(Photo Credit:Reuters) Fadal Shana
LONDON (Reuters) – An Israeli tank crew who killed a Reuters cameraman and eight young bystanders in the Gaza Strip four months ago acted properly and will not face legal action, Israel’s senior military lawyer has concluded. The military advocate-general told the international news agency in a letter sent on Tuesday that troops could not see whether Fadel Shana was operating a camera or a weapon but were nonetheless justified in firing a shell packed with darts that killed him and eight other Palestinians aged between 12 and 20.
It is through the heroic efforts of journalists such as Mr. Shana that we learn the truth of the wars around us. It was through the compelling stories told by those covering the Viet Nam war that American public opinion swayed against the war. Of course politicians and war lords know that propaganda is harder to sell to an informed public and so the journalists who cover war regions are not necessarily welcomed. And while the ‘sacrifices’ of troops are lauded, little attention is paid to the sacrifices of the civilians and journalists equally, if not more brutally, affected by war.
In these days of Fox News and Infotainment it can be hard to remember the importance of good journalists. The effect they can have on our society, the mirror they hold to the atrocities committed in our name. Yet without them we have only propaganda on which to base our opinions. Ironically it seems world governments are indulging in anarchy.
“It’s difficult to believe … that the IDF took the necessary precautions to avoid causing harm to civilians — as it is obliged to do under international law.”
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