Narrator:Rachel Corrie, American, killed by an Israeli army bulldozer.
Narrator:Tom Hurndall, British, shot through the head by an Israeli army sniper.
James Miller, British, shot dead by the Israeli army. If foreigners are dying like this in Gaza, what’s happening to the people who live there?
Narrator:Gaza, a city under siege from Israeli forces. We’d arrived on the eve of the war against Iraq. We wanted to know how armed Palestinian groups like Hamas, would react.
Sandra JordanWe happen to be
Sandra Jordanwalking home late in the evening. As we walked down the road, suddenly we were surrounded by these guys on
either side of us.Narrator:But that wasn’t to be the story of the next 40 days. In Gaza, over 1,000,000 Palestinians live under the gun and most of the guns are Israeli.
The danger we were in didn’t come from the Palestinians.Sandra JordanAll day long, there’s been extraordinary action in the sky. You
can hear all of these planes going up and down. You can see most of them are flying high and now suddenly
there’s been a number of explosions. But the planes are still overhead, you can hear them.Narrator:The explosions were in a residential
area.
Narrator:A precision missile from an Israeli helicopter had just assassinated Sada Larabeed, a leader of the armed Palestinian group, Hamas, together with 2 bodyguards.
Narrator:10 minutes late, helicopters began to circle the crowd.
Narrator:An Israeli helicopter had fired 2 more missiles at the Hamas leader’s car. Shrapnel had ripped through scores of bystanders. The Israeli defence force announce the elimination of 3 terrorists. No mention of civilian casualties.SIRENSNarrator:10 years ago, Israel gave limited independence to the Palestinians of Gaza. Now, to combat the armed groups who are based here, Israel has turned Gaza into a battlefield. SHOUTING
Sandra JordanThis is Makmuud, he’s 10 years old. He’s got shrapnel in his eye,
Sandra Jordanin his stomach, in his leg, in his foot,
pieces of metal all over his body. He was playing on his bicycles outside his own house.
Narrator:47 people had been wounded, many of them children.
Narrator:4 more people lay dead in the hospital morgue.
Narrator:When I asked the Israeli defence force why they had fired rockets into the crowd,
Narrator:they told me they wouldn’t comment on security matters.
DoctorHe’s 13 years old.Sandra Jordan This is Mohammed,
Sandra Jordananother victim of last night’s attack. He’s got severe head injuries and
shrapnel in his body. He’s in a critical situation, like all of the other people we’ve filmed in here.
Sandra JordanHe might make it, then again, he might not.
Sandra Jordan This is Alla, aged 15,
Sandra Jordananother civilian casualty. Every time the Israelis use a missile to assassinate somebody here, it sends shrapnel flying everywhere and this is
what shrapnel does to the human body.Narrator:Alla died shortly after we filmed these pictures.
Narrator:The next day, the dead were taken from the hospital. Amad Arashram was only 13. His mother and sister bade him farewell. MOURNINGNarrator:Gunmen appeared mourning the dead Hamas leader. Narrator:But most of the crowd was there to mourn the death of the innocent youngsters.
Sandra JordanThe feeling here is that the West accepts this kind of action. It doesn’t matter how much so called collateral damage there is.
Narrator:Whichever side kills last says it is a response to the one before. In the grim calculus of this conflict, around 3 Palestinian civilians die for every Israeli killed. It’s an equation that keeps old hatreds fresh.
Narrator:In the south of Gaza, near the border
Narrator:with Egypt, is the district of Rafah.
Sandra JordanThis is one of 4 towers that overlook Rafah. They are Israeli army watch posts, people have been shot from
these towers without the Israelis ever coming into Rafah.
Narrator:The Israeli defence force say the soldiers in the towers target only gunmen. That may be true but those bullets also kill civilians.
ManWait, wait, wait.Sandra JordanWhere’s it coming from?ManGo down, go, go behind.Sandra JordanBehind where?GUNFIRESandra JordanWhere’s it coming from?
ManIt’s coming from the tower behind the wall and it’s so fucking scary because the bullets could bounce anywhere.
Sandra JordanWe’re being shot at by Israelis from a watchtower at the moment. The shooting is just coming down the street. The danger is if the bullet ricochets, it can hit you. It seems to be coming straight down. As you can
see, all the buildings here are completely pock marked. This happens every single day down here.ManOne of them bullets was very close
by, very, very close by.Sandra JordanThese women are passing by, their children, they’re used to it. They think it’s quite normal for these bullets to
come flying down this road so they don’t even seek cover. Narrator:They should. Since September 2000,
over 250 people have been killed in Rafah, a third aged under 18.
Sandra JordanWe can see the army posts over there and they can certainly see us.
ManAnd that’s the southern command headquarters of the Israeli Army.
Narrator:Almost every day, Israeli troops leave their base to bulldoze Palestinian houses.
Narrator:They say it’s to deny terrorists cover. But, most of the houses belong to ordinary Palestinians.
Narrator:Thousands have lost their homes, some with only moments notice. And
Narrator:there’s no compensation. For 2 years, despite tear gas and bullets, a small group of British and American protestors from the International Solidarity Movement, has tried to stop the bulldozers.Narrator:One of the protesters filmed these pictures.
WomanStop shooting.
WomanI wish that you may learn to love your
neighbours and not …
Narrator:2 days before our visit, a protester
had been killed.
Narrator:Rachel Corrie was the first American to be killed in Gaza.
Joe SmithShe was at eye-level with the driver of the bulldozer. She was up, her head and upper torso were actually above the blade of the bulldozer so he could very clearly see that she was there, her and her orange fluorescent jacket that she was wearing. But instead of stopping at this point, he continued forward which buried her legs and pulled her legs down. And as she got pulled down, she was pulled out of view of the bulldozer driver. And if he had stopped at this point, he may have only just broken her legs, but he continued forward anyway until she was sucked all the way underneath the bulldozer.
Narrator:The Israeli defence
Narrator:force says the driver did not see her.
Narrator:But Rachel Corrie died because of her
own irresponsible and illegal behaviour.Joe Smith You can see the space underneath
the bulldozer. It wasn’t the treads that killed her. She didn’t get run over by the treads. It was only the blade.
Either a really gross mistake or a really brutal murder.Alice CoyShe was talking and her lip was torn. It was just like, oh my god, she survived. And then she said, my back is broken and I held her head. I’d
taken my phone out to call an ambulance but as soon as she said my back is broken I dropped my phone and just held on to her head to try and stabilize her spine. And it was just such a miracle, it was like, how did she survive? She looks a mess, but it doesn’t matter, she’s alive, she’s talking.
Narrator: But not for long. Rachel died soon afterwards.Alice CoyI just have a, have an image of her as
I last saw her before she was engulfed and just scrabbling, desperately trying to free herself and trying to get out of, of, of the way of the bulldozer.
Narrator:That afternoon, Rachel Corrie’s friends planned to hold a memorial service on the front line.
Narrator:If Rachel made a mistake, it was to believe she could protest in the same way she would have in America. But here, there are different rules.Sandra JordanPeace activists are going to lay flowers on the spot where Rachel was killed by the bulldozer a couple of days ago. This area is surrounded by
Israeli checkpoints so we’re being watched by Israelis right now.
Narrator:I was about to learn my own lesson about the rules of life here.
