3 sept 2013
By Yesh Din, written by Yossi Gurvitz
The IDF and Border Police killed three more Palestinians last week. Despite the IDF’s ‘knife in the back’ legend that it betrays its own, its combat soldiers have little reason to fear its ‘justice’ system.
Anyone following the Israeli morning radio broadcasts is already accustomed to the mantra-like report of IDF soldiers arresting “wanted persons” during the night, and that they were “turned over for interrogation by the security forces.” Behind this short line, supplied to the reporters by the IDF Spokesman on the condition that they broadcast “out of their own mouths,” without attribution, stand the nightly operations the IDF carries deep in Palestinian-controlled territory.
At the beginning of last week, one of these operations went awry, and it ended with three dead Palestinians and more than a dozen wounded. As usual in such cases, the army was quick to claim that “the soldiers’ lives were in danger.”
We don’t know exactly what took place in Qalandiya Camp early last Monday morning, but this incident ought to be investigated, and investigated thoroughly – as in any case when a person is killed by security forces. When someone claims time and time again that he is in mortal danger, yet somehow keeps dodging it leaving bodies behind, one must wonder whether this isn’t a tactic intended to reduce judicial and media pressure.
There’s a long list of cases showing this is indeed the trend: my favorite example took place in March 2010 near Awarta. The facts are that when the smoke cleared there were two dead Palestinians lying on the ground. The soldiers claimed they were attacked by pitchfork-wielding Palestinians. That was also the first IDF Spokesman version: a terror attack was averted. Following an investigation, the soldiers were forced to admit (Hebrew) that the pitchfork was left on the ground. They claimed, however, that the force commander “felt in danger” after hearing one of the Palestinians “mumbling a prayer,” and hence he opened fire. One of the Palestinians, he claimed, tried to attack him with a bottle; the other, he said, tried to enter Palestinian mythology by coming at him, in a scene reminiscent of McGyver, with a syringe (!).
None of the soldiers involved in the Awartha incident was indicted. And as our factsheet shows (see the full document below), this isn’t an isolated case, it’s a method.
Any army, at least any army spending considerable amounts of time out of the marching grounds, will develop the legend made famous by defeated German generals, by the name of “knife in the back”: we could have carried out the mission, the army would claim, but evil politicians handcuffed us. The Israeli version of the legend mutated in the mid-1980s, when soldiers began claiming that “we can’t leave our base without a lawyer,” saying orders, regulations and the fear of a court martial handicapped them.
But, media manipulation aside, there is data. And the data smashes this legend to pieces. Between the years 2000-2013 the IDF and related forces killed, according to B’Tselem’s data, some 5,000 Palestinians. Some of them, of course, were killed in “normal,” non-suspect military circumstances, but according to B’Tselem’s data at least a quarter of the people killed were not involved in the fighting. We do not have data for the years 2000-2003, and data is also missing for 2010 (the IDF Spokesman who seems to have forgotten it is not the Chief of Staff’s personal PR flack but rather a public servant, refused to provide data for that year); but between 2003-2012, 179 cases were opened against soldiers suspected of the homicide of Palestinians. Abandoning the legal norm upheld until then, the Military Judge Advocate ordered at the beginning of the Second Intifada that no investigations of killings are to be held unless he specifically ordered otherwise. This is a self-sustaining system: when homicide is not investigated – and in the Western judicial tradition, which Israel wants to belong to, every killing by the authorities is investigated – naturally events do not come to the surface on their own volition.
Out of the 179 investigations the army opened, only 16 matured into indictments – and of these, only six ended in convictions related to homicide. Out of these, only one soldier served more than one year in prison: this is Taysir Hayb, who killed British activist Thomas Hurndall without any provocation. Hayb was convicted of manslaughter – not murder – and was sentenced to eight years in prison, which he did not serve in full (Hebrew). It’s important to note that Hayb had two factors against him: firstly, he killed a Western citizen, whose family refused to act as if nothing happened. A British inquest (which Israel, naturally, boycotted) found that Hurnfall was maliciously slain. Secondly, Hayb is not a Jew; he is a Bedouin. I dare to say, and the data backs me, that an ordinary Jewish soldier killing an ordinary Palestinian wouldn’t suffer such bad luck.
For what a court ruled was negligent manslaughter, Captain Zvi Koretzki was sentenced to two months imprisonment. Two officers convicted of negligence, after shooting up a vehicle in which a Palestinian toddler, Muhammad Jawadath, was sitting, and killing him, received, respectively, 30 days imprisonment and a four-month suspended sentence, and a month of work for the military and a four-month suspended sentence. Such is the price of a Palestinian toddler’s blood in the military justice system. A first sergeant convicted of “negligent manslaughter” and an attempt to obstruct the investigation received four-and-a-half months imprisonment and a similar suspended sentence; he was also demoted. Another NCO, convicted of “negligent manslaughter” – to wit, firing an assault rifle at the center of the body of a fleeing young man who was not endangering him in any way – was sentenced to seven months imprisonment, with the judge noting that “the effects of the event on the accused and his family were also a consideration when it came to sentencing, as did the operative and symbolic meaning of a demotion” (Hebrew). For in the grand scheme of things, what is the importance of a young Palestinian’s life, when weighed against ” the operative and symbolic meaning of a demotion?”
Yesh Din research department director Ziv Stahl commented on the shooting on Monday morning: “the data shows that practically, the chances of a soldier who killed a Palestinian civilian without justification being investigated, much less punished, are between low and nil. Such a reality encourages illegal use of arms by soldiers even in clearly civilian settings, such as demonstrations.”
Precisely. The “knife in the back” legend of the IDF is bogus. The soldiers do not need a lawyer in the field. They need, rather, officers who will direct them to only fire accurately and only when necessary, as well as a basic training in the ethics of using a firearm. The famous ruling of an Israeli court about a manifestly illegal order speaks of “illegality piercing the eye and upsetting the heart, assuming the eye is not blind and the heart is not blocked or corrupt.”
One suspects the heart is already corrupt.
Written by Yossi Gurvitz in his capacity as a blogger for Yesh Din, Volunteers for Human Rights. A version of this post was first published on Yesh Din’s blog.
The IDF and Border Police killed three more Palestinians last week. Despite the IDF’s ‘knife in the back’ legend that it betrays its own, its combat soldiers have little reason to fear its ‘justice’ system.
Anyone following the Israeli morning radio broadcasts is already accustomed to the mantra-like report of IDF soldiers arresting “wanted persons” during the night, and that they were “turned over for interrogation by the security forces.” Behind this short line, supplied to the reporters by the IDF Spokesman on the condition that they broadcast “out of their own mouths,” without attribution, stand the nightly operations the IDF carries deep in Palestinian-controlled territory.
At the beginning of last week, one of these operations went awry, and it ended with three dead Palestinians and more than a dozen wounded. As usual in such cases, the army was quick to claim that “the soldiers’ lives were in danger.”
We don’t know exactly what took place in Qalandiya Camp early last Monday morning, but this incident ought to be investigated, and investigated thoroughly – as in any case when a person is killed by security forces. When someone claims time and time again that he is in mortal danger, yet somehow keeps dodging it leaving bodies behind, one must wonder whether this isn’t a tactic intended to reduce judicial and media pressure.
There’s a long list of cases showing this is indeed the trend: my favorite example took place in March 2010 near Awarta. The facts are that when the smoke cleared there were two dead Palestinians lying on the ground. The soldiers claimed they were attacked by pitchfork-wielding Palestinians. That was also the first IDF Spokesman version: a terror attack was averted. Following an investigation, the soldiers were forced to admit (Hebrew) that the pitchfork was left on the ground. They claimed, however, that the force commander “felt in danger” after hearing one of the Palestinians “mumbling a prayer,” and hence he opened fire. One of the Palestinians, he claimed, tried to attack him with a bottle; the other, he said, tried to enter Palestinian mythology by coming at him, in a scene reminiscent of McGyver, with a syringe (!).
None of the soldiers involved in the Awartha incident was indicted. And as our factsheet shows (see the full document below), this isn’t an isolated case, it’s a method.
Any army, at least any army spending considerable amounts of time out of the marching grounds, will develop the legend made famous by defeated German generals, by the name of “knife in the back”: we could have carried out the mission, the army would claim, but evil politicians handcuffed us. The Israeli version of the legend mutated in the mid-1980s, when soldiers began claiming that “we can’t leave our base without a lawyer,” saying orders, regulations and the fear of a court martial handicapped them.
But, media manipulation aside, there is data. And the data smashes this legend to pieces. Between the years 2000-2013 the IDF and related forces killed, according to B’Tselem’s data, some 5,000 Palestinians. Some of them, of course, were killed in “normal,” non-suspect military circumstances, but according to B’Tselem’s data at least a quarter of the people killed were not involved in the fighting. We do not have data for the years 2000-2003, and data is also missing for 2010 (the IDF Spokesman who seems to have forgotten it is not the Chief of Staff’s personal PR flack but rather a public servant, refused to provide data for that year); but between 2003-2012, 179 cases were opened against soldiers suspected of the homicide of Palestinians. Abandoning the legal norm upheld until then, the Military Judge Advocate ordered at the beginning of the Second Intifada that no investigations of killings are to be held unless he specifically ordered otherwise. This is a self-sustaining system: when homicide is not investigated – and in the Western judicial tradition, which Israel wants to belong to, every killing by the authorities is investigated – naturally events do not come to the surface on their own volition.
Out of the 179 investigations the army opened, only 16 matured into indictments – and of these, only six ended in convictions related to homicide. Out of these, only one soldier served more than one year in prison: this is Taysir Hayb, who killed British activist Thomas Hurndall without any provocation. Hayb was convicted of manslaughter – not murder – and was sentenced to eight years in prison, which he did not serve in full (Hebrew). It’s important to note that Hayb had two factors against him: firstly, he killed a Western citizen, whose family refused to act as if nothing happened. A British inquest (which Israel, naturally, boycotted) found that Hurnfall was maliciously slain. Secondly, Hayb is not a Jew; he is a Bedouin. I dare to say, and the data backs me, that an ordinary Jewish soldier killing an ordinary Palestinian wouldn’t suffer such bad luck.
