Apparently the soldier who executed a Palestinian lying injured on the ground has been arrested. We can be sure that this animal will, once the publicity has died away, be quietly released after at best a nominal punishment. Israeli killers in uniform never serve time, still less a sentence of years in prison, unlike Palestinian resistance fighters who serve decades on the basis of confessions extracted by torture.
In an opinion poll, 53% of Israelis supported extra-judicial killings, so this is not seen as anything out of the ordinary.
This is what Israeli ‘democracy’ is all about and what Western politicians like the execrable Clinton praise so dearly.
Tony Greenstein
24 Mar 2016
Video: ‘Emad abu-Shamsiyah
This morning, according to media reports, Palestinians Ramzi al-Qasrawi and ‘Abd al-Fatah a-Sharif were shot after stabbing a soldier in Tel Rumeida, Hebron. The soldier sustained medium-level injuries. While al-Qasrawi died on the spot, a-Sharif was injured and fell to the ground. In video footage captured by Hebron resident ‘Emad abu-Shamsiyah, who sent it to B’Tselem, he is seen lying on the road injured, with none of the soldiers or medics present giving him first aid or paying him any attention at all. At a certain point, a soldier is seen aiming his weapon at a-Sharif and shooting him in the head from close range, killing him. Although this occurs in the plain view of other soldiers and officers, they do not seem to take any notice.
Extrajudicial street killings are the direct consequence of inflammatory remarks made by Israeli ministers and officials, augmented by the general public atmosphere of dehumanization. Some top officials have commented, here and there, on the importance of abiding by the law and refraining from use of excessive force. This includes a recent public statement made by the chief of staff and comments included in a formal letterby the minister of defense to B’Tselem in response to a query. However, the law enforcement authorities are by and large turning a blind eye to repeated grave suspicions of extrajudicial killing by the security forces, and these backed in the field by commanders. The message to the Israeli public is undeniable: attempting to injure a civilian or a soldier is a death sentence.