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Revision as of 19:03, 23 March 2010 editChrisO~enwiki (talk \| contribs)43,032 edits rm quotes section - generally a bad idea, and there's no indication of why this cherry-picked quotation is any more significant than anything else he's said← Previous edit		Revision as of 19:32, 23 March 2010 edit undoChrisO~enwiki (talk \| contribs)43,032 edits →Al-Durrah investigation: - rewrittenNext edit →
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	==Al-Durrah investigation==		==Al-Durrah investigation==
	{{main\|Muhammad al-Durrah incident}}		{{main\|Muhammad al-Durrah incident}}
	In 2000, Shahaf approached IDF ] Major General ] ~~and~~ proposed an ~~investigation~~ of the ~~al-Durrah~~ shooting. Samia agreed, and on October 23, 2000, Shahaf helped to arrange a re-enactment of the shooting on an IDF shooting range, in front of a CBS '']'' camera crew. In late November 2000, at the conclusion of the inquiry, ~~General~~ Samia presented his findings at a press conference, explaining that the findings were "based on measurements, bullet angles and evidence that the Palestinian boy was hit by a volley of gunfire while Israeli soldiers were firing only single shots."<ref name="CNN">{{dead link\|Date=March 2010}} AP - November 27, 2000</ref>		Shortly after the al-Durrah shooting in September 2000, for which the ] had initially admitted responsibility, Shahaf approached IDF ] head Major General ]. Shahaf was already well known to Samia, having previously done work for the IDF.<ref>{{cite book\|last1=Cordesman\|first=1=Anthony\|last2=Moravitz\|first2=Jennifer\|title=The Israeli-Palestinian war: escalating to nowhere\|page=372\|publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group\|year=2005\|isbn=9780275987589}}</ref> Shahaf proposed that he and Joseph Doriel, an engineer with whom Shahaf had previously collaborated during work on ], should undertake an investigation into the shooting on behalf of Samia.<ref name=Cygielman> Samia agreed, and on October 23, 2000, Shahaf helped to arrange a re-enactment of the shooting on an IDF shooting range, in front of a CBS '']'' camera crew. In late November 2000, at the conclusion of the inquiry, Samia presented his findings at a press conference, explaining that the findings were "based on measurements, bullet angles and evidence that the Palestinian boy was hit by a volley of gunfire while Israeli soldiers were firing only single shots."<ref name="CNN">{{dead link\|Date=March 2010}} AP - November 27, 2000</ref>

			The investigation met with a mixed response. Doriel had been dismissed by Samia during the course of the investigation and when the results were announced, it was strongly criticised by some in the Israeli media. The Israeli newspapers ''Haaretz'' and the ''Jerusalem Post'' argued that Shahaf had no ballistics experience and ''Haaretz'' described his investigation as "dubious."<ref name=Cygielman>.</ref> His previous involvement in raising doubts about the identity of Rabin's killer became the subject of controversy.<ref>Schwartz, Adi (2007). "", ''Haaretz'', November 8, 2007, accessed January 24, 2010.</ref> Shahaf, however, pursued the case and devoted years to the matter,<ref> "eccentric obsession .. also obtained "amazing material" on the murder of Yitzhak Rabin" Haaretz, 7th Oct 2007. Verified 23rd Oct 2008.</ref> having "spent months painstakingly collecting, wheedling, even buying footage from reluctant cameramen, and then spliced the pieces together in rough temporal order in an attempt to make an unbroken film of the day."<ref>''The other war: Israelis, Palestinians, and the struggle for media supremacy'', Stephanie Gutmann, Encounter Books, 2005, p. 75.</ref> He has promoted a theory that al-Durrah was not killed by the IDF and may still be alive.<ref>{{cite news\|last=Temple-Raston\|first=Dina\|title=Engineer Casts Doubt on Veracity of Claims That Israelis Killed Palestinian Boy in 2000\|url=http://www.nysun.com/foreign/engineer-casts-doubt-on-veracity-of-claims-that/10581/\|work=The New York Sun\|date=March 15, 2005}}</ref>
	===Response===
	Journalist Stephanie Gutmann pointed to "odd" discrepancies that resulted from Shahaf's investigation. "Shahaf... spent months painstakingly collecting, wheedling, even buying footage from reluctant cameramen, and then spliced the pieces together in rough temporal order in an attempt to make an unbroken film of the day."<ref>''The other war: Israelis, Palestinians, and the struggle for media supremacy'', Stephanie Gutmann, Encounter Books, 2005, p. 75.</ref> Shahaf and the Al-Durrah 'staged incident' theory have been criticized by several commentators. Israeli newspaper Haaretz and the Jerusalem Post argued that Shahaf had no ballistics experience, and Haaretz described his investigation as "dubious."<ref name=Cygielman>.</ref><ref> "media conspiracy theory ... troops could not have shot the child" The Age (Australia), 26th Oct 2007. Verified 23rd Oct 2008.</ref><ref> "the fountainhead of al-Dura conspiracy mania" Jerusalem Post, 28th May 2008. Verified 23rd Oct 2008.</ref><ref>Derfner, Larry . Shahaf "pioneered ... conspiracy theory after cutting his teeth on the Rabin assassination" Jerusalem Post, 18th June 2008. Verified 23rd Oct 2008.</ref><ref> "eccentric obsession .. also obtained "amazing material" on the murder of Yitzhak Rabin" Haaretz, 7th Oct 2007. Verified 23rd Oct 2008.</ref> Shahaf is currently suing Haaretz for libel.<ref>{{languageicon\|he\|Hebrew}} </ref>