Sandra JordanHow do you feel about what Rachel did?ChildHe said he’s glad that she defended
the Palestinians. Oh, oh.GUNFIRENarrator:The shots came from an armoured personnel carrier, speeding towards the memorial service.
VoiceWe are trying to mourn the death and our friend,
Voicethat one of your friends murdered!
Narrator:When some of the protesters stood their ground, the armoured personnel carrier tear gassed them and then fired over their heads.
Narrator:Rachel Corrie’s memorial service came to an abrupt end.
Narrator:Later, I returned to the house that overlooks the place where Rachel Corrie died. She used to sleep here to help protect it. It’s owned by a pharmacist, Dr. Sameer Nasaralla.
Sandra JordanThis house is
Sandra Jordanreally the front line. This is the last house left standing in what was a neighbourhood
Sandra Jordanand now it’s just one lonely house on the frontier, on it’s own.
Doctor SameerWalk with me, ok?Narrator:His front door opens on to what the Israelis call ‘the combat zone’. They shoot first, then ask questions.
Sandra JordanSo that’s where Rachel was when she died.Doctor SameerYeah. And the bulldozer start to coming to this.
Narrator:We heard the sound of something approaching.
Narrator:Dr. Sameer sprinted for the house.Sandra JordanWe’ve had to come back in here, they’ve, a tank is now coming, we have to get inside, which may not be much safer.
Sandra JordanWow, it’s huge.CHATTER
Sandra JordanWow
Sandra JordanThat noise, is that a tank?Doctor SameerYeah, of course.Sandra JordanAnd, aren’t your children scared?
Doctor SameerYeah, everyday he bring the gunshots. Everyday.
Sandra JordanWhat’s that banging?Narrator:Asah Micashowi, our local producer, is worried.Sandra JordanI hope they’re not …
Narrator:They stay because they’ve put their life savings in this house. They’re still paying off the mortgage. Doctor SameerI can’t sleep, you know. I smoke
about 40 to 50 cigarettes because during the night, I’m thinking wait, sound, I often see, near my house what happens, prepare yourself, like this, open the door, notice everything.Sandra JordanAnd do you hear them outside all the time, like we’ve heard them driving around this evening. Do they come in the night?Doctor SameerYeah, of course.
Doctor SameerI don’t know.
Doctor SameerMaybe I will die tomorrow, maybe my daughter, my son. But I’m laughing in front of them.
Narrator:3 hours later, it went quiet and we crept outside.Doctor SameerTake care.CHILDREN SHOUTING
Narrator:We’d rented a flat in the centre of Gaza’s Rafah district.
Narrator:Every night we were there, the Israelis fired hundreds of bullets into the area.
GUNFIRENarrator:The Israeli defence force say they return fire when they’re shot at. But Israeli fire was overwhelming, relentless and hugely dangerous to civilians.
Sandra JordanAfter a whole night of shooting, everybody’s waking up to just another
normal day, but in Rafah, that’s another day of war.
Narrator:You can die anywhere at anytime in Gaza.
Narrator:One morning we heard that the Israelis were making one of their regular raids into Palestinian territory. Asmir, our local producer, guided us to where we could see what was happening.Sandra JordanWe need some protection for the car, that’s why we’re parking it in here.Narrator:Israeli troops go into arrest militants. Civilians often get killed.
Sandra JordanHere we’ve got the tanks. This is
what happens during an incursion, they seal off the roads, the people inside are trapped in there, there’s no getting out, and for people like us who want to go and find out what they’re doing, it’s impossible to get any closer than this. Even this is probably too close.
Sandra JordanThe tanks are right in here now. There are kids down there, the kids are being tear gassed right now, they’ve been throwing stones at the tanks. The tanks have been shooting towards the children, shooting down
the street. It’s lethal being here. Narrator:This time, no one was killed, but there are several such raids every week.
Sandra JordanIs this from the tanks?Narrator:We went to a district called Mussarat that Israeli tanks had invaded in the middle of the night.Sandra JordanThese are fresh tank tracks. It’s quite
easy to see the route the Israeli army took down that road and then down here.
Narrator:The military objective was to capture an important Palestinian fighter. It
was successful,
Narrator:but 7 civilians died and 67 were wounded.
Sandra JordanWhen the fighting was going on, a 16
year old boy came out here and stood there and looked down the streets to see what was happening. A shell came flying down the street from one of the Israeli tanks, through the boy’s head, then through the wall, there and there.
Sandra JordanI came back a few days later to talk to the boy’s family. They were watching a video of him dancing at his sister’s wedding. Omar had just got a job as a builder’s apprentice.
Narrator:In the last 2 and a half years, hospital records show hundreds of Palestinian civilians in Gaza have been killed, thousands injured.
Narrator:I visited the family of 12 year old Hudah Dawesh. She was sitting in her classroom when she was hit in the head by an Israeli bullet.Sandra JordanThis is her school uniform, the one she was wearing the day she was shot. That’s the head scarf she was wearing. Here are the bullet holes and that’s her blood. And this is her jacket.WomanHer jacket.MOURNING
Amal DarweeshWhat is her guilty, to be like this?Sandra JordanWhat has she done?Amal DarweeshWhat’s she done? She’s no, in her class, in her desk, she’s writing. Why? Why this happen to her?
Narrator: I went with Amal Darweesh, Hudah’s favourite aunt, to the hospital.
Narrator:The doctors had said Hudah was waking from her 3 week coma.TALKINGNarrator:To their joy, she recognized their
voices. But to their despair, they realized the bullet had blinded her.TALKING
CRYINGNarrator:Hudah had wanted to be a school teacher.TALKINGNarrator: She’s worried about her homework.TALKINGNarrator:And then the reality of her shattered life suddenly seemed to dawn on her.CRYING
Amal DarweeshShe said that I want to die, I give this pain. What it happened to me? Why, why did this happen to me?
Narrator:Hudah’s school is run by the United Nations.
Narrator:It’s a big open site, not easy to mistake.
Narrator:I went there to work out how a bullet could possibly have hit her at her desk.
Sandra JordanThis is a school picture of Hudah. Everyone says she was very beautiful.Sandra JordanIt’s a bomb.
Narrator:In fact, an Israeli shell had exploded nearby.
Sandra JordanThis is Hudah’s classroom. This is where she got shot a few weeks ago.
Narrator:The told me it happens a lot, but that doesn’t dull the fear.
Sandra JordanThese children are so traumatized,
this girl is in a state of shock. This happens to the kids here all the time.
Narrator:I realized this school is always at risk.
The bullet that struck Hudah came from an Israeli position
Narrator:just 500 metres away.
Narrator:Gaza is completely surrounded and sealed off by the Israeli army. They say it’s to keep suicide bombers out of Israel. We’d arranged to meet with
the commander of the Israeli troops surrounding the Rafah district. Colonel Pinky Zoaret drove us towards his front line.Colonel Pinky ZoaretBring you back in one piece.Narrator:We approached a desolate area of bunkers and watchtowers. We were forbidden from filming them in case we revealed their position.Narrator:We stopped at the Colonel’s command post. He said he wanted to show me what they were up against.
Sandra JordanSo this is the footage you were telling me about.
Narrator:On his laptop was night vision footage of Palestinian fighters launching rockets towards his positions.Narrator:The Israelis have a sophisticated surveillance system.Sandra JordanAnd how do you film this?
