Israeli 'Compensation' Becomes Bribe of UK Government
Shameless | 23.04.2008 15:59 | Palestine | World
So if the Government refuses, will Israel rescind its offer ... ?
Note that all of these murdered people were helping Palestinians, and were trying to tell the whole story of Zionism's war to the world.
Note that all of these murdered people were helping Palestinians, and were trying to tell the whole story of Zionism's war to the world.
Israel to pay £1.75m to family of James Miller in deal over killers
(PA)
James Miller was killed while making a film about children in Israel
Sheera Frenkel in Jerusalem
The Israeli Government has offered to pay nearly £2 million to the family of a British film-maker who was shot dead by an Israeli soldier five years ago.
The country’s Foreign Ministry said that it would pay $3.5 million (£1.75 million) to the family of James Miller, if in return the British Government, acting on behalf of his family, agreed to close the case and not request that the soldiers involved in the incident be extradited.
Lawyers for the family said that the agreement had yet to be approved officially, although the case was “moving in a positive direction”.
“There are no illusions about why these incidents happened so closely together. The Israeli army was given reckless commands and rules of engagement for its soldiers. There was a general feeling of immunity among soldiers,” said Michael Sfard, one of the lawyers who has worked on the case.
(Being spared prosecution for crimes committed, as Israel is trying to arrange with this deal, only perpetuates this trend ...)
Related Links
Israeli soldier faces Yard probe over Briton’s death
Diary of a death foretold: how Gaza Briton was shot by Israelis
Mr Miller, an award-winning Welsh producer and director, was making a film about the impact of violence on Israeli and Palestinian children when he was shot in the neck in the Gaza Strip on May 2, 2003. He was one of four foreigners killed or injured by the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) at the height of the intifada in April and May of 2003.
Three other cases are being prosecuted against the IDF. On March 16 2003, Rachel Corrie, a 23-year-old American was crushed to death trying to prevent a military bulldozer from tearing down a home in Gaza.
Less than a month later on April 11, British student Thomas Hurndall, 21, died after being shot in the head during fighting in Gaza.
Brian Avery, an American, was severely injured, but recovered from wounds obtained a few days earlier on April 5 that year, when he was shot while walking along a road in Jenin, in the West Bank.
Mr Miller’s case is unique because he was working as a journalist and was not an activist protesting against the Israelis. It is also the only case in which extensive evidence – in the form of video and audio footage – exists from the day of his death.
Tzipi Livni, the Israeli Foreign Minister, negotiated with representatives of the British Government in the case. The Israeli Foreign Ministry said that the incident had “burdened” Israel’s relations with Britain.
A tape taken from the documentary Mr Miller was making for the Associated Press Television News shows Mr Miller and a colleague carrying a white flag as they left a Palestinian home in a refugee camp. Soldiers fired one shot in Mr Miller’s direction, after which a voice is heard calling out, “We are British journalists”. A second shot is fired, hitting Mr Miller in his neck.
In a statement issued immediately after Mr Miller’s death, a military spokesman said: “The IDF expresses sorrow at the death of the cameraman who entered a combat zone. Cameramen who knowingly enter a combat zone endanger themselves as well as the troops, and clearly run the risk of being caught in the crossfire.”
(Blaming the Victim)
The Israeli military police closed their investigation into Miller’s death in March 2005, saying that it would not indict the soldier who fired the bullet. Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean, former Foreign Office Minister, issued a statement in response, saying she was “dismayed” by the decision. “I deeply sympathise with James’s family, who have worked so hard to secure justice for James. The British government will continue to raise James’s case with the Government of Israel.”
Mr Miller was born in Haverford-west, Pembrokeshire, the son of an army officer and headmistress. His first film,Prime Suspects, won the 1999 Royal Television Society’s award for its depiction of the massacre in Kosovo. Two subsequent films shot in Afghanistan, Beneath the Veil, about the life of women during the Taleban regime, and Unholy War, shot at the height of fighting in 2001, won Emmy and Peabody awards respectively.
Mr Miller also posthumously won the Rory Peck Award for his unfinished final film, Death in Gaza.
Activists in the firing line
Rachel Corrie, 23, an American activist, was crushed as she tried to stop an Israeli bulldozer demolishing a Palestinian home. The Corries sued Caterpillar, the maker of Israel’s specially designed armoured bulldozers, alleging that the company broke international law by selling vehicles that it knew would endanger lives. The case was dismissed for lack of jurisdiction
Iain Hook, a British UN project manager, was shot and killed by an Israeli sniper five years ago. Hook, 54, was helping to rebuild the refugee camp in Jenin, on the West Bank. A British inquest found his death was unlawful and deliberate
Tom Hurndall, a journalism and photography student, was escorting children to safety in the Gaza Strip in 2003 when he was shot in the head. After a campaign by Hurndall’s family, former Israeli army sergeant Taysir Hayb received an eight-year jail sentence for the killing. Hayb said a policy of shooting at unarmed civilians existed at the time
Brian Avery, an American peace activist, was shot in the face by Israeli troops in 2003. He filed for damages, telling a Jerusalem court that he was wearing a reflector vest and was holding his hands up Source: agencies
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article3797726.ece
Israel May Compensate Family of Filmmaker Killed by IDF
http://www.cbc.ca/cp/world/080422/w042215A.html
Tank Shell that Sprays Deadly Darts Killed Cameraman in Gaza, Say Doctors
http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2008/04/397236.html
(PA)
James Miller was killed while making a film about children in Israel
Sheera Frenkel in Jerusalem
The Israeli Government has offered to pay nearly £2 million to the family of a British film-maker who was shot dead by an Israeli soldier five years ago.
