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Al-Durrah Photographer Among Egypt-Air Jet Crash Survivors
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Abu Rahma’s disturbing footage shocked the entire world. |
TUNIS,
May 8 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - Among the survivors of the
EgyptAir airliner that crashed in Tunis was Palestinian cameraman
Talal Abu Rahma, whose pictures of Palestinian child Muhammad
Al-Durrah, who was shot dead by Israeli soldiers as he cowered in his
father's arms in the early days of the Palestinian Intifada, shocked
the whole world.
Abu
Rahma’s wife told journalists in Gaza that he had been slightly
injured in the crash and was recovering in hospital in Tunis, news
agencies reported.
Just
moments after Abu Rahma pictured Al-Durrah September 30, 2000, the
12-year-old boy was shot dead by Israeli occupation soldiers, to
become a new martyr for the Palestinian cause.
For
45 minutes, Muhammad's father tried in vain to shield him from Israeli
gunfire as they crouched against a concrete wall near Netzarim in the
Gaza Strip, BBC’s online news service reported after the tragic
event.
The
whole scene was caught on camera by France 2 cameraman Abu Rahma, and
was played repeatedly on world televisions.
The
footage shows the boy's father Jamal al-Durrah waving desperately to
Israeli forces, shouting: "Don't shoot". But the terrified
boy is hit by four bullets, and collapses in his father's arms.
An
ambulance driver who tried to rescue the boy and his father was also
killed, and a second ambulance driver was wounded.
The
Israeli occupation army admitted, after Abu Rahma’s video footage
triggered world indignation, that the shots which killed
Muhammad had been fired by its troops, and apologized for his murder.
Abu
Rahma’s video footage showed that not only were the boy and his
father completely unarmed, but that they were not even part of the
rioting, BBC said.
The
disturbing footage, which shocked the entire world, was played
throughout the Middle East, and on all major U.S. television networks.
A
photo still from the video ran on the front page of The New York
Times.
The
British daily newspaper, The Independent, described it as "an
image that will haunt the world as painfully and powerfully" as
any of those from the Palestinian Intifada.
Palestinian
Talal Hassan Omar Abu Rahma, a 46-year-old father of three, has worked
with France 2 since 1988 and has also worked for CNN in the Gaza
Strip.
He
was injured and imprisoned several times during his work in the
occupied Palestinian Territories.
Abu
Rahma received many honorary awards from organizations and festivals
for his unique footage of late Al-Durrah, including one from Carthage
Cinema Festival in Tunisia in 2000; the Badge of Courage from the
Palestinian Journalists’ syndicate in 2000; Festival Scoop 2000 in
France; Palestine’s Culture, Literature and Humanities Award in
2000; the Mujahid Shield from the President of Iran in 2001, the
North-South Cultural Communication 2001 award in Morocco; the Arab
Press award from the U.A.E.; the Professional Syndicates Union award
from Jordan.
He
was also granted the Year’s Journalist award by ADC in the U.S. and
won the Best Picture award for 2000 for the cover of Italian newspaper
Republica.
The
EgyptAir jet which crashed just outside Tunis claimed the lives of six
Egyptians and five Tunisians as well as a Jordanian and two other
people whose nationalities have not been identified, the Egyptian
embassy said Wednesday, May 8, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported.
Tunisian
authorities have put the death toll at 15, with 49 survivors, after
the Boeing 737-500 crashed into the hills near the country's main
airport as it tried to make an emergency landing in heavy rain on
Tuesday, May 7.
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