Colonel Pinky ZoaretWe have camera.
Sandra JordanSo you have CCTV in your tanks, you
film everything that they’re doing.Colonel Pinky ZoaretYes.
Colonel Pinky ZoaretYou see the weapon here? Sandra JordanMm hm.Colonel Pinky ZoaretYou see the, this one?Sandra JordanYeah.Colonel Pinky ZoaretAnd they put it on kind of a stick thing…Sandra JordanSo, how did you stop them?
Colonel Pinky ZoaretWith a tank.Sandra JordanWith a tank. Did you kill them?Colonel Pinky ZoaretI hope so. I think so.
Narrator:Down below, the Rafah district where we were living, to the Colonel, it was a combat zone.Colonel Pinky ZoaretI tried to hit the terrorists, people that
conduct terrorist activity on my troops on this area.Sandra JordanDo you ever get it wrong?Colonel Pinky ZoaretExcuse me?Sandra JordanDo you ever get it wrong?Colonel Pinky ZoaretYes, yes. There is a stray bullet here because it is a fighting zone and sometimes there are people that get inside the range of the bullet when we
are fighting against terrorists that work in this area. And this is a combat area. You don’t have option not to do
something when your people, when your troop is under risk in this area. And the fact that Palestinian use, or try to use and use civilians here as a human shield, it’s, it’s something that I cannot understand.
Narrator:Back in Rafah, the protesters were still trying to stop the Israeli
bulldozers.AllStop, stop! Stop! Stop!WomanWe do not want to be here. We know it sucks for you to be here too. We know you don’t want to be here.SHOUTINGGUNFIRENarrator:A new arrival was
Narrator:Tom Hurndall, a British 21 year old student with dreams of being a Fleet Street photographer. As part of his University photography course, he was taking pictures of the protest and
doing some himself. GUNFIRENarrator:4 days after the protesters took these pictures, Tom Hurndall was shot.
Narrator:One of the protesters was carrying a camera.Narrator:Tom Hurndall wasn’t shot as he stood in front of a bulldozer. He was standing on a street in Rafah. He was wearing the bright fluorescent jacket most protesters wore. He’d been shot through the head by an Israeli sniper.ManHello, I’m calling you from Rafah. A British citizen called, called Tom Hurndall has just been shot in the head by the Israelis. We would like you to inform the Israeli army to stop shooting in the Yibbnah area.Narrator:The news reached us within minutes in Gaza city.
Sandra JordanWe’re on our way to Rafah for a
young peace activist, a British guy who was shot in the head, he’s in the hospital down here and we’re waiting at the checkpoint to get through.
Narrator:At his bedside was one of the
Narrator:protesters. Alice Coy is a young Jewish woman from south London. Alice CoyStay strong, stay there ok. I’m just touching his shoulder. This is Alice, ok.
Alice CoyYou’re going to be great. And now everyone is now going to know that they’re shooting children in Rafah.Narrator:The situation was desperate.DoctorHe’s very bad. He’s looking very bad. His …
Sandra JordanThe bullet went in one side of his head, through his brain and out the other.DoctorThere is the damage in the brain and there is the fracture in the skull. Multiple fracture in the skull and exit.Sandra JordanIs he breathing on his own or is the machine breathing for him?DoctorNo, no, there’s no breathing. He is on mechanical ventilation now.
Narrator:The doctor said Tom’s only hope was major surgery. Speed was of the essence, but they lacked the facilities.ManHe said, they can do whatever, no worries. With a helicopter, they can
come, they can take him from here just to …Narrator:Asmih, the local journalist we were working with, suggested the protesters contact the British embassy. British diplomats might be able to negotiate safe passage for Tom across the front line to a nearby Israeli hospital.
Alice CoyHello, my name is Alice, I’m in Rafah, there was a British citizen, Tom Hurndall, who’s been shot. I can give you the phone number of the hospital.
Sandra JordanWe’re waiting to hear back from the British embassy. They’re waiting on a call from the IDF. Everything at the moment is in chaos and time has been wasted and Tom needs to be moved.
Narrator:Alice called constantly to check the progress of negotiations with the Israeli army, but there was no news. The doctors considered the alternative
of taking Tom to the main Palestinian hospital in Gaza. But, Israelis control part of the roads, sometimes closing it completely, even to ambulances.
With Tom so ill, it seemed too much of a risk.Sandra JordanHe’s very bad, very critical.
Sandra JordanHis brain is exposed, tissue is out. They don’t really give him much of a chance.
Narrator:More than an hour had passed since
Tom Hurndall had been shot in the head by and Israeli sniper. The British embassy had still not managed to negotiate for an ambulance to take
him across the front line to a nearby
Narrator:well-equipped hospital in Israel.
Sandra JordanYou’ve spoken to the British embassy.DoctorYes, and they have said …Alice CoyIt’s been like an hour. It’s been like an hour since he’s been shot now.Sandra JordanAnd you’ve spoken to the IDF?DoctorUntil now, they say they speaking to …
Sandra JordanThey’ve been dealing with the British
embassy for an hour and a half now and still nothing is happening and Alice and the others are really shocked because they expected that in a situation like this, it would happen like clockwork, that the IDF could arrange an escort into Israel or send a
helicopter. But, so far nothing is happening.
Narrator:After 2 and a half hours, the British
embassy got authorization for Tom to be taken to an Israeli outpost. Sandra JordanThey’ve sent if for [Cushkatif] yeah?
He’s going to [Cushkatif] to the settlement to be met by helicopter and taken into Israel.Narrator:Another problem, Israel says
Palestinian ambulances are used to smuggle explosives. They’re often fired on. The doctors wanted a written guarantee of safety.
Man… they’re to guarantee they’re going to come back out of Gaza alive. I can’t see the 3 people to die in [Wurshatif] for, for one, for someone who might make it and might not make it.
Alice CoyWell, they’ve got the guy, they need to get him out now, the helicopter in the air and the British embassy have said that yes, it’s fine.
Man... for Palestine Doctor to give this patient to come safely without any
problem from the Israeli, this is the only thing we want. Well, we are in
emergency and this is a dear emergency, the patient will die if we do, if we are not in the hurry.
Alice CoyWell he won’t be ok if we’re waiting any fucking longer.
Sandra JordanThe Palestinian doctors still haven’t received a written guarantee of safety from the British embassy for their staff, for their driver and their 2 paramedics. But they’re going to go now because there’s no more time to waste. They’re taking a big risk. They’re afraid what once their staff go into Israel that they could be imprisoned or anything could happen to them, could be caught, an ambush or anything. But, they just said they can’t wait for this fax anymore.
Sandra JordanWe’re going to try and follow the ambulance and make sure there’s no trouble along the way.
Narrator:We hoped the soldiers knew we were coming. Alice and I kept in touch on the mobile phone.Sandra JordanWe’re on the border with Egypt. The British embassy has arranged with the
IDF for Tom to be collected here by helicopter and ambulance and transferred to hospital in Israel. This is happening for Tom because he is a British citizen, but if it was a Palestinian who’s been injured in a similar way, there would be no medical treatment in Israel.
ManIt’s fucking stupid.Sandra JordanThey said go back.Narrator:In Hebrew, the soldiers told the ambulance to reverse. The Arab driver misunderstood.
