A journalist and a soldier

[subsuelo]

The funeral tent for Fadel Shana, the 23-year-old Reuters cameraman who was killed by an Israeli shell on Wednesday, was decorated with roses, pictures of Fadel and the camera he used to film the Israeli tank which killed him.

There were also pictures of other journalists killed by Israeli fire in the Palestinian territories as well as journalists killed elsewhere. Every journalist working in Gaza, whether for local or international media, as well as the foreign journalists present in Gaza cam to pay their respects.

"Fadel was a very ambitious young man," Wissam Nassar, a photographer for the Palestinian Maan news agency and a friend of Fadel, told MENASSAT. "He was always bent on becoming a professional cameraman; it was his life dream."

Nassar remembered an Israeli incursion two years ago in al-Shoujaiya street, east of Gaza.

"The Israeli forces threw two bombs on the Hajjaj family house, which resulted in the death of most the family members. Fadel was the first journalist to get to the scene and take pictures of the massacre. I remember as we were leaving he was crying and said, 'This scenery is horrible, I almost couldn't take it. But I had to take pictures to show them to the whole world."

Fadel had worked Reuters as a cameraman for Reuters for only three years. It was enough to make him one of the most famous cameramen in the agency, thanks to his courage and enthusiasm. He almost died two years ago when Israeli planes targeted his car. (That time too the car had been clearly marked as a press vehicle.) But the rocket narrowly missed hit the car, leaving Fadel wounded. It didn't take long before he was back on the job.

After his first injury in 2006, Fadel declared that he was not afraid to die at the hands of the Israelis as long as he believed he was a soldier fulfilling his duties in his own way. He said that only two things can get to him and put an end to his commitment to his job: "Death or a handicap."

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[subsuelo]

1. Any questions about motive?

Fadel was dedicated to showing the world the suffering of the native Palestinians at the hands of Israel's brutal occupation army.

So they killed him for it.

[Dick Dastardly]

2. Yes there are many questions but they dont lead to murder

and this poor excuse for a rag wont answer them

[subsuelo]

3. Yes, the facts do lead to murder

sorry it's such a tough reality to face.

[Shaktimaan]

6. maybe.

maybe not. we don't really know for certain. motive does not prove guilt in any case.
why do you insist on a different standard for determining guilt and innocence when it comes to Israel?

[Scurrilous]

4. Israel: Investigate Death of Gaza Civilians

Evidence Suggests Soldiers Targeted Reuters Journalist

<snip>

"The Israeli government should conduct an immediate and independent investigation into the deaths of four civilians, including a Reuters cameraman and two teenage boys, in Gaza on April 16, 2008, Human Rights Watch said today. Human Rights Watch’s investigations at the site found evidence suggesting that an Israeli tank crew fired recklessly or deliberately at the journalist’s team.

"Israeli soldiers did not make sure they were aiming at a military target before firing, and there is evidence suggesting they actually targeted the journalists," said Joe Stork, Middle East director at Human Rights Watch. "Israel should investigate these deaths and, if crimes were committed, hold to account those responsible."

Fadel Shana’a, a 23-year-old cameraman employed by Reuters, was killed as he was filming the tank close to Gaza’s border with Israel, southeast of Gaza City. Three other persons were killed as they watched Shana’a filming. The Palestinian Center for Human Rights identified them as Ahmed ‘Aaref Farajallah, 14, Ghassan Khaled Abu ‘Otaiwi, 17, and Khalil Isma’il Dughmosh, 22.

Interviews conducted by Human Rights Watch with an eyewitness to the shelling, a resident in a nearby village and a journalist who arrived just after the attack, as well as camera footage taken by Shana’a, indicate there was no military activity by Palestinian militants at the scene of the attack."

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[Shaktimaan]

5. off topic...

why exactly was he such a star at Reuters?


"We, as cameramen, consider ourselves to be unknown soldiers ... We transmit the scenes as they are to the world, and we don't cover anything that could harm our people and its rightful cause."

I think the problems inherent with allowing people on one side of a conflict to report on it for an international agency like Reuters are clear here. Especially if they admit their lack of journalistic ethics and commitment to covering the story in a biased fashion, as this guy did. Frankly, with a vision like this he shouldn't have been working as a professional journalist at all.

[subsuelo]

7. Does not excuse murdering him

Not saying you said that either. Just commenting on what appears to have been the motive for the killing.

[Shaktimaan]

8. wasn't in any way implying that it did.

Just commenting on something I saw.