UK Filmmaker James Miller, Shot Dead by Israeli army, Wins 3 Posthumous Emmies

The Independent
Sep. 13, 2005

Two years after James Miller was shot dead by a soldier from the Israeli Defence Force while making a documentary on the region, his film has been honoured with three Emmy awards.

Death in Gaza looks at the lives of three children at the Rafah refugee camp caught up in the cycle of violence between the Israeli army and Palestinian fighters, and documents the killing of the 34-year-old British documentary maker.

On Sunday night in Los Angeles his family accepted awards for outstanding direction, outstanding cinematography and exceptional merit in non-fiction film-making. "Three Emmys but still no justice," his widow, Sophy, said. "We are all immensely proud of James but will not rest until we get justice. The IDF, Israel's national army ... have failed to investigate his killing properly. They have to be held to account." The family is taking civil action against the Israeli government.

Mr Miller was killed as he walked towards an armoured personnel carrier, shining a torch on to a white flag. Eleven shots rang out and he was hit in the neck.

The officer who fired the shot that killed Mr Miller, a first lieutenant in the Bedouin Desert Reconnaissance Battalion, was due to face a disciplinary hearing but acquitted by Brigadier General Guy Tzur, the head of the army's southern command. The army expressed regret but said Mr Miller had "taken great risks by being in a virtual war zone".

Mr Miller, already an Emmy winner for his 2001 documentary Unholy War, has won several other posthumous accolades for Death in Gaza, including a Bafta.