Sandra JordanAlice, they’re telling the ambulance to go back. The Israelis are saying to reverse.
ManIt’s ok now he’s telling him.Sandra JordanIt’s ok, he’s saying go forward, you’re fine. He’s just yelling commands at you, you can go forward now. Ok bye, good luck, I’ll speak to you soon.
ManWe’re not going to wait here.Sandra JordanAlice, I’m sorry, Asmi said it’s dangerous to wait there by the border. ManWe’re going to wait further down.Sandra JordanWe’re going to wait further down.
Narrator:30 minutes later the Palestinian ambulance returned having transferred Tom to an Israeli ambulance.
Narrator:The next morning, the Israeli defence force gave us a statement. They said a soldier had fired a single shot which had hit a man in camouflage uniform
holding a gun.Sandra JordanIt’s the morning after Tom was shot. Apparently he’s possibly brain dead. He’s still on life support in [Bershiva] Hospital.
Narrator:The Israeli authorities claim that the International Solidarity Movement acts illegally and supports terrorists. I went to their office and confronted them with the IDF statement about Tom’s shooting. I spoke to 10 eye witnesses, all contradicted the Israeli version of the events.
Alison PhillipsA sniper from the tower shot against the wall of the house not very high above heads of a large group of children and then there were more shots and people shouted in alarm and ducked down and tried to run out. But not only children came out. From where I was, about 20 to 25 metres from where Tom went to stand, I could see a little boy and further in, 2 little girls who might have been, I don’t know 6, 7 years old, something like that, perhaps less. Tom saw them, that they were in danger and he was a very loving boy and his concern was for the children so he went back. He was wearing… sorry, a fluorescent orange jacket so he was very obvious. He didn’t duck down, he stood and he signalled to the children to come out and then he bent to help the little boy out and then saw there were 2 little girls further in and was going back to try and get them. And he actually was stooping to help when he was struck in the head and fell forward and then gave a roar of pain and, and that’s all.
Narrator:Another protester who had witnessed what had happened agreed to take me to the site of the shooting. Laura Gordon is a young Jewish woman from Pittsburgh, USA.
LauraThere’s a tower there from
which Tom was shot and there’s another military tower a little bit down the way and then further west, you
Lauracan see there’s a tank that just sits there guarding, monitoring.
Sandra JordanTom was more or less here in this very spot. The bullet came from there, went into his head and exited. That’s his blood.Narrator:The eye witnesses we spoke to said the Israelis had fired multiple shots.
Sandra JordanA bullet went through his head, leaving shrapnel behind, but it did exit. So, I don’t know where that bullet went, but here are some of the other shots. They’re head level. Absolutely eye level. Anyone standing here was gone.
CRYING
Narrator:I followed the trail of Tom’s blood along the road. When this happens to
a foreigner, everyone takes notice. For Palestinians, it’s daily life, routine and bloody.
Narrator:Soon, there was more desperate news.
Narrator:An award winning team, director cameraman James Miller and correspondent Sarah Shaw had
started making a documentary for American television about children trapped in violence.
Narrator:That night, after filming, holding a white flag and shouting they were British journalists, they approached an Israeli armoured personnel carrier. James Miller was shot dead.
Narrator:The IDF said James Miller had approached their troops while they were fighting a battle with Palestinian gunmen and had died in the crossfire.
Narrator:We went to the site to find out what had happened.
Narrator:With us was our trusted local producer Asmi and the local journalist, Adul Rakman Abdullah, who had been working with Miller. Abdul RakmanAnd we’ll go from the back row to in between the houses.Narrator:Everyone was on edge. Since James’ death, we were being even more careful.
Narrator:The Israelis talk about tunnels which gunmen use to bring in weapons. We found another source of passageway; holes knocked between houses to help the people living here to move about without getting shot. Narrator:We were getting a further taste of what it’s like to be a Palestinian in Rafah.Narrator:Finally, we arrived at the house where James Miller had been filming that night.
Narrator:It was close to where Rachel Corrie had died, close to where Tom Hurndall had been hit.
Abdul RakmanIt was wondered and she was looking at me and at this moment …Narrator:Abdul Rakman insisted in showing us where James had died.Abdul RakmanThey shoot 2 or 3 or 4 bullets. I saw James and he, he was here. Narrator:What happened that night was filmed by a local news agency.
Narrator:That film and the testimony of the journalist there, contradicts the Israeli army’s account. Through the night, Miller filmed these bulldozers at work. At 11 o’clock, things went quiet. Rather than take the back route and invite sniper fire, the team decided to leave openly, walking towards the Israeli armoured vehicle outside. There was no gunfire.Daniel EdgeJames was wearing a helmet with TV
in fluorescent letters. Abud was wearing a helmet with TV in fluorescent letters. We had been sitting in a very well lit veranda for the last 4 hours filming these APC’s, filming these bulldozers. I have absolutely no doubt that they had seen us and they had seen us for exactly what we were, which is journalists.
WomanHello?ManHello?WomanHello.GUNFIREWomanHello, can you hear us, we are British journalists.Narrator:The second shot had hit James Miller.GUNFIREFRENCH SPEAKING
Saira ShahJames was hit in a very, very bad way and I thought he had a wound on his neck. Later I discovered he had a hole in his back. He lost consciousness almost immediately.
Narrator:When the firing stopped, the journalists begged the soldiers to give James Miller first aid. The soldiers eventually threw down a stretcher into the mud. All the evidence points to a cold blooded killing.Saira ShahJames died because we trusted them
to behave like a civilized army because we knew that they could see that we were civilians, that we weren’t armed and that we were carrying a white flag. We trusted them not to kill us under those circumstances and they shot James anyway.
Narrator:The Israeli defence force said they’ve launched a thorough inquiry into James Miller’s killing, but they’ve refused to take evidence from the journalists who were there and in their public statements, continue to ignore the video evidence.Major Sharon FeingoldAnti tank rockets were fired at our
soldiers. The soldiers returned fire, this was very late at night in a combat situation, as I say, and apparently James was wandering the streets late at night in a place where military activity was going on. And as a journalist, he knew he was endangering himself. And unfortunately, again I say, he was hit by the exchanges of fire.
Narrator:Tom Hurndall is still in a coma. The IDF are investigating his shooting but have again refused to take evidence from eye witnesses. The IDF continue to maintain they fired a single shot at a gunman who was firing on them.Major Sharon FeingoldThe soldier identified him as wearing
a camouflage kind of jacket and he was pointing a pistol shooting both in the air and then aiming at the outpost and shooting at the outpost. The commander of our post also identifying the gunman with a gun in his hand, fired a single shot in his direction.
Narrator:The IDF’s investigation into Rachel Corrie’s death has now concluded that she was not run over by an Israeli army bulldozer but was probably hit by a falling slab of concrete, a tragic accident.Major Sharon FeingoldShe was in the wrong place in the
wrong time endangering her life, the Palestinian lives and our soldiers’ lives by disturbing an IDF operation.
Narrator:With reason, the Israeli authorities underlying the suicide bombings and
outrages on their own soil. But since we’ve made this film, they’ve made it even more difficult for journalists to visit Gaza.
Narrator:As James Miller’s death shows, anyone who tries to report this side of the story is now in real danger. But if Gaza fades from the news bulletins, don’t confuse silence with peace. It is still a killing zone.
