Misplaced Pages

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Jaakobou (talk | contribs) at 16:14, 24 March 2010 (again - (a) WP:BLP (as mentioned on the talkpage), (b) WP:BRD - Rabin issue. -- ChrisO not making sense on talk where "Nahum's blog" is supposedly "no indication" as his(?)). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Nahum Shahaf (Template:Lang-he; born June 2, 1946) is an Israeli physicist and current president Natop, an electro-optics and image enhancement company he founded. He was one of the leading developers of Israel's unmanned aerial vehicles, and received an Israeli Ministry of Science award for creativity in 1997 for his work on compressed digital video transmission. He is possibly best known for his role in an October 2000 Israel Defense Forces (IDF) investigation into the controversial shooting incident of a 12-year-old Palestinian boy, Muhammad al-Durrah for which he was awarded the 2007 Abramowitz Israeli Prize for Media Criticism.

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 completed his Bachelor and Master of Science degrees in Physics with honors. After graduating, he spent two years as a member of the computerized tomography development team at Elscint and was in charge of incorporating the CT technology into Radiation Treatment Planning. From 1981 to 1988, he worked at Tadiran on unmanned aerial vehicles and video instrumentation for the IDF and was among the field's leading developers. He then worked on attack helicopter missile systems at Israel Aerospace Industries from 1989 to 1991. Shahaf has also served as a physicist for the optical intelligence unit of the IDF. In 1991, he founded Natop, an electro-optics and image enhancement company.

Shahaf received, along with fellow scientist Meir Danino, an 1997 Israeli Ministry of Science Fellowship and an award for creativity in for their work on compressed digital video transmission.

Al-Durrah investigation

In 2000, Shahaf approached IDF Southern Commander Major General Yom Tov Samia 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 60 Minutes camera crew. In late November 2000, at the conclusion of the inquiry, General Samia presented his findings at a press conference. The IDF accepted the investigations' determination that Israeli soldiers were not responsible but refused to accept the suggestion that the images may have been staged.

Initial response to the investigation was critical. Israeli newspaper Haaretz and the Jerusalem Post argued that Shahaf had no ballistics experience, and Haaretz described his investigation as "dubious." In response to criticism on his credentials and experience, Shahaf responded that he is "a scientist, a physicist specialized in ballistics and the technology of filming images." Shahaf is currently suing Haaretz for libel.

Shahaf's investigation into the incident was later supported by an external French ballistics expert and 2 investigative documentaries by German network ARD. The original "raw" footage was presented in French courts in late 2007 in the midst of a libel suit filed by France 2 against a French media critique, Phillip Karsenty, resulting in the court asserting that the original report has not been properly established. Follow up reports on the al-Durrah incident break-down into those who agree with Shahaf's main analysis, that the original news report, which asserted the death of the boy was inflicted by Israeli bullets, was faulty; and those asserting that the investigation into the matter is a "conspiracy mania". Journalist James Fallows writes that:

"It now appears that the boy cannot have died in the way reported by most of the world's media and fervently believed throughout the Islamic world. Whatever happened to him, he was not shot by the Israeli soldiers who were known to be involved in the day's fighting—or so I am convinced, after spending a week in Israel talking with those examining the case."

Media criticism award

Shahaf received the 2007 Abramowitz Israeli Prize for Media Criticism from Israel's Media Watch association (Template:Lang-he), for what the awarding panel described as "revealing the truth behind news fabrications" in relation to the Al-Durrah incident.

Notes

1. Israeli Census - Verified March 23, 2010
2. ^ Template:Languageicon נחום שחף - קורות חיים
3. ^ Who Killed Muhammad Al-Dura? Blood Libel-- Model 2000 Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs Amnon Lord 15 July 2002 Cite error: The named reference "Lord" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
4. Fallows 2003: "Before getting involved in the al-Dura case, Shahaf was known mainly as an inventor. He was only the tenth person to receive a medal from the Israeli Ministry of Science, for his work on computerized means of compressing digital video transmission."
5. Template:Languageicon Press release - 2007 Abramowitz Israeli Prize for Media Criticism
6. ^ Template:Languageicon נחום שחף - קורות חיים
7. ^ Fallows 2003 Cite error: The named reference "Fallows" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
8. Israel claims Palestinian gunmen may have shot boy in high-profile killing AP - November 27, 2000
9. Cygielman 2000.
10. Battle rages over fateful footage "media conspiracy theory ... troops could not have shot the child" The Age (Australia), 26th Oct 2007. Verified 23rd Oct 2008.
11. Al-Dura and the conspiracy freaks "the fountainhead of al-Dura conspiracy mania" Jerusalem Post, 28th May 2008. Verified 23rd Oct 2008.
12. Derfner, Larry Get real about Muhammad al-Dura. Shahaf "pioneered ... conspiracy theory after cutting his teeth on the Rabin assassination" Jerusalem Post, 18th June 2008. Verified 23rd Oct 2008.
13. 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.
14. The Mohamad A-Dura affair: a gross imposture? MENA interviews Nahum Shahaf
    (Copy)
15. Template:Languageicon תביעה בסך 400 מיליון נגד "הארץ"
16. Template:Languageicon Press release - 2007 Abramowitz Israeli Prize for Media Criticism
17. Israel Media Watch Awards 2008
18. Template:Languageicon Omedia זוכי פרס ביקורת התקשורת: שחף וקרבצ'יק
19. Template:Languageicon Haaretz פרסים מטעם האגודה לזכות הציבור לדעת ליבגניה קרבצ'יק, נחום שחף וגיא רולניק

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

• Shahaf's website in English
• Sharaf's website in Hebrew
• Template:Languageicon Al-Dura, Nahum Shahaf investigation results
• Template:Languageicon Shahaf's curriculum vitae

• Israeli physicists
• Living people
• 1946 births