CAIRO: The director of the Israeli Government Press Office (GPO) has made the curious claim that the infamous shooting of the Palestinian child Mohamed Al-Durrah, was staged by a Gaza cameraman. According to the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, Daniel Seaman made the claim in an official letter representing the Israeli Prime Minister's office on Tuesday. And while the Prime Minister's Bureau stated that it had not viewed the contents of the letter, the newspaper did confirm that Ehud Olmert's legal office approved the release of the letter. Seaman had released the letter in response to demands to strip journalists from France 2 channel of their GPO clearances. It was the French channel that aired the footage of Al-Durrah's murder in Sept. 30, 2000, the second day of the Second Intifada (Uprising). "The events of that day were essentially staged by the network s cameraman in Gaza, Mr. Tilal Abu-Rehama, Seaman said in the letter as reported by Haaretz. The murder of 12-year-old Mohammed Al-Durrah became the defining image of the Intifada and Palestinian suffering at the hands of Israeli occupation. Al-Durrah was shot dead at his father's side as they sought cover from Israeli gunfire. "Israel was accused of murdering a small child after the event by the world press and his image has been burned into the collective Arab memory as a symbol of the brutality of the Zionist state, Seaman wrote in the letter, and "here began the long path to exposing the truth and to base the facts that are known to us today. CEO of the Palestinian Ramattan News Agency Bureau in Cairo, Qassem Ali, told Daily News Egypt that Seaman's claims were disrespectful to the memory of the boy's tragic death, and that the France 2 crew were not the only people present who witnessed Al-Durrah's death. "These claims are a mockery to the images and to the media. What happened was clear and witnessed by many reporters who were present, whether Palestinian or foreign because this location was the center of events in the Intifada, he said. "But that is his [Seaman's] job, to beautify the ugly face of Israeli practices, Ali added. Israel has been investigating the incident for the past seven years, and initially the IDF admitted the report's claim that the bullets that killed Al-Durrah came from Israeli positions. But recently it seems to being change its tack. The Prime Minister's Bureau had rejected a request by Seaman in 2005 to publish an official declaration denying culpability of Al-Durrah's death. This was based on the Israeli Foreign Ministry's recommendation not to renew interest in this case to prevent further damage to Israel's reputation. Accusations of staging the shooting have been levelled against the network in France but Parisian courts have ruled in the network's favor in the past. However, last month a French court ordered France 2 to release unedited footage of the shooting for the purpose of investigation.