Narrator:Tom Hurndall, British, shot through the head by an Israeli army sniper.
James Miller, British, shot dead by the Israeli army. If foreigners are dying like this in Gaza, what’s happening to the people who live there?
Narrator:Gaza, a city under siege from Israeli forces. We’d arrived on the eve of the war against Iraq. We wanted to know how armed Palestinian groups like Hamas, would react.
Sandra JordanWe happen to be
Sandra Jordanwalking home late in the evening. As we walked down the road, suddenly we were surrounded by these guys on
either side of us.Narrator:But that wasn’t to be the story of the next 40 days. In Gaza, over 1,000,000 Palestinians live under the gun and most of the guns are Israeli.
The danger we were in didn’t come from the Palestinians.Sandra JordanAll day long, there’s been extraordinary action in the sky. You
can hear all of these planes going up and down. You can see most of them are flying high and now suddenly
there’s been a number of explosions. But the planes are still overhead, you can hear them.Narrator:The explosions were in a residential
area.
Narrator:A precision missile from an Israeli helicopter had just assassinated Sada Larabeed, a leader of the armed Palestinian group, Hamas, together with 2 bodyguards.
Narrator:10 minutes late, helicopters began to circle the crowd.
Narrator:An Israeli helicopter had fired 2 more missiles at the Hamas leader’s car. Shrapnel had ripped through scores of bystanders. The Israeli defence force announce the elimination of 3 terrorists. No mention of civilian casualties.SIRENSNarrator:10 years ago, Israel gave limited independence to the Palestinians of Gaza. Now, to combat the armed groups who are based here, Israel has turned Gaza into a battlefield. SHOUTING
Sandra JordanThis is Makmuud, he’s 10 years old. He’s got shrapnel in his eye,
Sandra Jordanin his stomach, in his leg, in his foot,
pieces of metal all over his body. He was playing on his bicycles outside his own house.
Narrator:47 people had been wounded, many of them children.
Narrator:4 more people lay dead in the hospital morgue.
Narrator:When I asked the Israeli defence force why they had fired rockets into the crowd,
Narrator:they told me they wouldn’t comment on security matters.
DoctorHe’s 13 years old.Sandra Jordan This is Mohammed,
Sandra Jordananother victim of last night’s attack. He’s got severe head injuries and
shrapnel in his body. He’s in a critical situation, like all of the other people we’ve filmed in here.
Sandra JordanHe might make it, then again, he might not.
Sandra Jordan This is Alla, aged 15,
Sandra Jordananother civilian casualty. Every time the Israelis use a missile to assassinate somebody here, it sends shrapnel flying everywhere and this is
what shrapnel does to the human body.Narrator:Alla died shortly after we filmed these pictures.
Narrator:The next day, the dead were taken from the hospital. Amad Arashram was only 13. His mother and sister bade him farewell. MOURNINGNarrator:Gunmen appeared mourning the dead Hamas leader. Narrator:But most of the crowd was there to mourn the death of the innocent youngsters.
Sandra JordanThe feeling here is that the West accepts this kind of action. It doesn’t matter how much so called collateral damage there is.
Narrator:Whichever side kills last says it is a response to the one before. In the grim calculus of this conflict, around 3 Palestinian civilians die for every Israeli killed. It’s an equation that keeps old hatreds fresh.
Narrator:In the south of Gaza, near the border
Narrator:with Egypt, is the district of Rafah.
Sandra JordanThis is one of 4 towers that overlook Rafah. They are Israeli army watch posts, people have been shot from
these towers without the Israelis ever coming into Rafah.
Narrator:The Israeli defence force say the soldiers in the towers target only gunmen. That may be true but those bullets also kill civilians.
ManWait, wait, wait.Sandra JordanWhere’s it coming from?ManGo down, go, go behind.Sandra JordanBehind where?GUNFIRESandra JordanWhere’s it coming from?
ManIt’s coming from the tower behind the wall and it’s so fucking scary because the bullets could bounce anywhere.
Sandra JordanWe’re being shot at by Israelis from a watchtower at the moment. The shooting is just coming down the street. The danger is if the bullet ricochets, it can hit you. It seems to be coming straight down. As you can
see, all the buildings here are completely pock marked. This happens every single day down here.ManOne of them bullets was very close
by, very, very close by.Sandra JordanThese women are passing by, their children, they’re used to it. They think it’s quite normal for these bullets to
come flying down this road so they don’t even seek cover. Narrator:They should. Since September 2000,
over 250 people have been killed in Rafah, a third aged under 18.
Sandra JordanWe can see the army posts over there and they can certainly see us.
ManAnd that’s the southern command headquarters of the Israeli Army.
Narrator:Almost every day, Israeli troops leave their base to bulldoze Palestinian houses.
Narrator:They say it’s to deny terrorists cover. But, most of the houses belong to ordinary Palestinians.
Narrator:Thousands have lost their homes, some with only moments notice. And
Narrator:there’s no compensation. For 2 years, despite tear gas and bullets, a small group of British and American protestors from the International Solidarity Movement, has tried to stop the bulldozers.Narrator:One of the protesters filmed these pictures.
WomanStop shooting.
WomanI wish that you may learn to love your
neighbours and not …
Narrator:2 days before our visit, a protester
had been killed.
Narrator:Rachel Corrie was the first American to be killed in Gaza.
Joe SmithShe was at eye-level with the driver of the bulldozer. She was up, her head and upper torso were actually above the blade of the bulldozer so he could very clearly see that she was there, her and her orange fluorescent jacket that she was wearing. But instead of stopping at this point, he continued forward which buried her legs and pulled her legs down. And as she got pulled down, she was pulled out of view of the bulldozer driver. And if he had stopped at this point, he may have only just broken her legs, but he continued forward anyway until she was sucked all the way underneath the bulldozer.
Narrator:The Israeli defence
Narrator:force says the driver did not see her.
Narrator:But Rachel Corrie died because of her
own irresponsible and illegal behaviour.Joe Smith You can see the space underneath
the bulldozer. It wasn’t the treads that killed her. She didn’t get run over by the treads. It was only the blade.
Either a really gross mistake or a really brutal murder.Alice CoyShe was talking and her lip was torn. It was just like, oh my god, she survived. And then she said, my back is broken and I held her head. I’d
taken my phone out to call an ambulance but as soon as she said my back is broken I dropped my phone and just held on to her head to try and stabilize her spine. And it was just such a miracle, it was like, how did she survive? She looks a mess, but it doesn’t matter, she’s alive, she’s talking.
Narrator: But not for long. Rachel died soon afterwards.Alice CoyI just have a, have an image of her as
I last saw her before she was engulfed and just scrabbling, desperately trying to free herself and trying to get out of, of, of the way of the bulldozer.
Narrator:That afternoon, Rachel Corrie’s friends planned to hold a memorial service on the front line.
Narrator:If Rachel made a mistake, it was to believe she could protest in the same way she would have in America. But here, there are different rules.Sandra JordanPeace activists are going to lay flowers on the spot where Rachel was killed by the bulldozer a couple of days ago. This area is surrounded by
Israeli checkpoints so we’re being watched by Israelis right now.
Narrator:I was about to learn my own lesson about the rules of life here.
