Israeli army acquits soldier over death of filmmaker

The Israeli army today acquitted an officer on charges he illegally used his weapon in the shooting death of a British filmmaker, despite a military court recommendation that harsh disciplinary action be taken against the soldier.

James Miller, the filmmaker, was shot in the neck in May 2003 by troops in the Gaza-Egypt border area of Rafah. Miller was filming a documentary on the lives of Palestinian children. The killing was filmed by an APTN cameraman, whose footage was included in Miller’s documentary.

The officer who fired the deadly shot is a first lieutenant in the Bedouin Desert Reconnaissance Battalion and was commanding the unit at the time of the killing. He was acquitted by Brigadier General Guy Tzur, the head of the army’s southern command.

In an army statement issued to the family last month, military prosecutor-general Avihai Mandelblitt cleared the officer, who was not identified, of Miller’s death, saying there was no evidence to support the charge.

Mandelblitt, however, did say the officer would be disciplined for misusing his weapon and for changing his story several times during the investigation.

But today “the court found he (the officer) was operating in very difficult circumstances, including taking incoming fire from terrorists and concluded that he acted appropriately”, the military official said.

Miller’s wife, Sophy, and his sister, Katie, said they were told by military investigators last month that the officer admitted to firing his weapon in Miller’s direction.

They said they were told that the officer acknowledged he knew when he fired the weapon that journalists were in the house and that the area surrounding it was well-lit.

The footage of Miller’s killing shows that the cameraman and his colleagues, who were leaving the home of a Palestinian family in the Rafah refugee camp after dark, carried a white flag and called out to let troops know they were British journalists.

As they walked toward an Israeli armoured personnel carrier, a soldier opened fire, hitting Miller in the neck, the family said.

Rafah has been the scene of daily violence throughout more than four years of fighting, and Israeli troops routinely open fire as they patrol the area to protect themselves against ambushes by Palestinian gunmen.