07
  15.   Orwellian: Israel once again whitewashes its bloody history 03:03  |  peacelover 02/10/07
  16.   Knowitall`s Existance 03:04  |  Fish 02/10/07
  17.   #4, Mr. Knowitall 03:07  |  Murray of Montreal 02/10/07
  18.   Ben Jabo # 5 03:11  |  Philippe 02/10/07
  19.   Ben Jabo # 5 P2 03:13  |  Philippe 02/10/07
  20.   pals cousins the talibins 03:13  |  larzbeach 02/10/07
  21.   Isreal needs to forget about IMAGE 03:16  |  McSavage 02/10/07
  22.   To all of you who would like to see the long ersion of the video 03:27  |  David Israel 02/10/07
  23.   Orwelian 03:28  |  Baz Mann 02/10/07
  24.   Israel contributes to its own demise. 03:34  |  Maki 02/10/07
  25.   Why all of a sudden, it became an issue 03:36  |  Sam 02/10/07
  26.   Hey knowitnothing; its called soft targets 03:37  |  Free the World 02/10/07
  27.   French - is a muslim country 03:38  |  Sam 02/10/07
  28.   It is a wellknown fact, that Poliwood is hard 03:45  |  TOMY 02/10/07
  29.   549 Palis killed by Palis that IS shameful 03:52  |  GZLives 02/10/07
  30.   The Evidence Stongly Suggests The IDF Did Not Kill This Child 03:58  |  Harry D 02/10/07
  31.   Jews, where is your brain? 04:03  |  Gene 02/10/07
  32.   Hatred of Israel or of Palestinians is no solution 04:04  |  MC 02/10/07
  33.   Ron, B`tselem is an Israeli organization in name only 04:08  |  Jake 02/10/07
  34.   What about the rest? For instance... 04:10  |  Maureen Ann 02/10/07
  35.   CASE IS CLOSED 04:15  |  D 02/10/07
  36.   Mr. Knowitall , getting desperate are you? 04:16  |  Jake 02/10/07
  37.   Man with a lantern 04:18  |  Gordon 02/10/07
  38.   Anything you say Jyvanka, anything you say 04:20  |  Jake 02/10/07
  39.   To Mr. Knowitall 04:21  |  Empresaria 02/10/07
  40.   #4 Mr. KNOWNOTHING 04:26  |  Judith 02/10/07
  41.   #9 Ron; B`TSELEM SAYS ZIONISTS KILLED 854 non-jewish kids 04:29  |  Murray of Montreal 02/10/07
  42.   #9beit selem the israeli organisation does not use the expression 04:33  |  victor hardman 02/10/07
  43.   eliminate responses like 4 04:49  |  michel 02/10/07
  44.   Stop this senseless violence 04:50  |  Franco 02/10/07
  45.   No truth in War 04:55  |  Vive les Juifs 02/10/07
  46.   TO @9 RON All of them 04:55  |  Mark Bernadiner 02/10/07
  47.   TO 3$ Knowitall - liar, hiding name 04:58  |  Mark Bernadiner 02/10/07
  48.   pallywood 05:08  |  scallywag 02/10/07
  49.   NO ONE BELIEVES ZIONISTS! 05:11  |  Samy 02/10/07
  50.   What is "Government Press Office" 05:13  |  keith 02/10/07
  51.   Let`s See the WHOLE Video Footage 05:15  |  Ruth 02/10/07
  52.   Israel: We are not child killers, take our word for it 05:30  |  Natallie Durson 02/10/07
  53.   aldura saga 05:57  |  sultan alshaalan 02/10/07
  54.   #9 ron`s shameful MISUSE of information 06:28  |  CK Tan 02/10/07
  55.   #9 ron`s dishonorable MISUSE of information 06:35  |  CK Tan 02/10/07
  56.   #14, Fish... 06:45  |  Silvienne 02/10/07
  57.   All The Palestinian World`s A Stage For Third-Rate ... 06:46  |  Lavi 02/10/07
  58.   Most people lost of the woods die of Shame! 06:48  |  Lisa 02/10/07
  59.   Beleiving what you see . 07:05  |  Jack 02/10/07
  60.   #9 ron`s SLEAZY attempt to MISUSE information 07:15  |  CK Tan 02/10/07
  61.   See the raw footage yourself 07:22  |  Jesse 02/10/07
  62.   #4 - Knowitall 07:41  |  JES 02/10/07
  63.   From the makers of Palywod, now comes Al-Dura 07:53  |  Dan 02/10/07
  64.   When Israel offered joint investigation, Pals were so cooperative 07:55  |  Dan 02/10/07
  65.   Remember who quickly removed the bullets never to be seen again 07:58  |  Dan 02/10/07
  66.   Palestinians never killed their own; only Israel kills Pals 08:01  |  Dan 02/10/07
  67.   Palestinian camera men are very impartial 08:04  |  Dan 02/10/07
  68.   Whenever you Discuss Al-Dura, remember Palywood 08:05  |  Dan 02/10/07
  69.   knowlittle 08:12  |  ralph 02/10/07
  70.   Kneejerk idiots 08:18  |  Denton 02/10/07
  71.   the idf "butchered" non-Jewish kids? 08:28  |  useless discussion 02/10/07
  72.