For what a court ruled was negligent manslaughter, Captain Zvi Koretzki was sentenced to two months imprisonment. Two officers convicted of negligence, after shooting up a vehicle in which a Palestinian toddler, Muhammad Jawadath, was sitting, and killing him, received, respectively, 30 days imprisonment and a four-month suspended sentence, and a month of work for the military and a four-month suspended sentence. Such is the price of a Palestinian toddler’s blood in the military justice system. A first sergeant convicted of “negligent manslaughter” and an attempt to obstruct the investigation received four-and-a-half months imprisonment and a similar suspended sentence; he was also demoted. Another NCO, convicted of “negligent manslaughter” – to wit, firing an assault rifle at the center of the body of a fleeing young man who was not endangering him in any way – was sentenced to seven months imprisonment, with the judge noting that “the effects of the event on the accused and his family were also a consideration when it came to sentencing, as did the operative and symbolic meaning of a demotion” (Hebrew). For in the grand scheme of things, what is the importance of a young Palestinian’s life, when weighed against ” the operative and symbolic meaning of a demotion?”
Yesh Din research department director Ziv Stahl commented on the shooting on Monday morning: “the data shows that practically, the chances of a soldier who killed a Palestinian civilian without justification being investigated, much less punished, are between low and nil. Such a reality encourages illegal use of arms by soldiers even in clearly civilian settings, such as demonstrations.”
Precisely. The “knife in the back” legend of the IDF is bogus. The soldiers do not need a lawyer in the field. They need, rather, officers who will direct them to only fire accurately and only when necessary, as well as a basic training in the ethics of using a firearm. The famous ruling of an Israeli court about a manifestly illegal order speaks of “illegality piercing the eye and upsetting the heart, assuming the eye is not blind and the heart is not blocked or corrupt.”
One suspects the heart is already corrupt.
Written by Yossi Gurvitz in his capacity as a blogger for Yesh Din, Volunteers for Human Rights. A version of this post was first published on Yesh Din’s blog.
2 sept 2013
Thousands attended the funeral of three men killed by Israeli forces in Qalandiya refugee camp last week.
During the early morning hours of Monday, 26 August, undercover and uniformed Israeli forces invaded Qalandiya refugee camp, near the occupied West Bank city of Ramallah, during an arrest operation. When residents confronted them, clashes ensued.
Eyewitnesses who spoke to The Electronic Intifada, as well as human rights groups and the United Nations, have contradicted key elements of Israel’s claims about the invasion that left dead three Palestinian civilians, including an employee of the UN refugee agency UNRWA.
“It felt like the refugee camp was Gaza,” Yehya Mteir, a camp resident who witnessed the raid, recalled.
“One of my friends was shot in the arm by a dumdum bullet,” he added, referring to bullets that explode inside their target after entrance. “He asked me to look at it, and I became scared because it looked like the only thing holding his arm to his body was the sleeve of his shirt.”
Qalandiya is home to some 11,000 United Nations-registered Palestinian refugees — nearly half of its population are 14 years old or younger.
The invading Israeli soldiers met resistance from local residents, who threw stones at the military jeeps as they tried to navigate the narrow alleyways of the camp, as documented on video.
Live ammunition
During the clashes, soldiers responded by firing live ammunition at the crowd, fatally wounding three young Palestinian men: 20-year-old Jihad Aslan, 22-year-old Younis Jahjouh and 34-year-old Rubeen Abdulrahman Zayid.
A report released by Human Rights Watch today, referring to medical sources, states that “5 of the 18 people wounded by gunfire during the clashes were under 18 years old, and 12 of the 18 required surgery.”
According to Al Jazeera English, 3,000 people came to the funeral on Tuesday and marched with the families of the deceased.
Deadly arrest operation
An Israeli military spokesperson, Luba Samri, told Agence France-Presse that border police entered Qalandiya camp “to arrest a hostile terrorist activist,” referring to Yousef al-Khatib, who was recently released from Israeli prison after ten years of detention, according to the Ma’an News Agency.
According to Human Rights Watch, Israeli forces at first arrested a relative of al-Khatib, mistaking him for the wanted man, zip-cuffed and blindfolded him and drove him to a nearby military base. “One of them was hitting me in the stomach all the way there with a heavy object, maybe a fire extinguisher,” the relative testified to the rights group.
After being informed by the Israeli soldiers that Yousef al-Khatib had been arrested, the relative was then driven back to Qalandiya camp to identify al-Khatib. “I could barely recognize him. They had broken his nose and knocked out his teeth, and his hand was broken,” the same relative told Human Rights Watch.
Al-Khatib is currently detained without charge at the Ofer military jail in the occupied West Bank.
“We had no guns”
“After [al-Khatib’s] arrest a mob of about 1,500 residents began a disturbance, throwing petrol bombs and stones, endangering the lives of force members, who responded with riot dispersal means,” Israeli army spokesperson Samri added.
The Israeli military also accused Palestinians of shooting at soldiers, saying that “bullet holes were later discovered in the [military] vehicles,” as reported by The Jerusalem Post.
Yehya Mteir, who was present during the clashes, denied the Israeli military spokesperson’s version of events.
“One of the martyrs was my close friend, and we were together the night before,” he said.
“There was only one tear gas canister fired at the beginning and one at the end, but other than that, it was all live ammunition and dumdum bullets,” he added.
“There were so many people in the streets because everyone was on the way to work; usually [the military] comes in while we’re asleep,” Mteir explained. “The only means of fighting we had were rocks. We had no guns or Molotov cocktails, none of us.”
Human Rights Watch’s report on the incident refers to camp residents throwing stones, Molotov cocktails and other objects but states that “soldiers shot Palestinians who were not throwing stones in circumstances indicating that they intentionally used lethal force that was not necessary to protect life …”
Chris Gunness, spokesman for the UN agency for Palestine refugees, UNRWA, said in an interview with The Electronic Intifada that the agency’s investigation found discrepancies in the Israeli military’s claims.
Human Rights Watch also stated today that Israeli soldiers “appear to have used unlawful lethal force” during the raid, calling for the prosecution of those soldiers “who shot people unlawfully.”
“All of the people we interviewed strongly denied that Palestinians shot [live ammunition], or said that they were not aware of it,” Bill Van Esveld, a researcher for Human Rights Watch, told The Electronic Intifada. “If the Israeli military has evidence of this, they should make it public.”
UN employee killed
One of those killed, Rubeen Zayid, a 34-year-old father with four children, was an UNRWA employee.
“We have nine independent eyewitness accounts which all confirm that he was unarmed, he was not involved in violence, not engaged in throwing stones, and yet he was shot with a bullet through the chest no questions,” UNRWA spokesperson Gunness told The Electronic Intifada.
As Zayid made his way to work, he attempted to bypass the clashes. When the Israeli soldiers opened fire, a bullet struck him in the chest and killed him on the spot.
“According to the eyewitnesses we spoke to, there were no Molotov cocktails or petrol bombs in the area where Rubeen was killed,” Gunness said.
Mteir also said that Zayid “was just going to work. He was not fighting or throwing rocks at the Israelis.”
According to Human Rights Watch’s investigation, Van Esveld said, Zayid was “walking around the corner and was shot in the chest … witnesses told us that no one around him was throwing stones. The last soldier was getting into the last military vehicle as they were leaving, turned and shot him in the chest.”
Another UNRWA employee was also shot in the back of the leg as he attempted to avoid the clashes, Gunness said. An eyewitness interviewed by Human Rights Watch stated that “there was a single shot, which he believed indicated that the soldier had aimed deliberately at Abu Murad,” a 50-year-old trash collector with the UN agency.
The rights group adds: “both witnesses to Abu Murad’s shooting said they did not see anyone throwing stones at the Israeli forces from Abu Murad’s direction in the street at that time.”
UNRWA condemns killing
“UNRWA condemns the killing of its staff member and calls on all sides, at this delicate time, to exercise maximum constraint and act in accordance with international law,” an UNRWA press release states.
The Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) issued a response condemning UNRWA’s statement as “one-sided political advocacy.”
“Quite aside from the fact that UNRWA did not even bother to approach any official Israeli sources for comment, its statement was rushed to the presses while violent riots were still raging on in Qalandiya,” the MFA states.
Gunness, however, disputed both of these accusations. “This statement by the Israeli MFA is classic case of the right hand needing to know what the left hand is doing. We spoke to both the MFA and the Israeli military before our statement was published,” he told The Electronic Intifada.
“Their claim about the timing of our report is clearly nonsense,” Gunness added. “Our statement was issued about 12 hours after our staff member was shot dead. In this location, the clashes had long stopped.”
Israel cites Kahanist filmmaker
Attacking the refugee agency’s investigation, the MFA statement further denounces UNRWA as “consistently fail[ing] to display similar zeal and enthusiasm when asked to investigate its own cases of wrongdoing,” linking to a Times of Israel article on a propaganda film released in July titled Camp Jihad.
The filmmaker, David Bedein, is a right-wing Israeli journalist who lives in the Efrat settlement colony in the West Bank and regularly accuses the UN of fostering anti-Semitism and promoting violence among Palestinians.
The film has been cited by Israeli officials since its release.
On 14 August, the official Twitter account of the Israeli Mission to the UN, headed by Ambassador Ron Prosor, promoted and linked to the Camp Jihad film, stating: “UNRWA prides itself on ‘neutrality’ — but the horrific incitement in their summer camps tell a different story.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu repeated the film’s claims during a 16 August meeting with UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.
Palestinian refugee camps, Netanyahu claimed, “have been used … to instill the culture of hatred and ideas about destroying Israel amidst Palestinian children … I trust you will make sure these abuses of UN goals and UN funds does not continue.”
Netanyahu’s remark was also partially quoted by the Israeli Mission to the UN’s Twitter account.
“Grossly misleading” claims
In a statement published on UNRWA’s website, spokesperson Gunness vigorously rejects the film’s claims, adding that the “film is grossly misleading and we regret the damage it has caused to UNRWA and the United Nations.
“The filmmaker concerned [David Bedein] has a history of making baseless claims about UNRWA, all of which we have investigated and demonstrated to be patently false. It has long been the practice of the filmmaker to show non-UNRWA activities and portray them as activities of UNRWA,” Gunness’ statement adds.
