Apparently the
soldier who executed a Palestinian lying injured on the ground has been
arrested. We can be sure that this
animal will, once the publicity has died away, be quietly released after at
best a nominal punishment. Israeli killers
in uniform never serve time, still less a sentence of years in prison, unlike Palestinian
resistance fighters who serve decades on the basis of confessions extracted by
torture.
In an opinion poll, 53% of Israelis supported extra-judicial killings, so this is not seen as anything out of the ordinary.
This is what Israeli ‘democracy’
is all about and what Western politicians like the execrable Clinton praise so
dearly.
This
morning, according to media reports, Palestinians Ramzi al-Qasrawi and ‘Abd
al-Fatah a-Sharif were shot after stabbing a soldier in Tel Rumeida, Hebron.
The soldier sustained medium-level injuries. While al-Qasrawi died on the spot,
a-Sharif was injured and fell to the ground. In video footage captured by
Hebron resident ‘Emad abu-Shamsiyah, who sent it to B’Tselem, he is seen lying
on the road injured, with none of the soldiers or medics present giving him
first aid or paying him any attention at all. At a certain point, a soldier is
seen aiming his weapon at a-Sharif and shooting him in the head from close
range, killing him. Although this occurs in the plain view of other soldiers
and officers, they do not seem to take any notice.
The
wave of violence that began in October 2015 is shocking and Israeli security
forces must use all the force necessary, depending on the circumstances, to
protect the public. The law is clear: shooting to kill is only permitted when
the person is endangering the lives of others. Once the danger is over, he or
she must not be harmed.
Extrajudicial
street killings are the direct consequence of inflammatory remarks made by
Israeli ministers and officials, augmented by the general public atmosphere of
dehumanization. Some top officials have commented, here and there, on the
importance of abiding by the law and refraining from use of excessive force.
This includes a recent public statement made by the chief of staff and comments
included in a formal letter
by the minister of defense to B’Tselem in response to a query. However, the law
enforcement authorities are by and large turning a blind eye to repeated grave
suspicions of extrajudicial killing by the security forces, and these backed in
the field by commanders. The message to the Israeli public is undeniable:
attempting to injure a civilian or a soldier is a death sentence.
The
apparent execution of a Palestinian in occupied East Jerusalem was caught on
video by Al Jazeera on Friday.
Israel
says that the young man was carrying out a stabbing attack on Israeli Border
Police officers when he was killed at the Damascus Gate to Jerusalem’s Old
City.
But
video
of the incident released by Al Jazeera indicates that the young man did not
pose an immediate threat to anyone’s life when massive lethal force was used
against him.
The
video shows a Border Police officer shooting at the man, who falls to the
ground. Then several other heavily armed officers shoot dozens of bullets into
the body of the man as he lies on the ground and as passersby hurry away from
the scene:
The
video is a shocking display of Israel’s routine and reflexive use of lethal
force, which has resulted in the slaying of approximately 170 Palestinians,
including dozens of children, since a new phase of violence began in October
last year.
Al
Jazeera media workers who were at the scene to film a field report told
the Ma’an News Agency that “six Israeli officers on site surrounded
the Palestinian and ‘fired almost 50 bullets’ after he had already been shot
twice and fallen to the ground.”
An
Israeli police spokesperson told Ma’an that the Israeli forces opened fire on
the young man after he drew a knife on them. Two officers were lightly
wounded after being stabbed in the upper body and taken to hospital.
Palestinian
media reported
that a Palestinian bystander was wounded by shrapnel in her foot and was taken
to hospital for treatment.
Israeli
media circulated a photo of the ID belonging to the man killed during the
incident, identifying him as 20-year-old Muhammad Abu Khalaf from the
Jerusalem-area town of Kufr Aqab.
The
Quds news network stated that at least 10 Palestinians have been slain at
Damascus Gate since October, and that 11 alleged attacks have been waged at the
main entrance to the ancient walled city.
Israeli
forces killed two more Palestinians on Friday.
Khaled
Yousif Taqatqa, 21, was shot during confrontations between protesters and the
Israeli military in the village of Beit Fajjar near the West Bank city of
Bethlehem.
The
Palestine Red Crescent Society told
the Ma’an News Agency that medics were prevented from treating the
young man at the scene and that he died of his injuries at a hospital in
Jerusalem.
An image of Taqatqa circulated on social media after his death:
And
in the West Bank village of Silwad, near Ramallah, Israeli forces shot
dead a Palestinian man who allegedly attempted to ram them with his
car.
No
Israelis were injured during the incident.
The
slain man was identified by Palestinian media as Abed Raed
Hamad, 22, a student at Birzeit University focusing on journalism and media.
Photos of the incident show the man’s car crushed into a military jeep:
An image of Hamad circulated on social media after the incident
Israeli
forces killed two other Palestinians in Silwad last December, both of whom were
allegedly waging car-ramming attacks when they were shot dead.
But
investigations by journalists and a human rights group suggest that one of
those killed, Mahdia Hammad, was not attempting any attack and was trying to
get home to feed her baby when soldiers opened fire at her.
Meanwhile
in Washington on Friday, the State Department condemned a stabbing attack in a West Bank
settlement on Thursday in which a US citizen was fatally wounded.
The
Tel Aviv newspaper Haaretzreported
that Tuvya Weisman, who lived with his wife and infant daughter in Maaleh
Michmash settlement, was a soldier in Israel’s Nahal Brigade and was off duty
when he was stabbed and another Israeli moderately wounded.
An image of Weisman in his uniform circulated after the incident:
The
two Palestinian attackers, Omar Rimawi and Ayham Subih, both 14, were shot by a
bystander and are reported to be in serious but stable condition in
separate hospitals in Jerusalem.