	Shahaf describes himself as "a scientist, a physicist specialized in ballistics and the technology of filming images."<ref name="Guysen">{{dead link\|date=March 2010}} ] interviews Nahum Shahaf</ref> Shahaf's investigation into the incident was supported by an external French ballistics expert and two investigative documentaries by German network ARD.{{fact}}

	==Notes==		==Notes==

Revision as of 19:32, 23 March 2010

Nahum Shahaf (Template:Lang-he) is an Israeli physicist, best known for his role in an October 2000 Israel Defense Forces (IDF) investigation surrounding the shooting of a 12-year-old Palestinian boy, Muhammad al-Durrah. Prior to the investigation, Shahaf had worked with the IDF on the design of unmanned aerial vehicles, and had been known primarily as an inventor, having received an Israeli Ministry of Science award for creativity in 1997 for his work on compressed digital video transmission.

Background

Shahaf served as an Israel Defense Forces (IDF) paratrooper from 1964 to 1966. He attended Bar-Ilan University from 1970 to 1977, where he earned Bachelor and Master of Science degrees in Physics. After graduating, he spent two years working on computerized tomography at Elscint. From 1981 to 1988, he worked at Tadiran on unmanned aerial vehicles for the IDF. He then worked on attack helicopter missile systems at Israel Aerospace Industries from 1989 to 1991. Beginning in 1992, he worked for a company named Natop. Shahaf received an Israeli Ministry of Science award for creativity in 1997 for his work on compressed digital video transmission.

According to Israeli reporter Amnon Lord, "Nahum Shahaf has worked in Israel's defense establishment as a physicist for the optical intelligence unit of the IDF. He has contributed much in various ways to the defense system, and was among the leading developers of pilotless light aircraft and video instrumentation. Shahaf investigated the damage done by the Iraqi missiles in 1991, and concluded that part of the damage was caused by Patriot missiles.

Shahaf describes himself as "a scientist, a physicist specialized in ballistics and the technology of filming images."

Al-Durrah investigation

Main article: Muhammad al-Durrah incident

Shortly after the al-Durrah shooting in September 2000, for which the Israel Defence Force had initially admitted responsibility, Shahaf approached IDF Southern Command head Major General Yom Tov Samia. Shahaf was already well known to Samia, having previously done work for the IDF. Shahaf proposed that he and Joseph Doriel, an engineer with whom Shahaf had previously collaborated during work on conspiracy theories concerning the killing of Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, should undertake an investigation into the shooting on behalf of Samia.Cite error: A <ref> tag is missing the closing </ref> (see the help page).