An October 2011 UNRWA statement cites scholar Rex Brynen’s exposure of Bedein as “having Kahanist links,” referring to the ultra-nationalist movement based on the ideology of Meir Kahane.
Kahane founded the Jewish Defense League, classified as a right-wing terrorist group by the FBI, and the Kach Party, designated as a terrorist organization by Israel, the United States, Canada and the European Union.
The UNRWA statement quotes Brynen: “Bedein has also published work under the auspices of his organization with Samuel Sokol — an ultra-right-wing activist who, in pictures he once proudly posted online, can be seen posing with weapons in front of a Kahanist … flag.”
On the condition of anonymity, a senior diplomatic source told The Electronic Intifada that “it’s extraordinary but perhaps not surprising that the Israeli ambassador would urge the Israeli PM [Benjamin Netanyahu] to quote someone with Kahanist links to the secretary general of the United Nations.”
“It aptly demonstrates how perverse and sick the narrative has become. Imagine what would happen if such a link were present on the Palestinian side,” the source added.
Excessive use of force
Fourteen Palestinian civilians in the West Bank have been killed by Israeli soldiers so far this year, including those shot to death during the Qalandiya raid.
International human rights organizations have condemned the latest killings.
“The death of [Rubeen Zayid] raises concerns that this may have been an extrajudicial execution in violation of international law,” Philip Luther, Middle East and North Africa director at Amnesty International, said in a statement.
“This deadly arrest raid appears to be yet another example of the use of excessive force by Israeli troops in the Occupied Palestinian Territories,” Luther added.
Human Rights Watch has also called for an immediate criminal investigation into the raid.
UNRWA grounds repeatedly attacked
UN reporting consistently suggests that UNRWA grounds have been regularly attacked, despite that they are supposed to be neutral areas and off-limits to Israeli military. This reporting paints a disturbing pattern of violations: tear gas canisters, sound grenades and rubber-coated steel bullets frequently land on or strike UNRWA premises.
Twenty-six violations were recorded during the first half of 2013 alone. In one instance on 27 June, more than 100 tear gas canisters fired by the Israeli military landed in a girls’ school at the Qalandiya refugee camp.
Israeli forces have killed and injured UNRWA workers and attacked the agency’s premises multiple times in the past decade.
Amid fighting in the Jenin refugee camp in the northern West Bank in November 2002, an UNRWA project manager, Iain Hook, was shot and killed by an Israeli military sniper.
As Israel escalated attacks on the Gaza Strip in December 2002, two UNRWA employees were killed, neither of whom were believed to have been engaged in fighting.
During Israel’s brutal assault on the Gaza Strip in winter 2008-09, Israeli forces shelled an UNRWA school, al-Fakhura, in the Jabaliya refugee camp in January 2009. At least 40 Palestinians were killed and more than 50 were injured.
During Israel’s November 2012 military offensive on Gaza, the Israeli government made allegations through social media that UNRWA was permitting armed resistance organizations to launch rockets towards Israel. UNRWA categorically dismissed these claims.
Impunity
Considering the long record of Israeli impunity, it is unlikely that there will be any accountability for the three deaths in Qalandiya last Monday. When asked about the likelihood of an internal Israeli military investigation, Van Esveld said, “The record is clear.”
According to the latest statistics by Israeli human rights group B’Tselem, 6,706 Palestinians in the occupied Palestinian territories have been killed by Israeli forces since the outbreak of the second Intifada in September 2000.
Yet a recent report [PDF] by the Israeli human rights group Yesh Din finds that only 16 investigation files opened in that time period led to indictments.
Furthermore, a mere seven Israeli soldiers were convicted of killing six civilians, one of whom was a British national.
Though rarely punished for killing civilians, Israeli soldiers stationed in the West Bank city of Hebron were recently “disciplined accordingly,” according to a military statement, for entering a Palestinian wedding party and dancing with the attendees.
“Israel’s wars on Gaza happened and the whole world knew about it without doing anything,” Qalandiya resident Yehya Mteir concluded. “The destruction of the Jenin refugee camp happened and nothing changed,” he added, referring to the 2002 invasion in the northern West Bank.
“But this time was really hard. People in [Qalandiya] camp have stopped sleeping because we’re staying up worried, waiting for the Israelis to come.”
Patrick O. Strickland is an investigative journalist for Mint Press News. His articles have appeared at Al Jazeera English, Truthout, and Electronic Intifada. Follow him on Twitter: @P_Strickland_.
During the early morning hours of Monday, 26 August, undercover and uniformed Israeli forces invaded Qalandiya refugee camp, near the occupied West Bank city of Ramallah, during an arrest operation. When residents confronted them, clashes ensued.
Eyewitnesses who spoke to The Electronic Intifada, as well as human rights groups and the United Nations, have contradicted key elements of Israel’s claims about the invasion that left dead three Palestinian civilians, including an employee of the UN refugee agency UNRWA.
“It felt like the refugee camp was Gaza,” Yehya Mteir, a camp resident who witnessed the raid, recalled.
“One of my friends was shot in the arm by a dumdum bullet,” he added, referring to bullets that explode inside their target after entrance. “He asked me to look at it, and I became scared because it looked like the only thing holding his arm to his body was the sleeve of his shirt.”
Qalandiya is home to some 11,000 United Nations-registered Palestinian refugees — nearly half of its population are 14 years old or younger.
The invading Israeli soldiers met resistance from local residents, who threw stones at the military jeeps as they tried to navigate the narrow alleyways of the camp, as documented on video.
Live ammunition
During the clashes, soldiers responded by firing live ammunition at the crowd, fatally wounding three young Palestinian men: 20-year-old Jihad Aslan, 22-year-old Younis Jahjouh and 34-year-old Rubeen Abdulrahman Zayid.
A report released by Human Rights Watch today, referring to medical sources, states that “5 of the 18 people wounded by gunfire during the clashes were under 18 years old, and 12 of the 18 required surgery.”
According to Al Jazeera English, 3,000 people came to the funeral on Tuesday and marched with the families of the deceased.
Deadly arrest operation
An Israeli military spokesperson, Luba Samri, told Agence France-Presse that border police entered Qalandiya camp “to arrest a hostile terrorist activist,” referring to Yousef al-Khatib, who was recently released from Israeli prison after ten years of detention, according to the Ma’an News Agency.
According to Human Rights Watch, Israeli forces at first arrested a relative of al-Khatib, mistaking him for the wanted man, zip-cuffed and blindfolded him and drove him to a nearby military base. “One of them was hitting me in the stomach all the way there with a heavy object, maybe a fire extinguisher,” the relative testified to the rights group.
After being informed by the Israeli soldiers that Yousef al-Khatib had been arrested, the relative was then driven back to Qalandiya camp to identify al-Khatib. “I could barely recognize him. They had broken his nose and knocked out his teeth, and his hand was broken,” the same relative told Human Rights Watch.
Al-Khatib is currently detained without charge at the Ofer military jail in the occupied West Bank.
“We had no guns”
“After [al-Khatib’s] arrest a mob of about 1,500 residents began a disturbance, throwing petrol bombs and stones, endangering the lives of force members, who responded with riot dispersal means,” Israeli army spokesperson Samri added.
The Israeli military also accused Palestinians of shooting at soldiers, saying that “bullet holes were later discovered in the [military] vehicles,” as reported by The Jerusalem Post.
Yehya Mteir, who was present during the clashes, denied the Israeli military spokesperson’s version of events.
“One of the martyrs was my close friend, and we were together the night before,” he said.
“There was only one tear gas canister fired at the beginning and one at the end, but other than that, it was all live ammunition and dumdum bullets,” he added.
“There were so many people in the streets because everyone was on the way to work; usually [the military] comes in while we’re asleep,” Mteir explained. “The only means of fighting we had were rocks. We had no guns or Molotov cocktails, none of us.”
Human Rights Watch’s report on the incident refers to camp residents throwing stones, Molotov cocktails and other objects but states that “soldiers shot Palestinians who were not throwing stones in circumstances indicating that they intentionally used lethal force that was not necessary to protect life …”
Chris Gunness, spokesman for the UN agency for Palestine refugees, UNRWA, said in an interview with The Electronic Intifada that the agency’s investigation found discrepancies in the Israeli military’s claims.
Human Rights Watch also stated today that Israeli soldiers “appear to have used unlawful lethal force” during the raid, calling for the prosecution of those soldiers “who shot people unlawfully.”
“All of the people we interviewed strongly denied that Palestinians shot [live ammunition], or said that they were not aware of it,” Bill Van Esveld, a researcher for Human Rights Watch, told The Electronic Intifada. “If the Israeli military has evidence of this, they should make it public.”
UN employee killed
One of those killed, Rubeen Zayid, a 34-year-old father with four children, was an UNRWA employee.
“We have nine independent eyewitness accounts which all confirm that he was unarmed, he was not involved in violence, not engaged in throwing stones, and yet he was shot with a bullet through the chest no questions,” UNRWA spokesperson Gunness told The Electronic Intifada.
As Zayid made his way to work, he attempted to bypass the clashes. When the Israeli soldiers opened fire, a bullet struck him in the chest and killed him on the spot.
“According to the eyewitnesses we spoke to, there were no Molotov cocktails or petrol bombs in the area where Rubeen was killed,” Gunness said.
Mteir also said that Zayid “was just going to work. He was not fighting or throwing rocks at the Israelis.”
According to Human Rights Watch’s investigation, Van Esveld said, Zayid was “walking around the corner and was shot in the chest … witnesses told us that no one around him was throwing stones. The last soldier was getting into the last military vehicle as they were leaving, turned and shot him in the chest.”
Another UNRWA employee was also shot in the back of the leg as he attempted to avoid the clashes, Gunness said. An eyewitness interviewed by Human Rights Watch stated that “there was a single shot, which he believed indicated that the soldier had aimed deliberately at Abu Murad,” a 50-year-old trash collector with the UN agency.
The rights group adds: “both witnesses to Abu Murad’s shooting said they did not see anyone throwing stones at the Israeli forces from Abu Murad’s direction in the street at that time.”