Sandra JordanHow do you feel about what Rachel did?ChildHe said he’s glad that she defended
the Palestinians. Oh, oh.GUNFIRENarrator:The shots came from an armoured personnel carrier, speeding towards the memorial service.
VoiceWe are trying to mourn the death and our friend,
Voicethat one of your friends murdered!
Narrator:When some of the protesters stood their ground, the armoured personnel carrier tear gassed them and then fired over their heads.
Narrator:Rachel Corrie’s memorial service came to an abrupt end.
Narrator:Later, I returned to the house that overlooks the place where Rachel Corrie died. She used to sleep here to help protect it. It’s owned by a pharmacist, Dr. Sameer Nasaralla.
Sandra JordanThis house is
Sandra Jordanreally the front line. This is the last house left standing in what was a neighbourhood
Sandra Jordanand now it’s just one lonely house on the frontier, on it’s own.
Doctor SameerWalk with me, ok?Narrator:His front door opens on to what the Israelis call ‘the combat zone’. They shoot first, then ask questions.
Sandra JordanSo that’s where Rachel was when she died.Doctor SameerYeah. And the bulldozer start to coming to this.
Narrator:We heard the sound of something approaching.
Narrator:Dr. Sameer sprinted for the house.Sandra JordanWe’ve had to come back in here, they’ve, a tank is now coming, we have to get inside, which may not be much safer.
Sandra JordanWow, it’s huge.CHATTER
Sandra JordanWow
Sandra JordanThat noise, is that a tank?Doctor SameerYeah, of course.Sandra JordanAnd, aren’t your children scared?
Doctor SameerYeah, everyday he bring the gunshots. Everyday.
Sandra JordanWhat’s that banging?Narrator:Asah Micashowi, our local producer, is worried.Sandra JordanI hope they’re not …
Narrator:They stay because they’ve put their life savings in this house. They’re still paying off the mortgage. Doctor SameerI can’t sleep, you know. I smoke
about 40 to 50 cigarettes because during the night, I’m thinking wait, sound, I often see, near my house what happens, prepare yourself, like this, open the door, notice everything.Sandra JordanAnd do you hear them outside all the time, like we’ve heard them driving around this evening. Do they come in the night?Doctor SameerYeah, of course.
Doctor SameerI don’t know.
Doctor SameerMaybe I will die tomorrow, maybe my daughter, my son. But I’m laughing in front of them.
Narrator:3 hours later, it went quiet and we crept outside.Doctor SameerTake care.CHILDREN SHOUTING
Narrator:We’d rented a flat in the centre of Gaza’s Rafah district.
Narrator:Every night we were there, the Israelis fired hundreds of bullets into the area.
GUNFIRENarrator:The Israeli defence force say they return fire when they’re shot at. But Israeli fire was overwhelming, relentless and hugely dangerous to civilians.
Sandra JordanAfter a whole night of shooting, everybody’s waking up to just another
normal day, but in Rafah, that’s another day of war.
Narrator:You can die anywhere at anytime in Gaza.
Narrator:One morning we heard that the Israelis were making one of their regular raids into Palestinian territory. Asmir, our local producer, guided us to where we could see what was happening.Sandra JordanWe need some protection for the car, that’s why we’re parking it in here.Narrator:Israeli troops go into arrest militants. Civilians often get killed.
Sandra JordanHere we’ve got the tanks. This is
what happens during an incursion, they seal off the roads, the people inside are trapped in there, there’s no getting out, and for people like us who want to go and find out what they’re doing, it’s impossible to get any closer than this. Even this is probably too close.
Sandra JordanThe tanks are right in here now. There are kids down there, the kids are being tear gassed right now, they’ve been throwing stones at the tanks. The tanks have been shooting towards the children, shooting down
the street. It’s lethal being here. Narrator:This time, no one was killed, but there are several such raids every week.
Sandra JordanIs this from the tanks?Narrator:We went to a district called Mussarat that Israeli tanks had invaded in the middle of the night.Sandra JordanThese are fresh tank tracks. It’s quite
easy to see the route the Israeli army took down that road and then down here.
Narrator:The military objective was to capture an important Palestinian fighter. It
was successful,
Narrator:but 7 civilians died and 67 were wounded.
Sandra JordanWhen the fighting was going on, a 16
year old boy came out here and stood there and looked down the streets to see what was happening. A shell came flying down the street from one of the Israeli tanks, through the boy’s head, then through the wall, there and there.
Sandra JordanI came back a few days later to talk to the boy’s family. They were watching a video of him dancing at his sister’s wedding. Omar had just got a job as a builder’s apprentice.
Narrator:In the last 2 and a half years, hospital records show hundreds of Palestinian civilians in Gaza have been killed, thousands injured.
Narrator:I visited the family of 12 year old Hudah Dawesh. She was sitting in her classroom when she was hit in the head by an Israeli bullet.Sandra JordanThis is her school uniform, the one she was wearing the day she was shot. That’s the head scarf she was wearing. Here are the bullet holes and that’s her blood. And this is her jacket.WomanHer jacket.MOURNING
Amal DarweeshWhat is her guilty, to be like this?Sandra JordanWhat has she done?Amal DarweeshWhat’s she done? She’s no, in her class, in her desk, she’s writing. Why? Why this happen to her?
Narrator: I went with Amal Darweesh, Hudah’s favourite aunt, to the hospital.
Narrator:The doctors had said Hudah was waking from her 3 week coma.TALKINGNarrator:To their joy, she recognized their
voices. But to their despair, they realized the bullet had blinded her.TALKING
CRYINGNarrator:Hudah had wanted to be a school teacher.TALKINGNarrator: She’s worried about her homework.TALKINGNarrator:And then the reality of her shattered life suddenly seemed to dawn on her.CRYING
Amal DarweeshShe said that I want to die, I give this pain. What it happened to me? Why, why did this happen to me?
Narrator:Hudah’s school is run by the United Nations.
Narrator:It’s a big open site, not easy to mistake.
Narrator:I went there to work out how a bullet could possibly have hit her at her desk.
Sandra JordanThis is a school picture of Hudah. Everyone says she was very beautiful.Sandra JordanIt’s a bomb.
Narrator:In fact, an Israeli shell had exploded nearby.
Sandra JordanThis is Hudah’s classroom. This is where she got shot a few weeks ago.
Narrator:The told me it happens a lot, but that doesn’t dull the fear.
Sandra JordanThese children are so traumatized,
this girl is in a state of shock. This happens to the kids here all the time.
Narrator:I realized this school is always at risk.
The bullet that struck Hudah came from an Israeli position
Narrator:just 500 metres away.
Narrator:Gaza is completely surrounded and sealed off by the Israeli army. They say it’s to keep suicide bombers out of Israel. We’d arranged to meet with
the commander of the Israeli troops surrounding the Rafah district. Colonel Pinky Zoaret drove us towards his front line.Colonel Pinky ZoaretBring you back in one piece.Narrator:We approached a desolate area of bunkers and watchtowers. We were forbidden from filming them in case we revealed their position.Narrator:We stopped at the Colonel’s command post. He said he wanted to show me what they were up against.
Sandra JordanSo this is the footage you were telling me about.
Narrator:On his laptop was night vision footage of Palestinian fighters launching rockets towards his positions.Narrator:The Israelis have a sophisticated surveillance system.Sandra JordanAnd how do you film this?