An image circulated on social media shows Rimawi on the right and Subih on the left:
An image of the scene appears to show the two on the ground and bleeding:
Israeli
media published a video of Israeli soldiers apparently raiding and
documenting the boys’ homes to prepare to demolish them.
The
pair are the youngest to have killed an Israeli since October,
according to Ma’an, referring to data compiled by Israeli intelligence.
Nearly half of the more than 200 attacks the Shin
Bet says have been waged since October were “committed by assailants aged 20 or
under.”
The
alleged attacks, mostly involving knives or car-ramming, have largely taken
place at Israel’s settlements and military checkpoints in the West Bank –
symbols of the occupation.
Approximately
30 Israelis and two US citizens have been slain during such attacks.
An excellent article by Gideon Levy in Ha’aretz. The Swedish Foreign Minister Margot
Wallstrom recently alleged that Israel was executing Palestinians.
Sweden demands probe of Israeli ‘extrajudicial executions’ The
response from Netanyahu was predictable. He denounced her remarks as 'outrageous'
Abdallah al-Shalalda was executed in Hebron hospital when an Israeli death squad came disguised in order to capture his cousin, whom he was visiting. His crime? Being in the wrong place at the wrong time
Netanyahu denounced Swedish FM's remarks on execution of Palestinians as 'outrageous and stupid'
It's a strange set of values in which the denunciation of extra-judicial executions is denounced as 'outrageous' but that is unfortunately the set of moral standards that guides the leaders of the Middle Easts 'only democracy'.
In 2016, one
doesn’t have to be Adolf Eichmann to be executed in Israel – it’s enough to be
a teenage Palestinian girl with scissors.
Gideon Levy
Jan 17, 2016 5:18 AM
Two more victims of the death squads
Two
Palestinians, from different walks of life, brought together in death at a
checkpoint
We should
call it like it is: Israel
executes people without trial nearly every day. Any other description is a lie.
If there was once discussion here about the death penalty for terrorists, now
they are executed even without trial (and without discussion). If once there
was debate over the rules of engagement, today it’s clear: we shoot to kill –
any suspicious Palestinian.
Public
Security Minister Gilad Erdan outlined the situation clearly when he said,
“Every terrorist should know he will not survive the attack he is about to
commit” – and almost every politician joined him in nauseating unison, from
Yair Lapid on up. Never have so many licenses to kill been handed out here, nor
has the finger been so itchy on the trigger.
The woman continued: “The school girl was walking alone and the soldiers asked her to stop, another soldier immediately aimed his rifle towards her and shot her.” -
In 2016, one
doesn’t have to be Adolf Eichmann to be executed here – it’s enough to be a
teenage Palestiniangirl with
scissors. The firing squads are active every day. Soldiers, police and
civilians shoot those who stabbed Israelis, or tried to stab them or were
suspected of doing so, and at those who run down Israelis in their cars or
appear to have done so.
Swedish Foreign Minister Margot Wallstrom
In most
cases, there was no need to shoot – and certainly not to kill. In a good many
of the cases, the shooters’ lives were not in danger. They shot people to death
who were holding a knife or even scissors, or people who just put their hands
in their pockets or lost control of their car.
They shot
them to death indiscriminately – women, men, teenage girls, teenage boys. They shot
them when they were standing, and even after they were no longer a threat. They
shot to kill, to punish, to release their anger, and to take revenge. There
is such contempt here that these incidents are barely covered in the media.
Last
Saturday, soldiers at the Beka’ot checkpoint (called Hamra by the Palestinians)
in the Jordan Valley killed businessman Said Abu al-Wafa, 35, a father of four,
with 11 bullets.
At the same
time, they also killed Ali Abu Maryam, a 21-year-old farm labourer and student,
with three bullets.
The Israel
Defense Forces did not explain the killing of the two men, except to say there
was a suspicion that someone had drawn a knife. There are security cameras at
the site, but the IDF has not released video footage of the incident.
Last month,
other IDF soldiers killed Nashat Asfur, a father of three who worked at an
Israeli chicken slaughterhouse. They shot him in his village, Sinjil, from 150
meters away, while he was walking home from a wedding.
Earlier this
month, Mahdia Hammad – a 40-year-old mother of four – was driving home through
her village, Silwad. Border Police officers sprayed her car with dozens of
bullets after they suspected she intended to run them over.
The soldiers
didn’t even suspect cosmetology student Samah Abdallah, 18, of anything.
Soldiers shot her father’s car “by mistake,” killing her.
They had
suspected a 16-year-old pedestrian, Alaa al-Hashash, of trying to stab them.
They executed him as well, of course.
They also
killed Ashrakat Qattanani, 16, who was holding a knife and running after an
Israeli woman. First a settler ran her over with his car, and when she was
lying injured on the ground, soldiers and settlers shot her at least four
times. Execution – what else?
And when
soldiers shot Lafi Awad, 20, in his back while he was fleeing after throwing
stones, was that not an execution?
These are
only a few of the cases I have documented over the past few weeks in Haaretz.
The website of the human rights group B’Tselem has a list of 12 more cases of executions.
Swedish
Foreign Minister Margot Wallström, one of the few ministers with a conscience
left in the world, demanded that these killings be investigated. There is no
demand more moral and just than this. It should have come from our own justice
minister.
Israel
responded with its usual howls. The prime minister said this was “outrageous,
immoral and unjust.” And Benjamin
Netanyahu understands those terms: That is exactly how to describe Israel’s
campaign of criminal executions under his leadership.