The investigation met with a mixed response. Doriel had been dismissed by Samia during the course of the investigation and when the results were announced, it was strongly criticised by some in the Israeli media. The Israeli newspapers Haaretz and the Jerusalem Post argued that Shahaf had no ballistics experience and Haaretz described his investigation as "dubious." His previous involvement in raising doubts about the identity of Rabin's killer became the subject of controversy. Shahaf, however, pursued the case and devoted years to the matter, having "spent months painstakingly collecting, wheedling, even buying footage from reluctant cameramen, and then spliced the pieces together in rough temporal order in an attempt to make an unbroken film of the day." He has promoted a theory that al-Durrah was not killed by the IDF and may still be alive.

Notes

^ Fallows 2003.
^ Template:Languageicon נחום שחף - קורות חיים
Who Killed Muhammad Al-Dura? Blood Libel-- Model 2000 Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs Amnon Lord 15 July 2002
The Mohamad A-Dura affair: a gross imposture? MENA interviews Nahum Shahaf (Copy)
Cordesman, 1=Anthony; Moravitz, Jennifer (2005). The Israeli-Palestinian war: escalating to nowhere. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 372. ISBN 9780275987589.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
Cygielman 2000.
Schwartz, Adi (2007). "In the footsteps of the al-Dura controversy", Haaretz, November 8, 2007, accessed January 24, 2010.
Mohammed al-Dura lives on "eccentric obsession .. also obtained "amazing material" on the murder of Yitzhak Rabin" Haaretz, 7th Oct 2007. Verified 23rd Oct 2008.
The other war: Israelis, Palestinians, and the struggle for media supremacy, Stephanie Gutmann, Encounter Books, 2005, p. 75.
Temple-Raston, Dina (March 15, 2005). "Engineer Casts Doubt on Veracity of Claims That Israelis Killed Palestinian Boy in 2000". The New York Sun.

References

Cygielman, Anat (2000). "IDF keeps shooting itself in the foot", Haaretz, November 7, 2000, accessed March 22, 2010.
Fallows, James (2003). "Who shot Mohammed al-Durra?", The Atlantic, June 2003, accessed March 21, 2010.

External websites

Categories:

Revision as of 19:03, 23 March 2010 editChrisO~enwiki (talk \| contribs)43,032 edits rm quotes section - generally a bad idea, and there's no indication of why this cherry-picked quotation is any more significant than anything else he's said← Previous edit		Revision as of 19:32, 23 March 2010 edit undoChrisO~enwiki (talk \| contribs)43,032 edits →Al-Durrah investigation: - rewrittenNext edit →
Line 10:		Line 10:
	==Al-Durrah investigation==		==Al-Durrah investigation==
	{{main\|Muhammad al-Durrah incident}}		{{main\|Muhammad al-Durrah incident}}
	In 2000, Shahaf approached IDF ] Major General ] ~~and~~ proposed an ~~investigation~~ of the ~~al-Durrah~~ shooting. Samia agreed, and on October 23, 2000, Shahaf helped to arrange a re-enactment of the shooting on an IDF shooting range, in front of a CBS '']'' camera crew. In late November 2000, at the conclusion of the inquiry, ~~General~~ Samia presented his findings at a press conference, explaining that the findings were "based on measurements, bullet angles and evidence that the Palestinian boy was hit by a volley of gunfire while Israeli soldiers were firing only single shots."<ref name="CNN">{{dead link\|Date=March 2010}} AP - November 27, 2000</ref>		Shortly after the al-Durrah shooting in September 2000, for which the ] had initially admitted responsibility, Shahaf approached IDF ] head Major General ]. Shahaf was already well known to Samia, having previously done work for the IDF.<ref>{{cite book\|last1=Cordesman\|first=1=Anthony\|last2=Moravitz\|first2=Jennifer\|title=The Israeli-Palestinian war: escalating to nowhere\|page=372\|publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group\|year=2005\|isbn=9780275987589}}</ref> Shahaf proposed that he and Joseph Doriel, an engineer with whom Shahaf had previously collaborated during work on ], should undertake an investigation into the shooting on behalf of Samia.<ref name=Cygielman> Samia agreed, and on October 23, 2000, Shahaf helped to arrange a re-enactment of the shooting on an IDF shooting range, in front of a CBS '']'' camera crew. In late November 2000, at the conclusion of the inquiry, Samia presented his findings at a press conference, explaining that the findings were "based on measurements, bullet angles and evidence that the Palestinian boy was hit by a volley of gunfire while Israeli soldiers were firing only single shots."<ref name="CNN">{{dead link\|Date=March 2010}} AP - November 27, 2000</ref>

