Monday, October 2, 2000 Los Angeles Times
Father-Son Image Shocks, Sickens Both Sides

By Tracy Wilkinson, Times Staff Writer

JERUSALEM--It was the kind of searing image that often defines the senselessness of hateful conflict.

A young boy is caught on camera, cowering under a storm of bullets, his father desperately attempting to shield him. The boy screams in panic. Then he lies still, dead, his hand curled around his face. His father slumps above him, head rolling, wounded.

The images, captured by a Palestinian television cameraman for a foreign news agency, were broadcast repeatedly on Palestinian and Israeli TV and transmitted the world over. Here, Palestinians and Israelis alike were shocked and sickened.

In the blink of a camera frame, the death of Rami Durra, a 12-year-old from a Gaza Strip refugee camp, became part of the battle for world opinion, even as the battle in the streets of the West Bank and Gaza raged for a fourth day Sunday and claimed more lives.

In addition to Rami and his father, an ambulance driver who attempted to save them was also shot dead. Palestinians blamed the Israelis for what they saw as excessive, brutal force; some Israelis blamed the Palestinians for the "cynical" use of children in violent demonstrations to begin with.

An Israeli military commander said the shooting was under investigation and that it was not yet clear whose bullets felled the boy, who was buried early Sunday without an autopsy, in the Palestinian tradition.

"First of all, I am very, very sorry from the depth of my heart," Maj. Gen. Yom-tov Samia, head of military forces in the southern region that includes Gaza, told Israeli radio. But, he added, he was sure Rami and his father, Jamal, "were there not just by accident."

He said the pair were part of a crowd throwing rocks and firebombs and, as such, were at risk. The Israeli army post had come under gunfire from four or five Palestinian positions for two hours, Samia said. One position, he said, was about 20 yards from where the father and son huddled against a wall.

From a hospital bed in Gaza City where he lay critically wounded with eight bullet holes in his body, Jamal Durra gave a different account.

He said he and his boy stumbled into the firefight on their way home from a used-car lot and had nowhere else to go. They were pinned down for 45 minutes, he said, during which time he could clearly see the man--an Israeli soldier--firing directly at them.

"I tried to hide myself, I tried to hide my son, but the shooting was everywhere," Durra said, sobbing. "I could not save my son."

In an effort at damage control, numerous officials of the Israeli government were assigned to telephone foreign journalists and explain Israel's position--that its soldiers fire only when fired upon--and to heap blame on Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.

Palestinian officials accused Israel of committing war crimes against their people and began broadcasting radio messages in Hebrew, directed at Israelis.

"Soldiers, stop and think," the spots on Voice of Palestine radio say. "What can you say to your children, when you are killing children their age?"

BBC 2 October 2000
Boy becomes Palestinian martyr

Just moments after video pictures were taken, Muhammad al-Durrah was shot dead.

Now the 12-year-old boy has been turned into a new martyr for the Palestinian cause.

For 45 minutes, Muhammad's father tried in vain to shield him from gunfire as they crouched against a concrete wall near Netzarim in the Gaza Strip.

The whole scene was caught on camera by a France 2 cameraman, and has been played repeatedly on Palestinian television.

The footage shows the boy's father, Jamal al-Durrah, waving desperately to Israeli troops, shouting: "Don't shoot". But the terrified boy is hit by four bullets, and collapses in his father's arms.

An ambulance driver who tried to rescue the boy and his father was also killed, and a second ambulance driver was wounded.

Mr al-Durrah, who was also badly wounded, said his son died for "the sake of al-Aqsa mosque", the holy site in Jerusalem seen by the Palestinians as both sacred and sovereign territory.

"My son didn't die in vain," said his mother, Amal.

"This was his sacrifice for our homeland, for Palestine."

But the Israeli Cabinet Secretary, Yitzhak Herzog, said that Palestinian security forces could have saved the boy.

In an interview with the BBC World Service, he said that "if Palestinian policemen had wanted to save the boy, they could have walked into the square, said 'Stop the fire'...and rescued the kid."

He added that Palestinian police should have called their Israeli counterparts who he said had been trying to speak to Palestinian commanders for hours.

Mr Herzog said people had seen "only the angle of the French television".

Other Israeli officials have questioned whether the boy was killed by Israeli bullets and said he could have been hit by stray Palestinian gunfire.

But witnesses say the Palestinian youths were armed only with stones, not guns, and the shooting was all from the Israeli side.