UNRWA condemns killing
“UNRWA condemns the killing of its staff member and calls on all sides, at this delicate time, to exercise maximum constraint and act in accordance with international law,” an UNRWA press release states.
The Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) issued a response condemning UNRWA’s statement as “one-sided political advocacy.”
“Quite aside from the fact that UNRWA did not even bother to approach any official Israeli sources for comment, its statement was rushed to the presses while violent riots were still raging on in Qalandiya,” the MFA states.
Gunness, however, disputed both of these accusations. “This statement by the Israeli MFA is classic case of the right hand needing to know what the left hand is doing. We spoke to both the MFA and the Israeli military before our statement was published,” he told The Electronic Intifada.
“Their claim about the timing of our report is clearly nonsense,” Gunness added. “Our statement was issued about 12 hours after our staff member was shot dead. In this location, the clashes had long stopped.”
Israel cites Kahanist filmmaker
Attacking the refugee agency’s investigation, the MFA statement further denounces UNRWA as “consistently fail[ing] to display similar zeal and enthusiasm when asked to investigate its own cases of wrongdoing,” linking to a Times of Israel article on a propaganda film released in July titled Camp Jihad.
The filmmaker, David Bedein, is a right-wing Israeli journalist who lives in the Efrat settlement colony in the West Bank and regularly accuses the UN of fostering anti-Semitism and promoting violence among Palestinians.
The film has been cited by Israeli officials since its release.
On 14 August, the official Twitter account of the Israeli Mission to the UN, headed by Ambassador Ron Prosor, promoted and linked to the Camp Jihad film, stating: “UNRWA prides itself on ‘neutrality’ — but the horrific incitement in their summer camps tell a different story.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu repeated the film’s claims during a 16 August meeting with UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.
Palestinian refugee camps, Netanyahu claimed, “have been used … to instill the culture of hatred and ideas about destroying Israel amidst Palestinian children … I trust you will make sure these abuses of UN goals and UN funds does not continue.”
Netanyahu’s remark was also partially quoted by the Israeli Mission to the UN’s Twitter account.
“Grossly misleading” claims
In a statement published on UNRWA’s website, spokesperson Gunness vigorously rejects the film’s claims, adding that the “film is grossly misleading and we regret the damage it has caused to UNRWA and the United Nations.
“The filmmaker concerned [David Bedein] has a history of making baseless claims about UNRWA, all of which we have investigated and demonstrated to be patently false. It has long been the practice of the filmmaker to show non-UNRWA activities and portray them as activities of UNRWA,” Gunness’ statement adds.
An October 2011 UNRWA statement cites scholar Rex Brynen’s exposure of Bedein as “having Kahanist links,” referring to the ultra-nationalist movement based on the ideology of Meir Kahane.
Kahane founded the Jewish Defense League, classified as a right-wing terrorist group by the FBI, and the Kach Party, designated as a terrorist organization by Israel, the United States, Canada and the European Union.
The UNRWA statement quotes Brynen: “Bedein has also published work under the auspices of his organization with Samuel Sokol — an ultra-right-wing activist who, in pictures he once proudly posted online, can be seen posing with weapons in front of a Kahanist … flag.”
On the condition of anonymity, a senior diplomatic source told The Electronic Intifada that “it’s extraordinary but perhaps not surprising that the Israeli ambassador would urge the Israeli PM [Benjamin Netanyahu] to quote someone with Kahanist links to the secretary general of the United Nations.”
“It aptly demonstrates how perverse and sick the narrative has become. Imagine what would happen if such a link were present on the Palestinian side,” the source added.
Excessive use of force
Fourteen Palestinian civilians in the West Bank have been killed by Israeli soldiers so far this year, including those shot to death during the Qalandiya raid.
International human rights organizations have condemned the latest killings.
“The death of [Rubeen Zayid] raises concerns that this may have been an extrajudicial execution in violation of international law,” Philip Luther, Middle East and North Africa director at Amnesty International, said in a statement.
“This deadly arrest raid appears to be yet another example of the use of excessive force by Israeli troops in the Occupied Palestinian Territories,” Luther added.
Human Rights Watch has also called for an immediate criminal investigation into the raid.
UNRWA grounds repeatedly attacked
UN reporting consistently suggests that UNRWA grounds have been regularly attacked, despite that they are supposed to be neutral areas and off-limits to Israeli military. This reporting paints a disturbing pattern of violations: tear gas canisters, sound grenades and rubber-coated steel bullets frequently land on or strike UNRWA premises.
Twenty-six violations were recorded during the first half of 2013 alone. In one instance on 27 June, more than 100 tear gas canisters fired by the Israeli military landed in a girls’ school at the Qalandiya refugee camp.
Israeli forces have killed and injured UNRWA workers and attacked the agency’s premises multiple times in the past decade.
Amid fighting in the Jenin refugee camp in the northern West Bank in November 2002, an UNRWA project manager, Iain Hook, was shot and killed by an Israeli military sniper.
As Israel escalated attacks on the Gaza Strip in December 2002, two UNRWA employees were killed, neither of whom were believed to have been engaged in fighting.
During Israel’s brutal assault on the Gaza Strip in winter 2008-09, Israeli forces shelled an UNRWA school, al-Fakhura, in the Jabaliya refugee camp in January 2009. At least 40 Palestinians were killed and more than 50 were injured.
During Israel’s November 2012 military offensive on Gaza, the Israeli government made allegations through social media that UNRWA was permitting armed resistance organizations to launch rockets towards Israel. UNRWA categorically dismissed these claims.
Impunity
Considering the long record of Israeli impunity, it is unlikely that there will be any accountability for the three deaths in Qalandiya last Monday. When asked about the likelihood of an internal Israeli military investigation, Van Esveld said, “The record is clear.”
According to the latest statistics by Israeli human rights group B’Tselem, 6,706 Palestinians in the occupied Palestinian territories have been killed by Israeli forces since the outbreak of the second Intifada in September 2000.
Yet a recent report [PDF] by the Israeli human rights group Yesh Din finds that only 16 investigation files opened in that time period led to indictments.
Furthermore, a mere seven Israeli soldiers were convicted of killing six civilians, one of whom was a British national.
Though rarely punished for killing civilians, Israeli soldiers stationed in the West Bank city of Hebron were recently “disciplined accordingly,” according to a military statement, for entering a Palestinian wedding party and dancing with the attendees.
“Israel’s wars on Gaza happened and the whole world knew about it without doing anything,” Qalandiya resident Yehya Mteir concluded. “The destruction of the Jenin refugee camp happened and nothing changed,” he added, referring to the 2002 invasion in the northern West Bank.
“But this time was really hard. People in [Qalandiya] camp have stopped sleeping because we’re staying up worried, waiting for the Israelis to come.”
Patrick O. Strickland is an investigative journalist for Mint Press News. His articles have appeared at Al Jazeera English, Truthout, and Electronic Intifada. Follow him on Twitter: @P_Strickland_.
3 Killed in Raid on Qalandia Refugee Camp
Israeli troops appear to have used unlawful lethal force during an arrest raid in a Palestinian refugee camp that killed three Palestinians. The raid on August 26, 2013, and the response to subsequent disturbances in the camp also injured 19, including the target of the arrest, Yusuf al-Khatib, who was wanted in relation with unspecified “terrorist activities.” Residents of the Qalandia refugee camp responded to the arrest raid by throwing stones at Israeli soldiers, who initially responded by firing tear gas and rubber bullets. As clashes spread, a larger number of camp residents threw stones, Molotov cocktails and other objects, and Israeli forces used live ammunition as reinforcements arrived, witnesses said. In several cases, soldiers shot Palestinians who were not throwing stones in circumstances indicating that they intentionally used lethal force that was not necessary to protect life, in violation of international standards.
“Israeli forces confronted stone-throwing and mayhem during the raid on Qalandia but that doesn’t justify shooting Palestinians who posed no threat,” said Joe Stork, acting Middle East director at Human Rights Watch. “The results are shattered lives, shattered limbs, and shattered families – and a need for criminal investigations.”
Israeli soldiers who shot people unlawfully should be prosecuted. According to international standards, Israel should also grant victims and their families access to an independent, judicial process to seek compensation.
Israeli forces allegedly beat the target of the arrest severely, breaking his nose and teeth, and assaulted a relative without justification.
Human Rights Watch examined the locations of the three killings and spoke with 16 camp residents who said they witnessed the incidents, including five who had been shot, and compared their accounts with information collected by Israeli and Palestinian human rights groups and international organizations.
According to information provided to Human Rights Watch by staff at the Ramallah hospital, 5 of the 18 people wounded by gunfire during the clashes were under 18 years old, and 12 of the 18 required surgery.
In a statement released on the day of the incursion, the Israeli military said that the results of a “preliminary” inquiry by its Central Command indicated that Israeli forces had acted “according to orders and in a restrained and proportionate manner,” and had used live ammunition in self defense because they felt threatened by the crowds. According to the statement, “there was live fire in the direction of our forces, and we located four bullets in a vehicle that was escorting the force.”
All camp residents whom Human Rights Watch interviewed denied that any Palestinians had used live fire, or said they were unaware of it happening. Israel should make public any evidence of use of live fire by Palestinians and clarify the circumstances warranting the use of lethal force pursuant to the military’s rules of engagement, Human Rights Watch said.
Israeli forces conducting policing operations in occupied territory are subject to the international standards set out in the United Nations Basic Principles on the Use of Force and Firearms by Law Enforcement Officials. According to these standards, law enforcement officials may make “intentional lethal use of firearms” only when it is “strictly unavoidable in order to protect life.”
Please see below for more information.
The Arrest Raid
Israeli news reports said that according to the military’s initial inquiry, an undercover Border Guard force entered the refugee camp at around 5:30 a.m. on August 26 in order to arrest a wanted suspect, and later called in a backup force from the Artillery Corps after clashes began with camp residents.
Witnesses told Human Rights Watch that by around 5:45 to 6 a.m., undercover forces dressed in civilian clothes had entered the home of Yusif al-Khatib, the target of the arrest operation, and that uniformed soldiers were also present on the street outside his home.
