Reuters is upset that an IDF report cleared soldiers who fired a shell that killed photographer Fadel Shana (pictured). Editor David Schlesinger writes:
Said the report: “Two persons were spotted leaving the vehicle, carrying a large black object. The black object was placed on a tripod above a dirt mound, and directed at the tank…. The tank crew reported the spotting to its superiors. The latter authorized firing a tank shell at the characters, in light of the genuine suspicion that the object mounted on the tripod and directed at the tank was an anti-tank missile or mortar, a suspicion consistent with the characteristics of that day’s hostilities…”
I do understand the stresses of the battlefield.
I do understand that wars are horribly dangerous – Reuters has had close calls in Georgia; colleagues from other organizations have been killed.
I do not understand the deliberate decision to fire on the basis of suspicion and uncertainty.
Shana’s death is indeed a tragedy and Schlesinger is correct to treat as such. But it’s difficult to say that the Reuters editor really understands the stresses of the battlefield.
A tank crew that spends too much time trying to verify whether it’s looking at a tripod-mounted camera or anti-tank rocket launcher jeopardizes itself, conceding the initiative to “the unknown other.” Israel Matzav posted some photos showing that anti-tank weaponry like this Milan sometimes do resemble video equipment.
Could the IDF tank crew have done a better job of distinguishing between a TV crew and an anti-tank squad at a distance of 1.4 km? Perhaps.
But the ambiguity, as unfortunate as it was, leads into the second reason Schlesinger doesn’t appear to understand the stress of battle, Gaza style. Kevin Williamson aptly points out:
The fact that rarely has any attention called to it is that it is precisely the Palestinians, and not the Israelis, who have endangered civilians by cowering among them and by using civilian institutions, such as hospitals and schools, as armories. Terrorists use civilians as human shields, and that makes life more dangerous for everybody, including that unfortunate Reuters photographer.
Terrorists impersonating news crews also endanger real journalists like Shana, but I’m not aware of Reuters speaking out against that.
