German TV station: Mohammed A-Dura killed by Palestinians

Ha'aretz ^ | 19/03/2002 | By DPA and Ha'aretz Service

[malamute]

German TV station: Mohammed A-Dura killed by Palestinians

By DPA and Ha'aretz Service

Gaza City/Hamburg - Nearly 18 months after television footage of the killing of 12-year-old Mohammed A-Dura near the Netzarim junction in the Gaza Strip, a dispute has erupted over who shot him.

A-Dura was killed during an exchange of fire between IDF soldiers and Palestinian gunmen at the junction, and the event has become a potent symbol of the Palestinian uprising.

A report broadcast Monday by German ARD television said A-Dura was shot dead by Palestinian militants during the shootout with the soldiers.

ARD said its report by Esther Shapira included photographs and documents proving that contrary to earlier reports the boy had not been shot dead by Israeli soldiers but by Palestinian militants.

Virtually all Israeli media had assumed at the time that Mohammed, was shot dead by soldiers during the 30-minute clash.

The father of Mohammed A-Dura, Jamal, who was seriously injured in the shootout, rejected the report: "I am 100 percent certain that the Israelis were to blame," he said. "I have medical reports, X-rays and reports by eyewitnesses confirming that we came under fire from Israeli soldiers."

The Palestinian cameraman, Talal Abu Rachman, who filmed the death of Mohammed on September 30, 2000, declined to comment on the ARD report, saying he had to watch the program first.

Abu Rachman had said in his initial testimony that no Palestinian gunmen had fired shots at the time when the boy was killed.

The former GOC Southern Command, Yom-Tov Samia, who headed an investigation into the shooting of A-Dura, told Israel Radio on Tuesday that the army had erred in hurrying to apologize for the boy's death. Senior IDF officers who issued the apology, said Samia, "made a very grave mistake."

"One day," he added, "it will be proven that the whole story... was one big Palestinian production. And Palestinian propoganda has been riding on this for a long time now."

[malamute]

Islam=Peace

this story will get no play in the mainstream media...

my apologies if this has already been posted i searched and it came up okay.

[LenS]

I'd always suspected this since the boy had decent cover to his front (i.e. trash can? and his father) but none between him and the Palestinian gunmen to his rear. Considering the sloppy firing discipline of the Palestinians (i.e. firing blindly around corners, firing random bursts into the air), the boy would probably have been better off putting that cover between him and his own people since the Israelis are more disciplined in their firing.

[JohnHuang2]

Thanks for posting.

[JohnHuang2]

[GeronL]

we'll never hear about it in the traditional media

[JohnHuang2]

we'll never hear about it in the traditional media

Forget the "traditional media". With the power of the internet and the reach of talk radio, we don't need "traditional media" anymore.

[GeronL]

thats definitely true (Thats why I don't it the mainstream media- it ain't mainstream)

[malamute]

thanks i'm relatively new here, hope format was okay.

also thought i'd post the image most people will be familiar with re: al-Dura/a-Dura

[JohnHuang2]

Format is perfect. Thanks again for posting.

[mvpel]

Notice the round bullet holes that appeared in the wall behind them? The Israelis were not in the same place as the cameraman, which is where a shooter would likely have to be in order to get such nice, round bullet holes instead of long, glancing streaks.

[DonQ]

For German TV to do this required, y'know, courage. The PLO has made a cottage industry out of kidnapping Germans for concessions, so standing up to the PLO this way shows real integrity.

[happygrl]

The IDF did their own belated investigation, based on bullet projectories and came to the conclusion that it was the Palies. They were so disturbed to think that they had killed a child... Worst of all is the considered possibility that the Palis SHOT HIM ON PURPOSE for the propaganda value.

[elwoodp]

Sorry, but I am still skeptical. (QUICK NOTE TO FANATICS: PLEASE DON'T FLAME ME; I SAID "SKEPTICAL," NOT "DISBELIEVING." IS THAT OKAY?)

My respect and esteem for the Mossad tells me that by now they have more than mastered the art of digital revisionism. And, of course, Palestinian extremists have mastered the art of total denial. So, perhaps we will never truly know what really happened to this poor child.

Maybe it is high time for some caring, mature adults to sit down and start thinking of their children instead of their ancestors. How about this: Israel withdraws from the "settlements" (which, if the truth were told are really blatant land grabs filled with squatters) and Palestine drops its demand for the "right of return" (an absurd impossiblility as everyone on both sides actually knows).

Then, let both sides stay the hell away from each other for a few decades.

[contessa machiaveli]

the germany of 2002 is not our grandma's germany of the 1930's and 1940's, in fact there is much scientific and defense cooperation between the 2 countries. it's kept below the radar.

[bvw]

Disneyworld is hiring.

[American in Israel]

The clincher for me was the Israeli's showed that the the frames in the camara blured in sync with the bullets that sprayed the kid. The Shooter was so close to the camara man that the muzzle blast caused the camara to vibrate. That indicates the camara man and the shooter were a team effort. The Israelis were over a hundred feet from this picture at a 30 degree angle from the wall. It looks very much like the incident was set up and the boy killed for the media clip. The first round of shots behind them was a miss that caused the father to turn toward the camara man and yell.

[patj]

I remember Trident/Delta saying all these things at the time. He knew it was a setup and he was flamed for calling it that.

[xm177e2]

The former GOC Southern Command, Yom-Tov Samia, who headed an investigation into the shooting of A-Dura, told Israel Radio on Tuesday that the army had erred in hurrying to apologize for the boy's death. Senior IDF officers who issued the apology, said Samia, "made a very grave mistake."

"One day," he added, "it will be proven that the whole story... was one big Palestinian production. And Palestinian propoganda has been riding on this for a long time now."

I've seen that picture SOOOOOO many times...

[anapikoros]

If there was an "academy award" for snuff movies this would get an oscar or two.