Colonel Pinky ZoaretWe have camera.
Sandra JordanSo you have CCTV in your tanks, you
film everything that they’re doing.Colonel Pinky ZoaretYes.
Colonel Pinky ZoaretYou see the weapon here? Sandra JordanMm hm.Colonel Pinky ZoaretYou see the, this one?Sandra JordanYeah.Colonel Pinky ZoaretAnd they put it on kind of a stick thing…Sandra JordanSo, how did you stop them?
Colonel Pinky ZoaretWith a tank.Sandra JordanWith a tank. Did you kill them?Colonel Pinky ZoaretI hope so. I think so.
Narrator:Down below, the Rafah district where we were living, to the Colonel, it was a combat zone.Colonel Pinky ZoaretI tried to hit the terrorists, people that
conduct terrorist activity on my troops on this area.Sandra JordanDo you ever get it wrong?Colonel Pinky ZoaretExcuse me?Sandra JordanDo you ever get it wrong?Colonel Pinky ZoaretYes, yes. There is a stray bullet here because it is a fighting zone and sometimes there are people that get inside the range of the bullet when we
are fighting against terrorists that work in this area. And this is a combat area. You don’t have option not to do
something when your people, when your troop is under risk in this area. And the fact that Palestinian use, or try to use and use civilians here as a human shield, it’s, it’s something that I cannot understand.
Narrator:Back in Rafah, the protesters were still trying to stop the Israeli
bulldozers.AllStop, stop! Stop! Stop!WomanWe do not want to be here. We know it sucks for you to be here too. We know you don’t want to be here.SHOUTINGGUNFIRENarrator:A new arrival was
Narrator:Tom Hurndall, a British 21 year old student with dreams of being a Fleet Street photographer. As part of his University photography course, he was taking pictures of the protest and
doing some himself. GUNFIRENarrator:4 days after the protesters took these pictures, Tom Hurndall was shot.
Narrator:One of the protesters was carrying a camera.Narrator:Tom Hurndall wasn’t shot as he stood in front of a bulldozer. He was standing on a street in Rafah. He was wearing the bright fluorescent jacket most protesters wore. He’d been shot through the head by an Israeli sniper.ManHello, I’m calling you from Rafah. A British citizen called, called Tom Hurndall has just been shot in the head by the Israelis. We would like you to inform the Israeli army to stop shooting in the Yibbnah area.Narrator:The news reached us within minutes in Gaza city.
Sandra JordanWe’re on our way to Rafah for a
young peace activist, a British guy who was shot in the head, he’s in the hospital down here and we’re waiting at the checkpoint to get through.
Narrator:At his bedside was one of the
Narrator:protesters. Alice Coy is a young Jewish woman from south London. Alice CoyStay strong, stay there ok. I’m just touching his shoulder. This is Alice, ok.
Alice CoyYou’re going to be great. And now everyone is now going to know that they’re shooting children in Rafah.Narrator:The situation was desperate.DoctorHe’s very bad. He’s looking very bad. His …
Sandra JordanThe bullet went in one side of his head, through his brain and out the other.DoctorThere is the damage in the brain and there is the fracture in the skull. Multiple fracture in the skull and exit.Sandra JordanIs he breathing on his own or is the machine breathing for him?DoctorNo, no, there’s no breathing. He is on mechanical ventilation now.
Narrator:The doctor said Tom’s only hope was major surgery. Speed was of the essence, but they lacked the facilities.ManHe said, they can do whatever, no worries. With a helicopter, they can
come, they can take him from here just to …Narrator:Asmih, the local journalist we were working with, suggested the protesters contact the British embassy. British diplomats might be able to negotiate safe passage for Tom across the front line to a nearby Israeli hospital.
Alice CoyHello, my name is Alice, I’m in Rafah, there was a British citizen, Tom Hurndall, who’s been shot. I can give you the phone number of the hospital.
Sandra JordanWe’re waiting to hear back from the British embassy. They’re waiting on a call from the IDF. Everything at the moment is in chaos and time has been wasted and Tom needs to be moved.
Narrator:Alice called constantly to check the progress of negotiations with the Israeli army, but there was no news. The doctors considered the alternative
of taking Tom to the main Palestinian hospital in Gaza. But, Israelis control part of the roads, sometimes closing it completely, even to ambulances.
With Tom so ill, it seemed too much of a risk.Sandra JordanHe’s very bad, very critical.
Sandra JordanHis brain is exposed, tissue is out. They don’t really give him much of a chance.
Narrator:More than an hour had passed since
Tom Hurndall had been shot in the head by and Israeli sniper. The British embassy had still not managed to negotiate for an ambulance to take
him across the front line to a nearby
Narrator:well-equipped hospital in Israel.
Sandra JordanYou’ve spoken to the British embassy.DoctorYes, and they have said …Alice CoyIt’s been like an hour. It’s been like an hour since he’s been shot now.Sandra JordanAnd you’ve spoken to the IDF?DoctorUntil now, they say they speaking to …
Sandra JordanThey’ve been dealing with the British
embassy for an hour and a half now and still nothing is happening and Alice and the others are really shocked because they expected that in a situation like this, it would happen like clockwork, that the IDF could arrange an escort into Israel or send a
helicopter. But, so far nothing is happening.
Narrator:After 2 and a half hours, the British
embassy got authorization for Tom to be taken to an Israeli outpost. Sandra JordanThey’ve sent if for [Cushkatif] yeah?
He’s going to [Cushkatif] to the settlement to be met by helicopter and taken into Israel.Narrator:Another problem, Israel says
Palestinian ambulances are used to smuggle explosives. They’re often fired on. The doctors wanted a written guarantee of safety.
Man… they’re to guarantee they’re going to come back out of Gaza alive. I can’t see the 3 people to die in [Wurshatif] for, for one, for someone who might make it and might not make it.
Alice CoyWell, they’ve got the guy, they need to get him out now, the helicopter in the air and the British embassy have said that yes, it’s fine.
Man... for Palestine Doctor to give this patient to come safely without any
problem from the Israeli, this is the only thing we want. Well, we are in
emergency and this is a dear emergency, the patient will die if we do, if we are not in the hurry.
Alice CoyWell he won’t be ok if we’re waiting any fucking longer.
Sandra JordanThe Palestinian doctors still haven’t received a written guarantee of safety from the British embassy for their staff, for their driver and their 2 paramedics. But they’re going to go now because there’s no more time to waste. They’re taking a big risk. They’re afraid what once their staff go into Israel that they could be imprisoned or anything could happen to them, could be caught, an ambush or anything. But, they just said they can’t wait for this fax anymore.
Sandra JordanWe’re going to try and follow the ambulance and make sure there’s no trouble along the way.
Narrator:We hoped the soldiers knew we were coming. Alice and I kept in touch on the mobile phone.Sandra JordanWe’re on the border with Egypt. The British embassy has arranged with the
IDF for Tom to be collected here by helicopter and ambulance and transferred to hospital in Israel. This is happening for Tom because he is a British citizen, but if it was a Palestinian who’s been injured in a similar way, there would be no medical treatment in Israel.
ManIt’s fucking stupid.Sandra JordanThey said go back.Narrator:In Hebrew, the soldiers told the ambulance to reverse. The Arab driver misunderstood.