Israeli forces had raided the camp on two prior occasions in July and August in failed attempts to arrest al-Khatib, who had previously been jailed by Israel and released. Israeli spokespersons have not specified why al-Khatib was wanted beyond alleging his implication in “terrorist activities.”
Israeli forces inside al-Khatib’s home ordered all the residents into one room. They blindfolded and “zip-tied” O., a relative of al-Khatib’s, who told Human Rights Watch:
They thought I was Yusif. They drove me to the military base near al-Ram [a nearby Palestinian neighborhood] and pushed me onto the floor of the vehicle with my back on the ground. One of them was hitting me in the stomach all the way there with a heavy object, maybe a fire extinguisher.
At the base, he said, a “captain removed my blindfold and said he was sorry they had arrested me, because now they had found Yusif, and they drove me back home to identify him.” O. said that soldiers took him to a neighbor’s home, where al-Khatib had been apprehended. “I could barely recognize him. They had broken his nose and knocked out his teeth, and his hand was broken,” he told Human Rights Watch.
Israeli forces then took al-Khatib outside, put him in a military vehicle and drove away. O. said this occurred between 7:30 and 8 a.m. Al-Khatib is currently detained at the Ofer detention center and military court complex.
Clashes in Qalandia Camp
Men and youths in the area around al-Khatib’s home had begun throwing rocks at soldiers in the street soon after the soldiers arrived, at around 6 a.m. Soldiers initially responded with teargas and rubber bullets. Clashes escalated from 6 a.m. until around 6:45, when more troops arrived. Witnesses said that by 7 a.m., around eight military vehicles and a large number of soldiers on foot had entered the camp and were stationed on al-Khatib’s street, on the camp’s main east-west road, and on rooftops, and were firing live ammunition.
Youth from the camp dragged two large metal garbage containers into the road behind the soldiers to block their withdrawal back to the main north-south street on the camp’s western side, and threw rocks, Molotov cocktails and other objects at them from side streets and rooftops. Witness statements indicate that Israeli forces fired a large number of live rounds. Human Rights Watch counted 26 bullet holes in one side of one building, which residents said Israeli forces had fired during the August 26 raid.
Use of Live Ammunition
The injuries and killings that Human Rights Watch documented all apparently occurred at around 7 a.m. or shortly afterwards, according to witnesses. Evidence in at least some cases strongly suggests that the use of live ammunition was not justified. All of the incidents detailed below warrant further investigation; cases in which lethal force was used without adequate justification should be criminally prosecuted.
Israeli forces stationed outside al-Khatib’s home, on a small side-street parallel to the camp’s main road, shot and injured Abu Murad, 50, a garbage collector employed by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), witnesses said. Residents of the area told Human Rights Watch that at around 7:15 or 7:30 a.m., before Israeli forces had captured al-Khatib, Abu Murad had left his trash-collecting wagon at the eastern end of the side-street, when he saw soldiers standing in front of al-Khatib’s home, about 50 meters down the street to the west. He retreated around a corner, then returned to retrieve the wagon, and a soldier shot him in the back of his lower leg.
A witness who asked not to be identified said he did not hear the shot but saw Abu Murad fall, ran to help drag him away, and saw a soldier in front of al-Khatib’s home looking at them. Another witness said there was a single shot, which he believed indicated that the soldier had aimed deliberately at Abu Murad. Residents said that young men on rooftops were throwing stones at Israeli forces at the opposite, western end of the street, throughout the clashes. However, both witnesses to Abu Murad’s shooting said they did not see anyone throwing stones at the Israeli forces from Abu Murad’s direction in the street at that time.
Israeli forces remained inside and in front of al-Khatib’s house until they arrested him at a neighbor’s house at some point between 7:30 and 8 a.m., and then drove away with him in custody. At least one military vehicle drove west a short distance down the side street before turning south into another small street leading to the camp’s main road. A group of Palestinians not involved in the clashes slowly walked in the same direction after the Israeli forces withdrew around the corner, believing the clashes were over in the immediate area, residents said.
Two witnesses said that Israeli forces shot Roubin Abd al-Rahman Zayed, 34, in the chest, after the military vehicles had driven away from al-Khatib’s home. Multiple witnesses said that Zayed, who worked as a cleaner at an UNRWA training center in the camp, had not participated in the clashes, and had been waiting in an area to the east of al-Khatib’s home for the clashes to end and Israeli forces to depart in order to go to work.
One of the witnesses told Human Rights Watch:
[Zayed] and I were at the head of a group waiting to get around the corner. Roubin wanted to go to work. The [military vehicles] had left from in front of [al-Khatib’s] house and the last one was around the corner and half-way down to the main road when a soldier who was about to get into the back of the vehicle shot Roubin. There were no other soldiers still on the street. It was the last [vehicle] pulling away, the last soldier and the last shot.
The second witness, interviewed separately, who also asked not to be identified, said:
Roubin thought he was safe, he’d been hiding behind the corner. People were telling him it wasn’t safe. He got out and they shot him in the chest. He was just walking, not running. I was standing on the roof and saw it. Have you seen a video game where the blood spatters? It was like that, at close range. I ran down, we grabbed him and took him down the road to get a car. No way did they hit him by accident.
Both witnesses to Roubin Zayed’s shooting identified the locations where the military vehicle and Zayed were at the time of the shooting, about 25 meters apart. There is a clear line of sight to the location where the witnesses said Zayed was shot.
Youths had thrown rocks at Israeli forces on the same street prior to Zayed’s death; for instance, Human Rights Watch interviewed A.,20, who had a bullet lodged in the bone of his lower leg after being shot at around 7 a.m. while trying to throw a rock. This was just “up the hill from the place where Roubin was killed later,” he said. However, according to two witnesses as well as another resident of the area, at the time the soldier shot Zayed no camp residents were throwing rocks near or behind him. “There were guys throwing rocks from the rooftops at the intersection, but none were in the street between Roubin and the [vehicle] or behind him,” the first witness said.
I.,20, said that he had been shot that morning in the abdomen while throwing stones, and was being driven to hospital in a neighbor’s car when “someone said, ‘take another wounded with you,’ and they put in Roubin. He wasn’t moving. He’d been shot in the chest, with blood coming out of his mouth.”
Fire Against People Throwing Objects
Human Rights Watch documented other cases where Israeli forces shot live ammunition at men and children who were throwing stones and other objects at soldiers and military vehicles. Based on witness accounts, the forces frequently used live ammunition in response to clashes after 7 a.m. One youth, Y., 17, who was using crutches, said that a live bullet fired by Israeli forces had entered and exited his left thigh at around 7:30 a.m. while he was “throwing rocks at the jeeps” on the camp’s main road.
Israeli forces shot Yunis Jamal Jahjouh, 22, twice as he stood on the roof of a one-story building on the south-western side of the intersection of the main camp road and a smaller road leading north to the home of al-Khatib, witnesses said. Two witnesses told Human Rights Watch that Jahjouh was attempting to throw a satellite dish at military vehicles in the street below when he was killed. One witness, T., 18, said, “he was thrown off balance by the satellite dish. He was shot once, and said ‘Allahu Akhbar,’ and then he was shot again. There were two people with Yunis on the roof, but there was no way to get him down and out of there because of the clashes. He bled out until they got him to the ambulance, and it was too late.” According to a statement by the Palestinian hospital in the city of Ramallah, Jahjouh suffered gunshot wounds to the chest and stomach.
Further east along the main camp road, Israeli forces shot and killed Jihad Mansour Aslan, 21, as he was standing on the corner of the roof of a one-story building on the southern side of the road. A relative told Human Rights Watch:
I had been with Jihad on the roof when the [soldiers] started shooting intensively at us and we scattered. There were eight or nine of us. I jumped down and was shouting at Jihad to get back from the front of the building. He was shot the first time in his hand, and then he picked up a rock and they shot him again. We went to get him and brought him down. There was a lot of blood. We put him in a civilian car. He was still alive but he wasn’t speaking. The bullet hit him in the chest and went out his back.
The Israeli authorities should immediately open criminal investigations into the Qalandia shootings, Human Rights Watch said. Under the UN principles on the right to a remedy for human rights violations, states have the duty to investigate and, if there is sufficient evidence, the duty to submit to prosecution the person allegedly responsible for the violations and, if found guilty, the duty to punish her or him.
The Israeli military has a poor record of accountability. Since the beginning of the second Palestinian intifada in 2000, Israeli military courts have convicted only six Israeli soldiers for offenses involving the deaths of Palestinians, and one soldier for the death of a British citizen, according to Yesh Din, an Israeli rights group. Israeli investigations into the raid in the Qalandia camp should be prompt, thorough and impartial.
Israeli troops appear to have used unlawful lethal force during an arrest raid in a Palestinian refugee camp that killed three Palestinians. The raid on August 26, 2013, and the response to subsequent disturbances in the camp also injured 19, including the target of the arrest, Yusuf al-Khatib, who was wanted in relation with unspecified “terrorist activities.” Residents of the Qalandia refugee camp responded to the arrest raid by throwing stones at Israeli soldiers, who initially responded by firing tear gas and rubber bullets. As clashes spread, a larger number of camp residents threw stones, Molotov cocktails and other objects, and Israeli forces used live ammunition as reinforcements arrived, witnesses said. In several cases, soldiers shot Palestinians who were not throwing stones in circumstances indicating that they intentionally used lethal force that was not necessary to protect life, in violation of international standards.
“Israeli forces confronted stone-throwing and mayhem during the raid on Qalandia but that doesn’t justify shooting Palestinians who posed no threat,” said Joe Stork, acting Middle East director at Human Rights Watch. “The results are shattered lives, shattered limbs, and shattered families – and a need for criminal investigations.”
Israeli soldiers who shot people unlawfully should be prosecuted. According to international standards, Israel should also grant victims and their families access to an independent, judicial process to seek compensation.
Israeli forces allegedly beat the target of the arrest severely, breaking his nose and teeth, and assaulted a relative without justification.
Human Rights Watch examined the locations of the three killings and spoke with 16 camp residents who said they witnessed the incidents, including five who had been shot, and compared their accounts with information collected by Israeli and Palestinian human rights groups and international organizations.
