Mazen al-Tumeizi ( ar, مازن الطميزي also transliterated Mazen Tumesi, c. July 5, 1979 – September 12, 2004) was a
Palestinian
Palestinians ( ar, الفلسطينيون, ; he, פָלַסְטִינִים, ) or Palestinian people ( ar, الشعب الفلسطيني, label=none, ), also referred to as Palestinian Arabs ( ar, الفلسطينيين العرب, label=non ...
journalist, killed
on-camera in
Baghdad
Baghdad (; ar, بَغْدَاد , ) is the capital of Iraq and the second-largest city in the Arab world after Cairo. It is located on the Tigris near the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon and the Sassanid Persian capital of Ctesiphon ...
,
Iraq
Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...
by
U.S.
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
helicopter gunfire while covering the Haifa Street helicopter incident. His last moments were recorded by the camera he had been reporting into, including his dying words as he gasped to his cameraman. The graphic tape of his death sparked an increase in concern for journalists reporting in occupied Iraq, as well as outrage in the
Arab world
The Arab world ( ar, اَلْعَالَمُ الْعَرَبِيُّ '), formally the Arab homeland ( '), also known as the Arab nation ( '), the Arabsphere, or the Arab states, refers to a vast group of countries, mainly located in Western A ...
.
Tumeizi was a
Palestinian
Palestinians ( ar, الفلسطينيون, ; he, פָלַסְטִינִים, ) or Palestinian people ( ar, الشعب الفلسطيني, label=none, ), also referred to as Palestinian Arabs ( ar, الفلسطينيين العرب, label=non ...
reporter for
Saudi-owned news networks
al-Arabiya and
al-Ikhbariya. He was the third al-Arabiya journalist to be killed in Iraq by U.S. forces, after reporter
Ali al-Khatib and cameraman Ali Abdelaziz.
Tumeizi died during the
Haifa Street helicopter incident The Haifa Street helicopter incident or the Haifa Street massacre was a controversial event in Baghdad, Iraq, on September 12, 2004. The fighting started before dawn on Haifa Street, where insurgents detonated two car bombs and attacked American tro ...
. The footage shows Tumeizi covering a group of curious Iraqis ululating around the wreckage of a U.S.
Bradley Fighting Vehicle
The Bradley Fighting Vehicle (BFV) is a tracked armoured fighting vehicle platform of the United States developed by FMC Corporation and manufactured by BAE Systems Land & Armaments, formerly United Defense. It is named after U.S. General Om ...
that had been recently abandoned after suffering damage from an improvised
roadside bomb
An improvised explosive device (IED) is a bomb constructed and deployed in ways other than in conventional military action. It may be constructed of conventional military explosives, such as an artillery shell, attached to a detonating mechan ...
attack. A loud explosion can then be heard, followed by layers of smoke and debris. Tumeizi collapses from the impact, falling toward the camera, and the camera's lens is spattered with his blood as he falls. The cameraman (identified by Tumeizi as "Seif") loses focus, but Tumeizi's last words are captured in the camera's audio feed:
:''I'm going to die. I'm going to die. Seif. Seif. I'm going to die.''
"Seif" would later be identified as
Reuters
Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters Corporation. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world.
The agency was estab ...
camera operator
Seif Fouad, who was also injured in a subsequent rocket strik
Reactions
Mazen al-Tumeizi was among 11 civilians killed in the Haifa Street attack on Sept. 12, 2004, after fighting between insurgents and members of the 1st Battalion, 9th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division when a United States Apache helicopter was called in to destroy a damaged Bradley Fighting Vehicle to prevent insurgents from looting its weapons and ammunition.
International news agencies reported that Tumeizi began filming the abandoned vehicle's location three hours after it had been ambushed, a claim disputed by the U.S. military. The official military report places the time of the helicopter strike only 40 minutes after the Bradley's being ambushed, and states that the airstrike on the wrecked Bradley was called "to prevent looting and harm to the Iraqi people.
Naim Tubasi, chief of the Palestinian Journalists' Union, suggested Tumeizi's killing to have been a deliberate targeting of Arab journalists in Iraq, and called Tumeizi's killing "one more American crime in Iraq.
Najwa Kasem, an Al Arabiya anchor and former colleague of Tumeizi, reacted to American suggestions that Tumeizi was "one of the terrorists" by describing them as "really surprising and sad."
External links
Media spotlight on Baghdad deaths September 13, 2004,
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
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