Palestine Hotel
Encyclopedia
The Palestine Hotel often referred to simply as The Palestine, is an 18-story hotel
in Baghdad
, Iraq
located on Firdos Square
, across from the Sheraton Ishtar
. It has long been favored by journalist
s and media
personnel. The hotel overlooks the Tigris
on its eastern bank and is located several hundred metres south of the Baghdad Hotel
..
The hotel was built in 1982 by the Iraqi government and managed by the French
hotelier Le Méridien
as the Palestine Meridien Hotel. UN-imposed sanctions following the Gulf War
led Le Méridien to dissociate itself from the hotel, which was subsequently renamed simply the Palestine Hotel. Starting with the 1991 Gulf War
and continuing through the 2003 invasion of Iraq
, this was one of several hotels Western and other foreign media used to cover situations that developed in Iraq.
. On April 8, 2003, an American tank
fired a shell
on the hotel, killing two journalists
, Reuters
cameraman Taras Protsyuk
and José Couso
of Telecinco
Spanish television. Three journalists were wounded.
On May 27, 2003, the Committee to Protect Journalists
(CPJ) published a report of their investigation into the tank shelling of the Palestine Hotel on April 8, 2003.
After interviewing "about a dozen reporters who were at the scene, including two embedded journalists who monitored the military radio traffic before and after the shelling occurred" the CPJ determined that the facts suggest that the "attack on the journalists, while not deliberate, was avoidable". The CPJ determined that the tank thought it was firing upon an Iraqi forward artillery observer when it hit the hotel. The report went on to say "CPJ has learned that Pentagon officials, as well as commanders on the ground in Baghdad, knew that the Palestine Hotel was full of international journalists and were intent on not hitting it."
A U.S. military investigation in August 2003 cleared Philip DeCamp and the other two soldiers concerned, Sgt. Shawn Gibson
and Capt. Philip Wolford, of wrongdoing, saying they acted properly because they believed they were firing on enemy troops. According to the inquiry, American commanders reacted to the tank's firing on the building immediately with anger and consternation, with Lieutenant Colonel DeCamp, the battalion commander, berating Captain Wolford, his subordinate, for giving Sergeant Gibson clearance to fire. However the inquiry never clarified why he or anybody else were unable to prevent the attack from taking place.
A few days after the April incident, DeCamp was quoted in the Los Angeles Times
as saying "I'm sorry to say it, but I'm the guy who killed the journalists. I'm really sorry, and I feel badly for their families, but I had no choice. My soldiers' lives were in danger."
In February 2004, the NGO Reporters Without Borders
, after undertaking their own investigation, called for the reopening of the inquiry into the incident of 8 April 2003. The NGO stated that the soldiers on the ground, including Philip Wolford, Philip DeCamp and Shawn Gibson, could probably not be held responsible for their lack of information about the function of the Palestine Hotel. Reporters Without Borders however demanded that the responsibility of higher commanding levels be investigated, as they withheld the crucial information from their lower ranking officers that the Palestine Hotel was used by journalists.
In 2008, Former military intelligence linguist Army Sergent Adrienne Kinne revealed to DemocracyNow.org that she saw secret US military documents that listed the Hotel Palestine as a potential target.
A Spanish judge has indicted three US soldiers in 2009 in the killings: Sergeant Shawn Gibson, Captain Philip Wolford and Lieutenant Colonel Philip DeCamp. The three men were charged with homicide and committing a crime against the international community.
. The Palestine is not located in the fortified Green Zone
, so it is susceptible to mortar
and rocket
fire. On October 24, 2005, a cement mixer
truck bomb detonated beside the hotel after breaching the defensive wall. The blast destroyed the lobby.
Hotel
A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. The provision of basic accommodation, in times past, consisting only of a room with a bed, a cupboard, a small table and a washstand has largely been replaced by rooms with modern facilities, including en-suite bathrooms...
in Baghdad
Baghdad
Baghdad is the capital of Iraq, as well as the coterminous Baghdad Governorate. The population of Baghdad in 2011 is approximately 7,216,040...
, Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
located on Firdos Square
Firdos Square
Firdaus Square, or Firdos Square , is a public open space in Baghdad, Iraq. It is named after the Arabic word Firdows, which literally means "paradise". It is the location of two of the best-known hotels, the Palestine Hotel and the Sheraton Ishtar, which are the two tallest buildings in Baghdad...
, across from the Sheraton Ishtar
Sheraton Ishtar
The Ishtar Sheraton Hotel is a hotel in Baghdad, Iraq located on Firdos Square. It is the tallest building in Baghdad, and the tallest structure in Iraq after the Baghdad Tower....