The country’s Foreign Ministry said that it would pay $3.5 million (£1.75 million) to the family of James Miller, if in return the British Government, acting on behalf of his family, agreed to close the case and not request that the soldiers involved in the incident be extradited.
Lawyers for the family said that the agreement had yet to be approved officially, although the case was “moving in a positive direction”.
“There are no illusions about why these incidents happened so closely together. The Israeli army was given reckless commands and rules of engagement for its soldiers. There was a general feeling of immunity among soldiers,” said Michael Sfard, one of the lawyers who has worked on the case.
(Being spared prosecution for crimes committed, as Israel is trying to arrange with this deal, only perpetuates this trend ...)
Related Links
Israeli soldier faces Yard probe over Briton’s death
Diary of a death foretold: how Gaza Briton was shot by Israelis
Mr Miller, an award-winning Welsh producer and director, was making a film about the impact of violence on Israeli and Palestinian children when he was shot in the neck in the Gaza Strip on May 2, 2003. He was one of four foreigners killed or injured by the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) at the height of the intifada in April and May of 2003.
Three other cases are being prosecuted against the IDF. On March 16 2003, Rachel Corrie, a 23-year-old American was crushed to death trying to prevent a military bulldozer from tearing down a home in Gaza.
Less than a month later on April 11, British student Thomas Hurndall, 21, died after being shot in the head during fighting in Gaza.
Brian Avery, an American, was severely injured, but recovered from wounds obtained a few days earlier on April 5 that year, when he was shot while walking along a road in Jenin, in the West Bank.
Mr Miller’s case is unique because he was working as a journalist and was not an activist protesting against the Israelis. It is also the only case in which extensive evidence – in the form of video and audio footage – exists from the day of his death.
Tzipi Livni, the Israeli Foreign Minister, negotiated with representatives of the British Government in the case. The Israeli Foreign Ministry said that the incident had “burdened” Israel’s relations with Britain.
A tape taken from the documentary Mr Miller was making for the Associated Press Television News shows Mr Miller and a colleague carrying a white flag as they left a Palestinian home in a refugee camp. Soldiers fired one shot in Mr Miller’s direction, after which a voice is heard calling out, “We are British journalists”. A second shot is fired, hitting Mr Miller in his neck.
In a statement issued immediately after Mr Miller’s death, a military spokesman said: “The IDF expresses sorrow at the death of the cameraman who entered a combat zone. Cameramen who knowingly enter a combat zone endanger themselves as well as the troops, and clearly run the risk of being caught in the crossfire.”
(Blaming the Victim)
The Israeli military police closed their investigation into Miller’s death in March 2005, saying that it would not indict the soldier who fired the bullet. Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean, former Foreign Office Minister, issued a statement in response, saying she was “dismayed” by the decision. “I deeply sympathise with James’s family, who have worked so hard to secure justice for James. The British government will continue to raise James’s case with the Government of Israel.”
Mr Miller was born in Haverford-west, Pembrokeshire, the son of an army officer and headmistress. His first film,Prime Suspects, won the 1999 Royal Television Society’s award for its depiction of the massacre in Kosovo. Two subsequent films shot in Afghanistan, Beneath the Veil, about the life of women during the Taleban regime, and Unholy War, shot at the height of fighting in 2001, won Emmy and Peabody awards respectively.
Mr Miller also posthumously won the Rory Peck Award for his unfinished final film, Death in Gaza.
Activists in the firing line
Rachel Corrie, 23, an American activist, was crushed as she tried to stop an Israeli bulldozer demolishing a Palestinian home. The Corries sued Caterpillar, the maker of Israel’s specially designed armoured bulldozers, alleging that the company broke international law by selling vehicles that it knew would endanger lives. The case was dismissed for lack of jurisdiction
Iain Hook, a British UN project manager, was shot and killed by an Israeli sniper five years ago. Hook, 54, was helping to rebuild the refugee camp in Jenin, on the West Bank. A British inquest found his death was unlawful and deliberate
Tom Hurndall, a journalism and photography student, was escorting children to safety in the Gaza Strip in 2003 when he was shot in the head. After a campaign by Hurndall’s family, former Israeli army sergeant Taysir Hayb received an eight-year jail sentence for the killing. Hayb said a policy of shooting at unarmed civilians existed at the time
Brian Avery, an American peace activist, was shot in the face by Israeli troops in 2003. He filed for damages, telling a Jerusalem court that he was wearing a reflector vest and was holding his hands up Source: agencies
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article3797726.ece Israel May Compensate Family of Filmmaker Killed by IDF
http://www.cbc.ca/cp/world/080422/w042215A.html Tank Shell that Sprays Deadly Darts Killed Cameraman in Gaza, Say Doctors
http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2008/04/397236.html
Shameless