Fadel Shana buried in Gaza

on 17 Apr 2008 | 2

Reuters cameraman Fadel Shana was buried today in Gaza City. The 23 year old was one of three killed yesterday near the Bureij refugee camp when an Israeli tank fired upon the car they were in,

Reuters released the final video taken by Mr Shana in the seconds before his death. The footage shows a tank on a distant hilltop open fire. A tank shell is seen flying toward the camera followed by a large explosion before the screen went black. His car was marked "press" and witnesses said the cameraman was wearing an identifying flak jacket. link

2 Comments

Michael Simopoulos | April 18, 2008 11:14 AM

The commendable work undertaken by the Frontline Blogger to bring to our attention the daily deterioration of working conditions for foreign correspondents/journalists in the regions they report from is not enough.

This link to the Times Online website - a video of the final moments of a Palestinian reporter before being hit by Israeli fire - is the latest example of how indiscriminate acts by military forces are undermining this most noble of professions.

But in the grand scheme of things, this process of degrading the role of reporters in conflict zones is the least important consideration in light of the loss of life of people like Fadel Shana. To the conflict his death counts as just another piece of the collateral jigsaw puzzle, but in the cold light of day the world is a poorer place without him, or for that matter any other foreign correspondent lost on the frontline.

Surely the time has come to bring governments/military establishments to bear for these crimes. It would take a spectacular advocacy effort to get such events classified as war crimes, but some system of retrospective justice must be set in place for the victims of violence against the media. Without it, not only will the journalistic profession proceed along its current perrilous course, but justice for those who lost their lives will never be ensured.

James Denning | May 16, 2008 8:40 AM

Vehicle stops, man gets out with something on his shoulder... young scared tank gunner and commander, probably tired and hot inside a 60-ton oven, think the camera is a shoulder launched weapon and open fire in the split second before they think the shoulder-launched weapon could be fired. Maybe they should get cameras that don't go on shoulders. As for "TV" markings on vehicles - have Palestinian militants never used vehicles marked for neutrality as cover? I know this is conjecture but I feel that the outrage at this poor chap's death is a little overblown.

This is what correpondents risk and unfortunately Mr Shana was unlucky.