According to information provided to Human Rights Watch by staff at the Ramallah hospital, 5 of the 18 people wounded by gunfire during the clashes were under 18 years old, and 12 of the 18 required surgery.
In a statement released on the day of the incursion, the Israeli military said that the results of a “preliminary” inquiry by its Central Command indicated that Israeli forces had acted “according to orders and in a restrained and proportionate manner,” and had used live ammunition in self defense because they felt threatened by the crowds. According to the statement, “there was live fire in the direction of our forces, and we located four bullets in a vehicle that was escorting the force.”
All camp residents whom Human Rights Watch interviewed denied that any Palestinians had used live fire, or said they were unaware of it happening. Israel should make public any evidence of use of live fire by Palestinians and clarify the circumstances warranting the use of lethal force pursuant to the military’s rules of engagement, Human Rights Watch said.
Israeli forces conducting policing operations in occupied territory are subject to the international standards set out in the United Nations Basic Principles on the Use of Force and Firearms by Law Enforcement Officials. According to these standards, law enforcement officials may make “intentional lethal use of firearms” only when it is “strictly unavoidable in order to protect life.”
Please see below for more information.
The Arrest Raid
Israeli news reports said that according to the military’s initial inquiry, an undercover Border Guard force entered the refugee camp at around 5:30 a.m. on August 26 in order to arrest a wanted suspect, and later called in a backup force from the Artillery Corps after clashes began with camp residents.
Witnesses told Human Rights Watch that by around 5:45 to 6 a.m., undercover forces dressed in civilian clothes had entered the home of Yusif al-Khatib, the target of the arrest operation, and that uniformed soldiers were also present on the street outside his home.
Israeli forces had raided the camp on two prior occasions in July and August in failed attempts to arrest al-Khatib, who had previously been jailed by Israel and released. Israeli spokespersons have not specified why al-Khatib was wanted beyond alleging his implication in “terrorist activities.”
Israeli forces inside al-Khatib’s home ordered all the residents into one room. They blindfolded and “zip-tied” O., a relative of al-Khatib’s, who told Human Rights Watch:
They thought I was Yusif. They drove me to the military base near al-Ram [a nearby Palestinian neighborhood] and pushed me onto the floor of the vehicle with my back on the ground. One of them was hitting me in the stomach all the way there with a heavy object, maybe a fire extinguisher.
At the base, he said, a “captain removed my blindfold and said he was sorry they had arrested me, because now they had found Yusif, and they drove me back home to identify him.” O. said that soldiers took him to a neighbor’s home, where al-Khatib had been apprehended. “I could barely recognize him. They had broken his nose and knocked out his teeth, and his hand was broken,” he told Human Rights Watch.
Israeli forces then took al-Khatib outside, put him in a military vehicle and drove away. O. said this occurred between 7:30 and 8 a.m. Al-Khatib is currently detained at the Ofer detention center and military court complex.
Clashes in Qalandia Camp
Men and youths in the area around al-Khatib’s home had begun throwing rocks at soldiers in the street soon after the soldiers arrived, at around 6 a.m. Soldiers initially responded with teargas and rubber bullets. Clashes escalated from 6 a.m. until around 6:45, when more troops arrived. Witnesses said that by 7 a.m., around eight military vehicles and a large number of soldiers on foot had entered the camp and were stationed on al-Khatib’s street, on the camp’s main east-west road, and on rooftops, and were firing live ammunition.
Youth from the camp dragged two large metal garbage containers into the road behind the soldiers to block their withdrawal back to the main north-south street on the camp’s western side, and threw rocks, Molotov cocktails and other objects at them from side streets and rooftops. Witness statements indicate that Israeli forces fired a large number of live rounds. Human Rights Watch counted 26 bullet holes in one side of one building, which residents said Israeli forces had fired during the August 26 raid.
Use of Live Ammunition
The injuries and killings that Human Rights Watch documented all apparently occurred at around 7 a.m. or shortly afterwards, according to witnesses. Evidence in at least some cases strongly suggests that the use of live ammunition was not justified. All of the incidents detailed below warrant further investigation; cases in which lethal force was used without adequate justification should be criminally prosecuted.
Israeli forces stationed outside al-Khatib’s home, on a small side-street parallel to the camp’s main road, shot and injured Abu Murad, 50, a garbage collector employed by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), witnesses said. Residents of the area told Human Rights Watch that at around 7:15 or 7:30 a.m., before Israeli forces had captured al-Khatib, Abu Murad had left his trash-collecting wagon at the eastern end of the side-street, when he saw soldiers standing in front of al-Khatib’s home, about 50 meters down the street to the west. He retreated around a corner, then returned to retrieve the wagon, and a soldier shot him in the back of his lower leg.
A witness who asked not to be identified said he did not hear the shot but saw Abu Murad fall, ran to help drag him away, and saw a soldier in front of al-Khatib’s home looking at them. Another witness said there was a single shot, which he believed indicated that the soldier had aimed deliberately at Abu Murad. Residents said that young men on rooftops were throwing stones at Israeli forces at the opposite, western end of the street, throughout the clashes. However, both witnesses to Abu Murad’s shooting said they did not see anyone throwing stones at the Israeli forces from Abu Murad’s direction in the street at that time.
Israeli forces remained inside and in front of al-Khatib’s house until they arrested him at a neighbor’s house at some point between 7:30 and 8 a.m., and then drove away with him in custody. At least one military vehicle drove west a short distance down the side street before turning south into another small street leading to the camp’s main road. A group of Palestinians not involved in the clashes slowly walked in the same direction after the Israeli forces withdrew around the corner, believing the clashes were over in the immediate area, residents said.
Two witnesses said that Israeli forces shot Roubin Abd al-Rahman Zayed, 34, in the chest, after the military vehicles had driven away from al-Khatib’s home. Multiple witnesses said that Zayed, who worked as a cleaner at an UNRWA training center in the camp, had not participated in the clashes, and had been waiting in an area to the east of al-Khatib’s home for the clashes to end and Israeli forces to depart in order to go to work.
One of the witnesses told Human Rights Watch:
[Zayed] and I were at the head of a group waiting to get around the corner. Roubin wanted to go to work. The [military vehicles] had left from in front of [al-Khatib’s] house and the last one was around the corner and half-way down to the main road when a soldier who was about to get into the back of the vehicle shot Roubin. There were no other soldiers still on the street. It was the last [vehicle] pulling away, the last soldier and the last shot.
The second witness, interviewed separately, who also asked not to be identified, said:
Roubin thought he was safe, he’d been hiding behind the corner. People were telling him it wasn’t safe. He got out and they shot him in the chest. He was just walking, not running. I was standing on the roof and saw it. Have you seen a video game where the blood spatters? It was like that, at close range. I ran down, we grabbed him and took him down the road to get a car. No way did they hit him by accident.
Both witnesses to Roubin Zayed’s shooting identified the locations where the military vehicle and Zayed were at the time of the shooting, about 25 meters apart. There is a clear line of sight to the location where the witnesses said Zayed was shot.
Youths had thrown rocks at Israeli forces on the same street prior to Zayed’s death; for instance, Human Rights Watch interviewed A.,20, who had a bullet lodged in the bone of his lower leg after being shot at around 7 a.m. while trying to throw a rock. This was just “up the hill from the place where Roubin was killed later,” he said. However, according to two witnesses as well as another resident of the area, at the time the soldier shot Zayed no camp residents were throwing rocks near or behind him. “There were guys throwing rocks from the rooftops at the intersection, but none were in the street between Roubin and the [vehicle] or behind him,” the first witness said.
I.,20, said that he had been shot that morning in the abdomen while throwing stones, and was being driven to hospital in a neighbor’s car when “someone said, ‘take another wounded with you,’ and they put in Roubin. He wasn’t moving. He’d been shot in the chest, with blood coming out of his mouth.”
Fire Against People Throwing Objects
Human Rights Watch documented other cases where Israeli forces shot live ammunition at men and children who were throwing stones and other objects at soldiers and military vehicles. Based on witness accounts, the forces frequently used live ammunition in response to clashes after 7 a.m. One youth, Y., 17, who was using crutches, said that a live bullet fired by Israeli forces had entered and exited his left thigh at around 7:30 a.m. while he was “throwing rocks at the jeeps” on the camp’s main road.
Israeli forces shot Yunis Jamal Jahjouh, 22, twice as he stood on the roof of a one-story building on the south-western side of the intersection of the main camp road and a smaller road leading north to the home of al-Khatib, witnesses said. Two witnesses told Human Rights Watch that Jahjouh was attempting to throw a satellite dish at military vehicles in the street below when he was killed. One witness, T., 18, said, “he was thrown off balance by the satellite dish. He was shot once, and said ‘Allahu Akhbar,’ and then he was shot again. There were two people with Yunis on the roof, but there was no way to get him down and out of there because of the clashes. He bled out until they got him to the ambulance, and it was too late.” According to a statement by the Palestinian hospital in the city of Ramallah, Jahjouh suffered gunshot wounds to the chest and stomach.
Further east along the main camp road, Israeli forces shot and killed Jihad Mansour Aslan, 21, as he was standing on the corner of the roof of a one-story building on the southern side of the road. A relative told Human Rights Watch:
I had been with Jihad on the roof when the [soldiers] started shooting intensively at us and we scattered. There were eight or nine of us. I jumped down and was shouting at Jihad to get back from the front of the building. He was shot the first time in his hand, and then he picked up a rock and they shot him again. We went to get him and brought him down. There was a lot of blood. We put him in a civilian car. He was still alive but he wasn’t speaking. The bullet hit him in the chest and went out his back.
The Israeli authorities should immediately open criminal investigations into the Qalandia shootings, Human Rights Watch said. Under the UN principles on the right to a remedy for human rights violations, states have the duty to investigate and, if there is sufficient evidence, the duty to submit to prosecution the person allegedly responsible for the violations and, if found guilty, the duty to punish her or him.
The Israeli military has a poor record of accountability. Since the beginning of the second Palestinian intifada in 2000, Israeli military courts have convicted only six Israeli soldiers for offenses involving the deaths of Palestinians, and one soldier for the death of a British citizen, according to Yesh Din, an Israeli rights group. Israeli investigations into the raid in the Qalandia camp should be prompt, thorough and impartial.