Sandra JordanAlice, they’re telling the ambulance to go back. The Israelis are saying to reverse.
ManIt’s ok now he’s telling him.Sandra JordanIt’s ok, he’s saying go forward, you’re fine. He’s just yelling commands at you, you can go forward now. Ok bye, good luck, I’ll speak to you soon.
ManWe’re not going to wait here.Sandra JordanAlice, I’m sorry, Asmi said it’s dangerous to wait there by the border. ManWe’re going to wait further down.Sandra JordanWe’re going to wait further down.
Narrator:30 minutes later the Palestinian ambulance returned having transferred Tom to an Israeli ambulance.
Narrator:The next morning, the Israeli defence force gave us a statement. They said a soldier had fired a single shot which had hit a man in camouflage uniform
holding a gun.Sandra JordanIt’s the morning after Tom was shot. Apparently he’s possibly brain dead. He’s still on life support in [Bershiva] Hospital.
Narrator:The Israeli authorities claim that the International Solidarity Movement acts illegally and supports terrorists. I went to their office and confronted them with the IDF statement about Tom’s shooting. I spoke to 10 eye witnesses, all contradicted the Israeli version of the events.
Alison PhillipsA sniper from the tower shot against the wall of the house not very high above heads of a large group of children and then there were more shots and people shouted in alarm and ducked down and tried to run out. But not only children came out. From where I was, about 20 to 25 metres from where Tom went to stand, I could see a little boy and further in, 2 little girls who might have been, I don’t know 6, 7 years old, something like that, perhaps less. Tom saw them, that they were in danger and he was a very loving boy and his concern was for the children so he went back. He was wearing… sorry, a fluorescent orange jacket so he was very obvious. He didn’t duck down, he stood and he signalled to the children to come out and then he bent to help the little boy out and then saw there were 2 little girls further in and was going back to try and get them. And he actually was stooping to help when he was struck in the head and fell forward and then gave a roar of pain and, and that’s all.
Narrator:Another protester who had witnessed what had happened agreed to take me to the site of the shooting. Laura Gordon is a young Jewish woman from Pittsburgh, USA.
LauraThere’s a tower there from
which Tom was shot and there’s another military tower a little bit down the way and then further west, you
Lauracan see there’s a tank that just sits there guarding, monitoring.
Sandra JordanTom was more or less here in this very spot. The bullet came from there, went into his head and exited. That’s his blood.Narrator:The eye witnesses we spoke to said the Israelis had fired multiple shots.
Sandra JordanA bullet went through his head, leaving shrapnel behind, but it did exit. So, I don’t know where that bullet went, but here are some of the other shots. They’re head level. Absolutely eye level. Anyone standing here was gone.
CRYING
Narrator:I followed the trail of Tom’s blood along the road. When this happens to
a foreigner, everyone takes notice. For Palestinians, it’s daily life, routine and bloody.
Narrator:Soon, there was more desperate news.
Narrator:An award winning team, director cameraman James Miller and correspondent Sarah Shaw had
started making a documentary for American television about children trapped in violence.
Narrator:That night, after filming, holding a white flag and shouting they were British journalists, they approached an Israeli armoured personnel carrier. James Miller was shot dead.
Narrator:The IDF said James Miller had approached their troops while they were fighting a battle with Palestinian gunmen and had died in the crossfire.
Narrator:We went to the site to find out what had happened.
Narrator:With us was our trusted local producer Asmi and the local journalist, Adul Rakman Abdullah, who had been working with Miller. Abdul RakmanAnd we’ll go from the back row to in between the houses.Narrator:Everyone was on edge. Since James’ death, we were being even more careful.
Narrator:The Israelis talk about tunnels which gunmen use to bring in weapons. We found another source of passageway; holes knocked between houses to help the people living here to move about without getting shot. Narrator:We were getting a further taste of what it’s like to be a Palestinian in Rafah.Narrator:Finally, we arrived at the house where James Miller had been filming that night.
Narrator:It was close to where Rachel Corrie had died, close to where Tom Hurndall had been hit.
Abdul RakmanIt was wondered and she was looking at me and at this moment …Narrator:Abdul Rakman insisted in showing us where James had died.Abdul RakmanThey shoot 2 or 3 or 4 bullets. I saw James and he, he was here. Narrator:What happened that night was filmed by a local news agency.
Narrator:That film and the testimony of the journalist there, contradicts the Israeli army’s account. Through the night, Miller filmed these bulldozers at work. At 11 o’clock, things went quiet. Rather than take the back route and invite sniper fire, the team decided to leave openly, walking towards the Israeli armoured vehicle outside. There was no gunfire.Daniel EdgeJames was wearing a helmet with TV
in fluorescent letters. Abud was wearing a helmet with TV in fluorescent letters. We had been sitting in a very well lit veranda for the last 4 hours filming these APC’s, filming these bulldozers. I have absolutely no doubt that they had seen us and they had seen us for exactly what we were, which is journalists.
WomanHello?ManHello?WomanHello.GUNFIREWomanHello, can you hear us, we are British journalists.Narrator:The second shot had hit James Miller.GUNFIREFRENCH SPEAKING
Saira ShahJames was hit in a very, very bad way and I thought he had a wound on his neck. Later I discovered he had a hole in his back. He lost consciousness almost immediately.
Narrator:When the firing stopped, the journalists begged the soldiers to give James Miller first aid. The soldiers eventually threw down a stretcher into the mud. All the evidence points to a cold blooded killing.Saira ShahJames died because we trusted them
to behave like a civilized army because we knew that they could see that we were civilians, that we weren’t armed and that we were carrying a white flag. We trusted them not to kill us under those circumstances and they shot James anyway.
Narrator:The Israeli defence force said they’ve launched a thorough inquiry into James Miller’s killing, but they’ve refused to take evidence from the journalists who were there and in their public statements, continue to ignore the video evidence.Major Sharon FeingoldAnti tank rockets were fired at our
soldiers. The soldiers returned fire, this was very late at night in a combat situation, as I say, and apparently James was wandering the streets late at night in a place where military activity was going on. And as a journalist, he knew he was endangering himself. And unfortunately, again I say, he was hit by the exchanges of fire.
Narrator:Tom Hurndall is still in a coma. The IDF are investigating his shooting but have again refused to take evidence from eye witnesses. The IDF continue to maintain they fired a single shot at a gunman who was firing on them.Major Sharon FeingoldThe soldier identified him as wearing
a camouflage kind of jacket and he was pointing a pistol shooting both in the air and then aiming at the outpost and shooting at the outpost. The commander of our post also identifying the gunman with a gun in his hand, fired a single shot in his direction.
Narrator:The IDF’s investigation into Rachel Corrie’s death has now concluded that she was not run over by an Israeli army bulldozer but was probably hit by a falling slab of concrete, a tragic accident.Major Sharon FeingoldShe was in the wrong place in the
wrong time endangering her life, the Palestinian lives and our soldiers’ lives by disturbing an IDF operation.
Narrator:With reason, the Israeli authorities underlying the suicide bombings and
outrages on their own soil. But since we’ve made this film, they’ve made it even more difficult for journalists to visit Gaza.
Narrator:As James Miller’s death shows, anyone who tries to report this side of the story is now in real danger. But if Gaza fades from the news bulletins, don’t confuse silence with peace. It is still a killing zone.