			The investigation met with a mixed response. Doriel had been dismissed by Samia during the course of the investigation and when the results were announced, it was strongly criticised by some in the Israeli media. The Israeli newspapers ''Haaretz'' and the ''Jerusalem Post'' argued that Shahaf had no ballistics experience and ''Haaretz'' described his investigation as "dubious."<ref name=Cygielman>.</ref> His previous involvement in raising doubts about the identity of Rabin's killer became the subject of controversy.<ref>Schwartz, Adi (2007). "", ''Haaretz'', November 8, 2007, accessed January 24, 2010.</ref> Shahaf, however, pursued the case and devoted years to the matter,<ref> "eccentric obsession .. also obtained "amazing material" on the murder of Yitzhak Rabin" Haaretz, 7th Oct 2007. Verified 23rd Oct 2008.</ref> having "spent months painstakingly collecting, wheedling, even buying footage from reluctant cameramen, and then spliced the pieces together in rough temporal order in an attempt to make an unbroken film of the day."<ref>''The other war: Israelis, Palestinians, and the struggle for media supremacy'', Stephanie Gutmann, Encounter Books, 2005, p. 75.</ref> He has promoted a theory that al-Durrah was not killed by the IDF and may still be alive.<ref>{{cite news\|last=Temple-Raston\|first=Dina\|title=Engineer Casts Doubt on Veracity of Claims That Israelis Killed Palestinian Boy in 2000\|url=http://www.nysun.com/foreign/engineer-casts-doubt-on-veracity-of-claims-that/10581/\|work=The New York Sun\|date=March 15, 2005}}</ref>
	===Response===
	Journalist Stephanie Gutmann pointed to "odd" discrepancies that resulted from Shahaf's investigation. "Shahaf... spent months painstakingly collecting, wheedling, even buying footage from reluctant cameramen, and then spliced the pieces together in rough temporal order in an attempt to make an unbroken film of the day."<ref>''The other war: Israelis, Palestinians, and the struggle for media supremacy'', Stephanie Gutmann, Encounter Books, 2005, p. 75.</ref> Shahaf and the Al-Durrah 'staged incident' theory have been criticized by several commentators. Israeli newspaper Haaretz and the Jerusalem Post argued that Shahaf had no ballistics experience, and Haaretz described his investigation as "dubious."<ref name=Cygielman>.</ref><ref> "media conspiracy theory ... troops could not have shot the child" The Age (Australia), 26th Oct 2007. Verified 23rd Oct 2008.</ref><ref> "the fountainhead of al-Dura conspiracy mania" Jerusalem Post, 28th May 2008. Verified 23rd Oct 2008.</ref><ref>Derfner, Larry . Shahaf "pioneered ... conspiracy theory after cutting his teeth on the Rabin assassination" Jerusalem Post, 18th June 2008. Verified 23rd Oct 2008.</ref><ref> "eccentric obsession .. also obtained "amazing material" on the murder of Yitzhak Rabin" Haaretz, 7th Oct 2007. Verified 23rd Oct 2008.</ref> Shahaf is currently suing Haaretz for libel.<ref>{{languageicon\|he\|Hebrew}} </ref>

	Shahaf describes himself as "a scientist, a physicist specialized in ballistics and the technology of filming images."<ref name="Guysen">{{dead link\|date=March 2010}} ] interviews Nahum Shahaf</ref> Shahaf's investigation into the incident was supported by an external French ballistics expert and two investigative documentaries by German network ARD.{{fact}}

	==Notes==		==Notes==