The video footage clearly shows that not only were the boy and his father completely unarmed, but they were not even part of the rioting.

Relatives say the pair were returning from Gaza's popular used-car market, and were trying to get home to the Buriej refugee camp where they live along with many thousands of Palestinians.

Image shocks world

Many children have been killed and wounded in the rioting

The disturbing footage has been played throughout the Middle East, and on all major US television networks over the weekend.

A photo still from the video ran on the front page of the New York Times.

The newspaper quoted an Israeli journalist as saying he saw the footage for the first time as he was delivering the news on Saturday night.

"I lost my voice. I've been doing this for many years... But my brain went dead, and my tongue went limp. To see a little boy killed before your eyes," he said.

The British newspaper, The Independent, described it as "an image that will haunt the world as painfully and powerfully" as any of those from the Palestinian uprising or Intifada.

Palestinian father urges world to revenge his boy's death
The Israeli army said the boy had apparently been killed by Israeli fire.
October 3, 2000 CNN 12:35 PM EDT (1635 GMT)

AMMAN, Jordan (AP) -- The father of a 12-year-old boy whose death in an Israeli-Palestinian gun battle was captured on television and moved people across the world, urged the international community on Tuesday to avenge his son's death.

"I hope the world won't forget Mohammed and will avenge his killing by Israel," Jamal Aldura, 37, said from his hospital bed in the Jordanian capital Amman.

"I feel immense pain from my son's death," he told The Associated Press tearfully.

Mohammed died on Saturday near an Israeli army post close to the Jewish settlement of Netzarim in the Gaza Strip. His killing, captured by French Television and shown across the world, has come to symbolize the terror and violence felt across Palestinian territories and Israel during six days of clashes.

Caught in an Israeli-Palestinian shootout, Mohammed and his father, huddled behind a small metal barrel as bullets whizzed past, the boy weeping in terror. Moments later, Mohammed was fatally hit

Jamal Aldura was admitted to the King Hussein Medical City, a military hospital on the outskirts of Amman, on Sunday when he underwent surgery to remove bullets from his elbow, both legs, and his right thigh. Doctors said he was in stable condition.

The Israeli army said the boy had apparently been killed by Israeli fire.

"This was a grave incident, an event we are all sorry about," Israeli army chief of operations, Giora Eiland, told Israel radio Tuesday. "We conducted an investigation ... and as far as we understand, the shots were apparently fired by Israeli soldiers."

Other army officials said the boy may have been throwing stones at the Netzarim outpost Saturday, and that his father arrived at the scene to retrieve him.

The boy's mother, Alia, said father and son had been walking in the area and stumbled into the gun battle. She said her husband had kept his son close that day because he did not want him to be drawn into the riots.

Jamal Aldura said he and his son were returning home from visiting a car dealer in Gaza when they were caught in the battle. "They started shooting at the taxi we were in and we got out to seek better shelter," he said.

"We didn't have anything to do with the clashes," said Aldura, a construction worker and father of seven children, including the deceased boy.

"The Israeli fire was heavy, although I was shouting and begging them to stop, for the boy's sake," he said. "But they never stopped and poor Mohammed died in my lap and my body was punctured with bullets."

Middle East close to "all-out war", UN chief says
LUXEMBOURG, Oct 3 (AFP) -

The situation in the Middle East between Israelis and Palestinians is close to "an all-out war," UN Secretary General Kofi Annan said here Tuesday night.

"I had hopes we were very close in the peace process," he told reporters after meeting with European Commission President Romano Prodi.

"Instead of moving forward ... we now seem to have an almost all-out war in a highly populated area, and it is incumbent on the leaders to do whatever they can to rein in their forces," said Annan.

Gun Violence Rages in Mideast
Internal Rebellion the Worst Since Israel's Founding 52 Yeas Ago
By Greg Myre - Associated Press Writer
Tuesday, Oct. 3, 2000; 7:48 p.m. EDT

JERUSALEM –– Palestinian gunmen battled Israeli soldiers Tuesday at isolated army posts in the West Bank and Gaza Strip that have degenerated into virtual free-fire zones, as both sides defied a cease-fire call on the eve of a U.S. attempt to salvage peacemaking.

Tuesday's death toll of five was the lowest since the fighting began last week. In addition, 206 people were injured, according to the Palestinians. Overall, 56 people have died and at least 1,300 have been wounded, the vast majority Palestinian.