1 sept 2013
Thousands of Palestinian citizens attended yesterday the funeral procession of the 17-year old boy, Subhi Abu Subaih, who died of serious wounds he sustained during recent events in Jenin city. Abu Subaih died on Saturday morning in a hospital in Nablus city after he succumbed to fatal injuries during the clashes that took place on August 20 between Palestinian young men and invading Israeli troops in Jenin refugee camp.
Some mourners carried Palestinian flags and pictures of the slain young man as the procession was heading to Al-Shuhadaa cemetery for burial ceremonies in Jenin refugee camp.
Some participants chanted slogans against the Palestinian authority and its security cooperation with the Israeli occupation regime, and called for ending the restrictions on the Palestinian resistance in the West Bank.
Former minister of prisoners Wasfi Qabha told the Palestinian information center (PIC) reporter during the march that the Palestinian street reflected its outrage during the funeral procession of Abu Subaih and its support for the armed struggle against the occupation.
Qabha added that the Palestinian street also expressed clearly its rejection of the Palestinian authority's negotiations with the Israeli regime.
Some mourners carried Palestinian flags and pictures of the slain young man as the procession was heading to Al-Shuhadaa cemetery for burial ceremonies in Jenin refugee camp.
Some participants chanted slogans against the Palestinian authority and its security cooperation with the Israeli occupation regime, and called for ending the restrictions on the Palestinian resistance in the West Bank.
Former minister of prisoners Wasfi Qabha told the Palestinian information center (PIC) reporter during the march that the Palestinian street reflected its outrage during the funeral procession of Abu Subaih and its support for the armed struggle against the occupation.
Qabha added that the Palestinian street also expressed clearly its rejection of the Palestinian authority's negotiations with the Israeli regime.
31 aug 2013
Karim Abu Sabeeh 17
A Palestinian teen shot by Israeli forces with live ammunition during a night raid on Jenin refugee camp in the West Bank last week died of his wounds, Defence for Children International Palestine sources confirmed today. Karim Abu Sabeeh, 17, became the third Palestinian teenager killed this year by Israeli forces in the West Bank.
The bullet struck Karim on his right side in the waist, causing damage to his right kidney, right lung, pancreas and intestines. Doctors had performed emergency surgery to remove his kidney and lung, and shrapnel from his chest, according to hospital sources.
Early Monday morning, Karim was on the roof of a house with two other youths when Israeli forces on the street below fired live ammunition toward them from a distance of 50-60 meters (165-195 feet), according to an eyewitness. The two other youths also sustained injuries, with one transferred to Al Maqasid hospital in Jerusalem.
A Palestinian man, identified as Majd Lahlouh, 22, was killed during the incursion.
Israeli officials said the shooting occurred as Israeli forces encountered and responded to violent protesters after they entered Jenin refugee camp to arrest a suspected member of Islamic Jihad, according to news reports. The Israeli military said further investigation into the incident was underway.
At least 30 children have been shot and injured, including three killed, by live ammunition, rubber-coated metal bullets or tear-gas canisters since January 2013, based on DCI-Palestine research.
This week, Israeli forces shot and killed three Palestinian men and injured more than a dozen others, among them four boys ages 16 and 17, during a night raid on Qalandia refugee camp, outside Ramallah, similar to what took place in Jenin.
In May 2013, the average number of civilians injured by live ammunition or rubber-coated bullets more than tripled compared to this time last year, [PDF] according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).
A Palestinian teen shot by Israeli forces with live ammunition during a night raid on Jenin refugee camp in the West Bank last week died of his wounds, Defence for Children International Palestine sources confirmed today. Karim Abu Sabeeh, 17, became the third Palestinian teenager killed this year by Israeli forces in the West Bank.
The bullet struck Karim on his right side in the waist, causing damage to his right kidney, right lung, pancreas and intestines. Doctors had performed emergency surgery to remove his kidney and lung, and shrapnel from his chest, according to hospital sources.
Early Monday morning, Karim was on the roof of a house with two other youths when Israeli forces on the street below fired live ammunition toward them from a distance of 50-60 meters (165-195 feet), according to an eyewitness. The two other youths also sustained injuries, with one transferred to Al Maqasid hospital in Jerusalem.
A Palestinian man, identified as Majd Lahlouh, 22, was killed during the incursion.
Israeli officials said the shooting occurred as Israeli forces encountered and responded to violent protesters after they entered Jenin refugee camp to arrest a suspected member of Islamic Jihad, according to news reports. The Israeli military said further investigation into the incident was underway.
At least 30 children have been shot and injured, including three killed, by live ammunition, rubber-coated metal bullets or tear-gas canisters since January 2013, based on DCI-Palestine research.
This week, Israeli forces shot and killed three Palestinian men and injured more than a dozen others, among them four boys ages 16 and 17, during a night raid on Qalandia refugee camp, outside Ramallah, similar to what took place in Jenin.
In May 2013, the average number of civilians injured by live ammunition or rubber-coated bullets more than tripled compared to this time last year, [PDF] according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).
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Karim Sobhi Abu Sbeih, 17
Palestinian medical sources have reported that a Palestinian teenager died on Saturday [September 1 2013] of wounds suffered on August 31, 2013 after dozens of soldiers invaded the Jenin refugee camp, in the northern West Bank city of Jenin. The sources said that Karim Sobhi Abu Sbeih, 17, was seriously injured in his abdomen after an Israeli soldier fired a Dumdum bullet at him during an invasion into the Jenin refugee camp. During the invasion, the army shot and killed one resident identified as Mohammad Lahlouh, and seriously shot and injured another resident identified as Ala’ Jamal Abu Khalifa, 19. |
On Monday [August 26 2013] soldiers shot and killed three Palestinians in the Qalandia refugee camp, north of occupied East Jerusalem, and wounded dozens of residents mostly by live rounds.
The three slain residents have been identified as Jamal Jahjouh, 22, Rubin Ziad, 32, and Jihad Aslan, 19.
A Dumdum bullet, also called an expanding bullet, is designed to expand on impact, thus increasing the damage to the body.
The Hague Convention of 1899 has outlawed the usage of those rounds. The use of those rounds against unarmed civilians is a crime.
The three slain residents have been identified as Jamal Jahjouh, 22, Rubin Ziad, 32, and Jihad Aslan, 19.
A Dumdum bullet, also called an expanding bullet, is designed to expand on impact, thus increasing the damage to the body.
The Hague Convention of 1899 has outlawed the usage of those rounds. The use of those rounds against unarmed civilians is a crime.
Palestinian shot by Israeli fire dies of his injuries in Jenin
Palestinian youth Karim Subhi Saleh, 18 years old has died of injuries he has sustained few days ago in the West Bank city of Jenin. Medical sources said that Saleh has been shot by Israeli occupation soldiers who stormed the city recently.
The same sources added that Saleh was shot in the abdomen and his condtion was very serious before entereing the hospital.
Saleh has been reported dead on saturday morning 31/8/2013.
Israeli occupation forces have killed Majd Lahluh at the same day they have shot the 18-year-old Karim Saleh in the 20th, Aug, 2013.
Teen dies of Israeli-inflicted wounds
A Palestinian teenager has died of wounds he had sustained during an attack by Israeli troops on the Jenin refugee camp in the northern occupied West Bank.
Palestinian medical sources said that Karim Sobhi Abu Sbeih succumbed to his wounds in a hospital on Saturday.
The sources said that the 17-year-old boy “was seriously injured in his abdomen after an Israeli soldier fired a Dumdum bullet at him during an invasion into the Jenin refugee camp.”
One resident identified as Mohammad Lahlouh was killed and another another resident named as Ala’ Jamal Abu Khalifa, 19, wounded in the attack.
On August 26, Israeli troops also killed three Palestinians in the Qalandiya refugee camp in the occupied West Bank and wounded dozens of residents mostly by live rounds.
Clashes erupted between Israeli troops and Palestinians after Israeli forces killed the Palestinians.
Israeli forces raided Qalandiya refugee camp, north of East al-Quds (Jerusalem), to arrest a former Palestinian political prisoner.
Following the unrest, the Palestinian Authority (PA) called off the US-mediated direct talks with Israel to protest the killings.
"What happened today in Qalandiya shows the real intentions of the Israeli government," Nabil Abu Rudeina, the spokesman for the PA Acting Chief Mahmoud Abbas, said.
The Israeli military often raids Palestinian houses in the West Bank to arrest activists and civilians, mostly without any charges.
According to Palestinian rights groups, over a dozen Palestinians were killed by Israeli forces in the first half of 2013. Israeli troops also kidnapped nearly 1,800 Palestinians, including women and children, during the same period.
Palestinian teen dies of wounds sustained in Israeli shooting
A Palestinian teenager was pronounced dead on Saturday of wounds he had sustained during an attack by Israeli troops on the Jenin refugee camp ten days ago. Karim Sobhi Abu Sbeih, 17-year-old, succumbed to his wounds after conducting several surgeries at the Arab Specialist Hospital in Nablus, medical sources said.
The sources added that Abu Sbeih was seriously injured in his abdomen after an Israeli military force stormed the refugee camp and fired randomly at the residents.
One resident identified as Mohammad Lahlouh was shot dead and another resident named as Ala’ Jamal Abu Khalifa, 19, was wounded during the same Israeli incursion into the Jenin refugee camp.
Palestinian youth Karim Subhi Saleh, 18 years old has died of injuries he has sustained few days ago in the West Bank city of Jenin. Medical sources said that Saleh has been shot by Israeli occupation soldiers who stormed the city recently.
The same sources added that Saleh was shot in the abdomen and his condtion was very serious before entereing the hospital.
Saleh has been reported dead on saturday morning 31/8/2013.
Israeli occupation forces have killed Majd Lahluh at the same day they have shot the 18-year-old Karim Saleh in the 20th, Aug, 2013.
Teen dies of Israeli-inflicted wounds
A Palestinian teenager has died of wounds he had sustained during an attack by Israeli troops on the Jenin refugee camp in the northern occupied West Bank.
Palestinian medical sources said that Karim Sobhi Abu Sbeih succumbed to his wounds in a hospital on Saturday.