. It has long been favored by journalist
Journalist
A journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...
s and media
Mass media
Mass media refers collectively to all media technologies which are intended to reach a large audience via mass communication. Broadcast media transmit their information electronically and comprise of television, film and radio, movies, CDs, DVDs and some other gadgets like cameras or video consoles...
personnel. The hotel overlooks the Tigris
Tigris
The Tigris River is the eastern member of the two great rivers that define Mesopotamia, the other being the Euphrates. The river flows south from the mountains of southeastern Turkey through Iraq.-Geography:...
on its eastern bank and is located several hundred metres south of the Baghdad Hotel
Baghdad Hotel
The Baghdad Hotel is a large hotel in Baghdad, Iraq, favored by Westerners after the 2003 invasion of Iraq. The hotel overlooks the Tigris on its eastern bank....
..
The hotel was built in 1982 by the Iraqi government and managed by the French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
hotelier Le Méridien
Le Méridien
Le Méridien is an international hotel brand with a European perspective, formerly headquartered in the United Kingdom, with 130 properties. It is owned by Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide....
as the Palestine Meridien Hotel. UN-imposed sanctions following the Gulf War
Gulf War
The Persian Gulf War , commonly referred to as simply the Gulf War, was a war waged by a U.N.-authorized coalition force from 34 nations led by the United States, against Iraq in response to Iraq's invasion and annexation of Kuwait.The war is also known under other names, such as the First Gulf...
led Le Méridien to dissociate itself from the hotel, which was subsequently renamed simply the Palestine Hotel. Starting with the 1991 Gulf War
Gulf War
The Persian Gulf War , commonly referred to as simply the Gulf War, was a war waged by a U.N.-authorized coalition force from 34 nations led by the United States, against Iraq in response to Iraq's invasion and annexation of Kuwait.The war is also known under other names, such as the First Gulf...
and continuing through the 2003 invasion of Iraq
2003 invasion of Iraq
The 2003 invasion of Iraq , was the start of the conflict known as the Iraq War, or Operation Iraqi Freedom, in which a combined force of troops from the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia and Poland invaded Iraq and toppled the regime of Saddam Hussein in 21 days of major combat operations...
, this was one of several hotels Western and other foreign media used to cover situations that developed in Iraq.
April 8, 2003 incident
A controversial incident occurred during the 2003 invasion of Baghdad2003 invasion of Baghdad
The Battle of Baghdad also known as the Fall of Baghdad was a military invasion of Baghdad that took place in early April 2003, as part of the invasion of Iraq....
. On April 8, 2003, an American tank
Tank
A tank is a tracked, armoured fighting vehicle designed for front-line combat which combines operational mobility, tactical offensive, and defensive capabilities...
fired a shell
Shell (projectile)
A shell is a payload-carrying projectile, which, as opposed to shot, contains an explosive or other filling, though modern usage sometimes includes large solid projectiles properly termed shot . Solid shot may contain a pyrotechnic compound if a tracer or spotting charge is used...
on the hotel, killing two journalists
April 8, 2003 journalist deaths by U.S. fire
On April 8, 2003, three locations in Baghdad housing journalists were fired upon by U.S. armed forces during 2003 invasion of Iraq, killing three journalists and wounding four.- Al Jazeera's office :...
, Reuters
Reuters
Reuters is a news agency headquartered in New York City. Until 2008 the Reuters news agency formed part of a British independent company, Reuters Group plc, which was also a provider of financial market data...
cameraman Taras Protsyuk
Taras Protsyuk
Taras Protsyuk was a Ukrainian TV cameraman working for Reuters, who was killed during the US invasion of Iraq.-Biography:Born in Ivano-Frankivsk , Protsyuk was based and lived in Warsaw since 1999 and worked as a cameraman for Reuters since 1993. During his career he covered the conflicts in...
and José Couso
José Couso
José Couso Permuy was a Spanish cameraman who was one of the April 8, 2003 journalist deaths by U.S. fire after a U.S. tank fired at the Palestine Hotel in Baghdad, Iraq during the 2003 Iraq invasion.-Biography:...
of Telecinco
Telecinco
Telecinco is a Spanish commercial television channel operated by Mediaset España. Launched in 1990 as Tele 5, it was the fifth of the national terrestrial television channels. In 1997, Tele 5 was rebranded as Telecinco, dropping the flower logo seen in other Mediaset channel...
Spanish television. Three journalists were wounded.
On May 27, 2003, the Committee to Protect Journalists
Committee to Protect Journalists
The Committee to Protect Journalists is an independent nonprofit organisation based in New York City that promotes press freedom and defends the rights of journalists.-History:A group of U.S...
(CPJ) published a report of their investigation into the tank shelling of the Palestine Hotel on April 8, 2003.
After interviewing "about a dozen reporters who were at the scene, including two embedded journalists who monitored the military radio traffic before and after the shelling occurred" the CPJ determined that the facts suggest that the "attack on the journalists, while not deliberate, was avoidable". The CPJ determined that the tank thought it was firing upon an Iraqi forward artillery observer when it hit the hotel. The report went on to say "CPJ has learned that Pentagon officials, as well as commanders on the ground in Baghdad, knew that the Palestine Hotel was full of international journalists and were intent on not hitting it."