"The results have been very painful," Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak said, adding that he had called on Israel's security forces "to make a supreme effort to prevent further casualties."

Barak and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat head to Paris on Wednesday in hopes that Secretary of State Madeleine Albright can help end the fighting and revive peace talks. The two also have agreed to meet in Egypt with President Hosni Mubarak on Thursday.

Barak, meanwhile, was battling for political survival at home, trying to appease Arab legislators who are threatening to topple his government over the harsh crackdown on rioters in Israel's Arab towns. The internal rebellion, the worst since Israel's founding 52 years ago, has blocked highways and closed schools, paralyzing large parts of northern Israel.

U.S. closes embassies in Middle East; cautions travelers
CNN - October 5, 2000

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The U.S. State Department said Thursday it has decided to temporarily close all of its posts in the Middle East region Thursday through Sunday as a "prudent safety precaution" due to current heightened tensions and violence in the Mideast, especially in Israel, the West Bank and Gaza.

Heated passions boil over in Palestinians' 'day of rage'
CNN - October 6, 2000
From staff and wire reports

NABLUS, West Bank (CNN) -- A Palestinian "day of rage" exploded on Friday across the West Bank and Gaza, adding six more Palestinians to the rising toll of people killed in more than a week of clashes with Israeli security forces.

Mubarak Berates Barak.

Mubarak Enraged When He Saw Television Images of 12-Year-Old Palestinian Mohammed Jamal Aldura Being Fatally Shot By Israeli Troops In Gaza As He And His Father, Who Was Seriously Wounded, Tried To Shelter Behind A Barrel.

"A Child Who Died In The Lap of His Father, This Really Makes One Lose His Senses," Mubarak Said. "This Makes Rocks Have Feelings."

Israel acknowledged that its troops had shot the two

October 6, 2000 - Associated Press

CAIRO, Egypt (AP) -- President Hosni Mubarak, visibly angered by what he described as excessive force by Israel against Palestinians, berated Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak on Friday for not showing up for a meeting in Egypt.

The Egyptian leader, speaking on state television, also said that an emergency Arab summit he called to review the Middle East peace process and the situation in Palestinians areas will be held on October 21 or 22, most probably in Cairo.

Mubarak criticized Barak for not accepting demands by Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat that an international committee should investigate the causes of the violence that has engulfed Palestinian territories and Israel since September 28. Scores have been killed and nearly 1,900 wounded -- the vast majority Palestinian -- in the clashes.

His criticism of Barak and his animated account of how he felt when he watched television images of young Palestinians shot by Israel's security forces appear to signal a crisis in Egypt's relations with Israel.

Mubarak met with Arafat and U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright on Thursday in the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm El-Sheik. Barak initially agreed to attend but later decided not to after talks in Paris with Arafat and Albright on Wednesday.

"I don't know what he could have possibly gained from this (not going to Sharm El-Sheik). ... With this attitude, it is not possible for the peace process to go forward," said Mubarak, whose country in 1979 became the first Arab state to sign a peace treaty with Israel.

"I was surprised to find in the morning (of Thursday) that Barak won't come, so I said 'he's free.' I am not going to force anyone to come. He who does not want peace, won't come."

Turning to Arafat's demand for an international committee, he said he could not understand why Barak was instead insisting on a Palestinian-Israeli investigation. "I want to say that this way the peace process will not be moving. ... When things like these come up, are they meant to delay the peace process or what?

Mubarak said he was enraged when he saw television images of 12-year-old Palestinian Mohammed Jamal Aldura being fatally shot by Israeli troops in Gaza as he and his father, who was seriously wounded, tried to shelter behind a barrel when caught in cross fire.

Israel acknowledged that its troops had shot the two.

"A child who died in the lap of his father, this really makes one loses his senses," Mubarak said. "This makes rocks have feelings."

"Excessive use of weapons against protests and marches and things like that will not lead to solutions. Not giving every country its right in its land won't lead to a solution," he said.

"That is why I caution, and I have done that many times, against the continuous use of excessive weapons will not lead to peace, and the people will continue to hate each other."

SEIZURE OF ISRAELI SOLDIERS DEDICATED TO SLAIN 12 YEAR OLD GAZA BOY

The ultimatum came after Lebanon-based Hezbollah guerrillas seized three Israeli soldiers from a border patrol and dedicated the ambush to the 12-year-old Gaza boy killed in a hail of bullets earlier this week.