The sources said that the 17-year-old boy “was seriously injured in his abdomen after an Israeli soldier fired a Dumdum bullet at him during an invasion into the Jenin refugee camp.”
One resident identified as Mohammad Lahlouh was killed and another another resident named as Ala’ Jamal Abu Khalifa, 19, wounded in the attack.
On August 26, Israeli troops also killed three Palestinians in the Qalandiya refugee camp in the occupied West Bank and wounded dozens of residents mostly by live rounds.
Clashes erupted between Israeli troops and Palestinians after Israeli forces killed the Palestinians.
Israeli forces raided Qalandiya refugee camp, north of East al-Quds (Jerusalem), to arrest a former Palestinian political prisoner.
Following the unrest, the Palestinian Authority (PA) called off the US-mediated direct talks with Israel to protest the killings.
"What happened today in Qalandiya shows the real intentions of the Israeli government," Nabil Abu Rudeina, the spokesman for the PA Acting Chief Mahmoud Abbas, said.
The Israeli military often raids Palestinian houses in the West Bank to arrest activists and civilians, mostly without any charges.
According to Palestinian rights groups, over a dozen Palestinians were killed by Israeli forces in the first half of 2013. Israeli troops also kidnapped nearly 1,800 Palestinians, including women and children, during the same period.
Palestinian teen dies of wounds sustained in Israeli shooting
A Palestinian teenager was pronounced dead on Saturday of wounds he had sustained during an attack by Israeli troops on the Jenin refugee camp ten days ago. Karim Sobhi Abu Sbeih, 17-year-old, succumbed to his wounds after conducting several surgeries at the Arab Specialist Hospital in Nablus, medical sources said.
The sources added that Abu Sbeih was seriously injured in his abdomen after an Israeli military force stormed the refugee camp and fired randomly at the residents.
One resident identified as Mohammad Lahlouh was shot dead and another resident named as Ala’ Jamal Abu Khalifa, 19, was wounded during the same Israeli incursion into the Jenin refugee camp.
An Egyptian was killed and another injured by Israeli troops late Friday near Egypt's border with Israel.
Israeli soldiers fired on the two men after they entered a restricted area near the border zone, Israeli radio quoted an Israeli security source as saying.
The Israeli army said that troops had opened fire on two suspected infiltrators riding dune-buggies, who had entered a restricted zone near the border from Egypt's Sinai Peninsula.
After the two men ignored calls to halt, the soldiers opened fire, wounding both of them, the Israeli army said, adding that one of the suspects later succumbed to his injuries.
The second man, meanwhile, was taken to Israel for medical treatment, according to the Israeli army.
Egyptian authorities, who have yet to issue a formal statement on the issue, have been officially informed of the incident.
Israeli soldiers fired on the two men after they entered a restricted area near the border zone, Israeli radio quoted an Israeli security source as saying.
The Israeli army said that troops had opened fire on two suspected infiltrators riding dune-buggies, who had entered a restricted zone near the border from Egypt's Sinai Peninsula.
After the two men ignored calls to halt, the soldiers opened fire, wounding both of them, the Israeli army said, adding that one of the suspects later succumbed to his injuries.
The second man, meanwhile, was taken to Israel for medical treatment, according to the Israeli army.
Egyptian authorities, who have yet to issue a formal statement on the issue, have been officially informed of the incident.
29 aug 2013
By Abdul-Hakim Salah
Very blatantly scorning the minds of its readers, beating all the odds, the Israeli daily English language newspaper The Jerusalem Post published Tuesday the most scandalous news report any embedded journalist can think of.
"Attack on IDF in Kalandiya leaves three Palestinians dead from gunfire," the JPost’s headline read on the print version reporting about the murder of three Palestinian men during an Israeli military incursion into the Palestinian Qalandiya refugee camp near Ramallah. A headline was slightly different, and perhaps a little more professional, in an electronic version of the report on the newspaper’s website.
“3 Palestinians killed, as IDF, border police come under attack making arrest in Kalandiya.” This online headline was at least better prioritized and took the pains to mention what the Israeli troops were doing in the camp.
Nevertheless, the same sarcasm can be read in the body of both reports. The writers insist, from the very first sentence, on blaming the victims and sympathizing with the perpetrators. “A large scale Palestinian attack on security forces in Kalandiya…… left three Palestinians dead.” Wait a minute! Are you talking about Palestinian forces invading an Israeli refugee camp in Tel Aviv? Who knows? No! No! That can’t be the case, simply because three Palestinian refugees were killed and dozens were injured.
The same very first paragraph continues with ignominious remarks confirming that hundreds of rioters “hurled washing machines and large concrete blocks from rooftops.” Rioters?! Hundreds?! Give me a break! But you say the incident began at 5:00 AM and the Palestinian refugees, I suppose, are human beings and they must have been sleeping. I bet it began even earlier, because bats prefer to move in darkness.
Let’s supposedly accept the term RIOTERS. Are you trying to tell your readers that Israeli intelligence warned, may be notified, Qalandiya refugees in advance that troops would raid the camp so they can be on alert? According to your report, otherwise why would they have washing machines, large concrete blocks and even refrigerators and bathtubs ready for launching on their rooftops as the report claims later. “Carpets set on fire” too! Wow. Those refugees have really beaten all odds. If, God forbids, I were in your shoes, I would have called these “rooftop-trapped” objects. Why not? Let’s introduce something thing new to the world.
Whatever! You are trying to prove the troops were “showered with life threatening objects”. I guess you, or maybe your security sources, forgot one very important thing that could have given your story [lie] a glimpse of credibility. Never mind! You missed it this time, but next time it would be helpful to claim that a single soldier was hurt, or his uniform was torn, or even spoiled as a result of these life threatening “rooftop traps.” May be you made the right decision because if a soldier’s uniform was hurt, readers will not believe you because if that happened, the death Palestinian toll would have been a lot higher.
The killing of three Palestinians in Qalandiya coincided with a planned third round of the recently resumed peace negotiations between Palestinian and Israeli teams. Palestinian, Israeli and international media outlets were busy that afternoon trying to reveal whether that meeting took place or not. Some reports claimed the Palestinian side, seriously angered by the killing in Qalandiya, decided to cancel that meeting. But why were they angered? I believe they did not read the Jerusalem Post’s article.
They thought it was the Israeli forces who raided a Palestinian camp and killed three people. Nobody else told them that the event was initiated, according to the JPost, by sleeping Palestinians “hurling refrigerators, washing machines and bathtubs” at Israeli soldiers. But it’s not their fault because in their prestigious refugee camps they change their electric machines, bathtubs and furniture every few months. However, because alleys in the camp are very narrow, Israeli trucks which collect used furniture and scrap can’t travel in the camp, and so rooftops in the camp were full of refrigerators, washing machines and bathtubs!
Very blatantly scorning the minds of its readers, beating all the odds, the Israeli daily English language newspaper The Jerusalem Post published Tuesday the most scandalous news report any embedded journalist can think of.
"Attack on IDF in Kalandiya leaves three Palestinians dead from gunfire," the JPost’s headline read on the print version reporting about the murder of three Palestinian men during an Israeli military incursion into the Palestinian Qalandiya refugee camp near Ramallah. A headline was slightly different, and perhaps a little more professional, in an electronic version of the report on the newspaper’s website.
“3 Palestinians killed, as IDF, border police come under attack making arrest in Kalandiya.” This online headline was at least better prioritized and took the pains to mention what the Israeli troops were doing in the camp.
Nevertheless, the same sarcasm can be read in the body of both reports. The writers insist, from the very first sentence, on blaming the victims and sympathizing with the perpetrators. “A large scale Palestinian attack on security forces in Kalandiya…… left three Palestinians dead.” Wait a minute! Are you talking about Palestinian forces invading an Israeli refugee camp in Tel Aviv? Who knows? No! No! That can’t be the case, simply because three Palestinian refugees were killed and dozens were injured.
The same very first paragraph continues with ignominious remarks confirming that hundreds of rioters “hurled washing machines and large concrete blocks from rooftops.” Rioters?! Hundreds?! Give me a break! But you say the incident began at 5:00 AM and the Palestinian refugees, I suppose, are human beings and they must have been sleeping. I bet it began even earlier, because bats prefer to move in darkness.
Let’s supposedly accept the term RIOTERS. Are you trying to tell your readers that Israeli intelligence warned, may be notified, Qalandiya refugees in advance that troops would raid the camp so they can be on alert? According to your report, otherwise why would they have washing machines, large concrete blocks and even refrigerators and bathtubs ready for launching on their rooftops as the report claims later. “Carpets set on fire” too! Wow. Those refugees have really beaten all odds. If, God forbids, I were in your shoes, I would have called these “rooftop-trapped” objects. Why not? Let’s introduce something thing new to the world.
Whatever! You are trying to prove the troops were “showered with life threatening objects”. I guess you, or maybe your security sources, forgot one very important thing that could have given your story [lie] a glimpse of credibility. Never mind! You missed it this time, but next time it would be helpful to claim that a single soldier was hurt, or his uniform was torn, or even spoiled as a result of these life threatening “rooftop traps.” May be you made the right decision because if a soldier’s uniform was hurt, readers will not believe you because if that happened, the death Palestinian toll would have been a lot higher.
The killing of three Palestinians in Qalandiya coincided with a planned third round of the recently resumed peace negotiations between Palestinian and Israeli teams. Palestinian, Israeli and international media outlets were busy that afternoon trying to reveal whether that meeting took place or not. Some reports claimed the Palestinian side, seriously angered by the killing in Qalandiya, decided to cancel that meeting. But why were they angered? I believe they did not read the Jerusalem Post’s article.
They thought it was the Israeli forces who raided a Palestinian camp and killed three people. Nobody else told them that the event was initiated, according to the JPost, by sleeping Palestinians “hurling refrigerators, washing machines and bathtubs” at Israeli soldiers. But it’s not their fault because in their prestigious refugee camps they change their electric machines, bathtubs and furniture every few months. However, because alleys in the camp are very narrow, Israeli trucks which collect used furniture and scrap can’t travel in the camp, and so rooftops in the camp were full of refrigerators, washing machines and bathtubs!