A U.S. military investigation in August 2003 cleared Philip DeCamp and the other two soldiers concerned, Sgt. Shawn Gibson
Shawn Gibson
U.S. Army Staff Sergeant Shawn Gibson of the U.S. 3rd Infantry Division is one of three US soldiers for whom a Spanish court issued an international arrest warrant citing the murder of Telecinco cameraman José Couso in April 2003.The 38-year old Gibson was commanding an M1 Abrams tank, when he...
and Capt. Philip Wolford, of wrongdoing, saying they acted properly because they believed they were firing on enemy troops. According to the inquiry, American commanders reacted to the tank's firing on the building immediately with anger and consternation, with Lieutenant Colonel DeCamp, the battalion commander, berating Captain Wolford, his subordinate, for giving Sergeant Gibson clearance to fire. However the inquiry never clarified why he or anybody else were unable to prevent the attack from taking place.
A few days after the April incident, DeCamp was quoted in the Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
as saying "I'm sorry to say it, but I'm the guy who killed the journalists. I'm really sorry, and I feel badly for their families, but I had no choice. My soldiers' lives were in danger."
In February 2004, the NGO Reporters Without Borders
Reporters Without Borders
Reporters Without Borders is a France-based international non-governmental organization that advocates freedom of the press. It was founded in 1985, by Robert Ménard, Rony Brauman and the journalist Jean-Claude Guillebaud. Jean-François Julliard has served as Secretary General since 2008...
, after undertaking their own investigation, called for the reopening of the inquiry into the incident of 8 April 2003. The NGO stated that the soldiers on the ground, including Philip Wolford, Philip DeCamp and Shawn Gibson, could probably not be held responsible for their lack of information about the function of the Palestine Hotel. Reporters Without Borders however demanded that the responsibility of higher commanding levels be investigated, as they withheld the crucial information from their lower ranking officers that the Palestine Hotel was used by journalists.
In 2008, Former military intelligence linguist Army Sergent Adrienne Kinne revealed to DemocracyNow.org that she saw secret US military documents that listed the Hotel Palestine as a potential target.
A Spanish judge has indicted three US soldiers in 2009 in the killings: Sergeant Shawn Gibson, Captain Philip Wolford and Lieutenant Colonel Philip DeCamp. The three men were charged with homicide and committing a crime against the international community.
Postwar history
Being a soft, highly visible target, the hotel periodically comes under attack by the Iraqi insurgencyIraqi insurgency
The Iraqi Resistance is composed of a diverse mix of militias, foreign fighters, all-Iraqi units or mixtures opposing the United States-led multinational force in Iraq and the post-2003 Iraqi government...
. The Palestine is not located in the fortified Green Zone
Green Zone
The Green Zone is the most common name for the International Zone of Baghdad. It is a area of central Baghdad, Iraq, that was the governmental center of the Coalition Provisional Authority and remains the center of the international presence in the city...
, so it is susceptible to mortar
Mortar (weapon)
A mortar is an indirect fire weapon that fires explosive projectiles known as bombs at low velocities, short ranges, and high-arcing ballistic trajectories. It is typically muzzle-loading and has a barrel length less than 15 times its caliber....
and rocket
Rocket
A rocket is a missile, spacecraft, aircraft or other vehicle which obtains thrust from a rocket engine. In all rockets, the exhaust is formed entirely from propellants carried within the rocket before use. Rocket engines work by action and reaction...
fire. On October 24, 2005, a cement mixer
Concrete mixer
A concrete mixer is a device that homogeneously combines cement, aggregate such as sand or gravel, and water to form concrete. A typical concrete mixer uses a revolving drum to mix the components...
truck bomb detonated beside the hotel after breaching the defensive wall. The blast destroyed the lobby.
External links
- Jose Couso
- In Baghdad, lap of luxury isn't all that comfortable
- U.S. Marines Raid the Palestine Hotel in Baghdad: We Go to the Iraqi Capital to Speak with a Reporter Inside the Hotel - DN! 4/16/03
- Hotel Palestine: Killing the Witness - Documentary Exposes Truth Behind the Attack 3/23/05
- Fmr. Military Intelligence Sgt. Reveals US Listed Palestine Hotel in Bagdad as Target Prior to Killing of two Journalists in 2003 Democracy Now!Democracy Now!Democracy Now! and its staff have received several journalism awards, including the Gracie Award from American Women in Radio & Television; the George Polk Award for its 1998 radio documentary Drilling and Killing: Chevron and Nigeria's Oil Dictatorship, on the Chevron Corporation and the deaths of...
May 13, 2008