Azaria is the only indicted killer out of 100s


January 14, 2017
Sarah Benton


Far-right supporters of Azaria scuffle with police outside the court-room in Tel Aviv where Elor Azaria awaits his sentence for manslaughter. Photo from Reuters

Palestinians protest amid Israeli calls to pardon convicted soldier

Palestine Monitor
January 05, 2017

Elor Azaria, the Israeli soldier who was caught on camera killing a Palestinian attacker while he was no longer posing a threat, was convicted of manslaughter by an Israeli military court on Wednesday. He could now face a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.

The incident, which took place on March 24 in the West Bank city of Hebron, was filmed by a Palestinian activist with Israeli human rights group B’Tselem. The video sparked outrage around the world after it was widely circulated online. It shows 21-year-old Abdul Fattah al-Sharif lying motionlessly on the ground, shot and wounded after stabbing and lightly wounding an Israeli soldier at the Tel Rumeida checkpoint in the Old City of Hebron. Another attacker, Ramzi Aziz al-Qasrawi, 21, had been killed on the spot.

The video shows Israeli soldiers, settlers and medics paying little attention to al-Sharif until he lightly moves his head, at which point a soldier, later identified as Elor Azaria, steps forward, cocks his rifle and fires a single shot at the wounded man. A trail of blood from al-Sharif’s head is then seen streaming across the pavement.

According to media reports, judge Maya Heller read out the court’s decision for more than two hours before issuing a verdict, going through every shred of evidence presented by Azaria’s defence team, who maintained his innocence throughout the trial. Judges accepted the video as authentic and pointed out time and time again that Azaria had been inconsistent in his account of what happened. The 20-year-old soldier is expected to be sentenced on January 15, while his defence team has already said it will file an appeal.

Meanwhile, clashes broke out outside the courtroom in Jaffa between police and supporters of Azaria, who called him a hero and demanded his release.

One of the crowd of far-right supporters who have made Azaria’s case their own sports a T-shirt with a picture of Meir Kahane. Kahane, founder of Kach, was so extreme that it and he were banned as   “racist” and “anti-democratic”

The case has divided Israeli public opinion, with 65 percent of the Israeli public supporting Azaria’s self-defence claim, according to an August 2016 poll by the Israel Democracy Institute. Israeli politicians have also been vocal in their support for the soldier, with Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman campaigning for his release. On Wednesday after the verdict, Netanyahu backed pardoning the soldier in a Facebook post.

“This is a difficult and painful day – first and foremost for Elor, his family, Israel’s soldiers, many citizens and parents of soldiers, among them me … I support granting a pardon to Elor Azaria,” the post read.

Israel’s President Reuven Rivlin, who has the authority to issue pardons, later issued a press statement in which he said that “in the event that a pardon should be requested, it will be considered by the President in accordance with standard practices and after recommendations from the relevant authorities.”


Supporters of Elor Azaria take part in a protest calling for his release in Tel Aviv, Israel April 19, 2016. Photo by Baz Ratner/Reuters

Another demonstration took place in Hebron’s city centre, with dozens of people coming out in support of Azaria’s family.

“For me, a just verdict would be one that is similar to the verdicts our sons get. Life sentences, or spending their sentences freezing,” said al-Sharif’s father Yousri, referring to Israel’s practice of retaining the bodies of Palestinian attackers and alleged attackers and freezing them.

Since an uptick in violence that started in October 2015, at least 244 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli soldiers and settlers, including alleged or actual attackers, unarmed demonstrators and bystanders. In the same period, 36 Israelis have been killed in Palestinian attacks, mostly stabbings and shootings.

Last September, Amnesty International sent the Israeli authorities a memorandum in which it detailed 20 unlawful killings of Palestinians by Israeli forces and asked for clarification about the status of the investigations. According to Amnesty, Palestinians were deliberately shot dead in at least 15 of those cases, despite posing no imminent threat, in what the rights group calls extrajudicial executions. The cases include people who were wounded or fleeing, as well as unarmed demonstrators. Azaria is the only member of Israel’s security apparatus to be charged for the death of a Palestinian in 2016.

 


Israeli border police officers stand next to a poster of Israeli army medic, Sgt. Elor Azaria, during a demonstration by hardline nationalists who support him, outside the Israeli military court in Tel Aviv, Israel, Wednesday, Jan. 4, 2017. The verdict marks an extremely rare case of an Israeli military court siding against a soldier over lethal action taken in the field. Caption, Daily Mail, also the source of all photos. Photo Oded Balilty/AP

“Since the escalation of violence in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories last year, there has been a worrying rise in unlawful killings by Israeli forces, fostered by a culture of impunity,” Philip Luther, Research and Advocacy Director for the Middle East and North Africa at Amnesty International, had said in a statement about the memorandum.

“The cases of unlawful killings outlined in this memorandum reveal a shocking disregard for human life and pose some serious questions to the Israeli authorities. Those responsible must be brought to justice to ensure this cycle of unlawful killings ends.”

The Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs described Azaria’s conviction as a “mock trial”, made to “absorb” international condemnation of the incident, adding that the entire Israeli regime ought to stand trial for allowing the killing of Palestinians.

The Palestinian ambassador to Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific also said the trial should be viewed in the context of the system of occupation and deprivation of basic human rights under which Palestinians live.

“The case of Sgt Elor Azaria’s cold-blooded execution of Abdel Fattah al-Sharif is not an isolated incident; it is the result of a system of occupation that encourages grave injustices against Palestinians, with extrajudicial killing being just one example,” a statement from the Palestinian delegation read.

The predominantly Palestinian Joint Arab List, the third largest political force in Israel’s Knesset, said on Thursday that “calls to pardon the killer soldier are a cheap attempt by coalition and opposition politicians to appease the extreme right-wing, which opposes convicting the soldier of manslaughter, in order to win its support. It is regrettable that members of the opposition are united with Netanyahu in their bid to win the same fascist vote.”


Israel/OPT: Pattern of unlawful killings reveals shocking disregard for human life

Press release from Amnesty International
September 28, 2016

Nearly a year on from a bloody spike in violence in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT) Israeli forces continue to display an appalling disregard for human life by using reckless and unlawful lethal force against Palestinians, Amnesty International said today.

In a memorandum  [pdf file] sent to the Israeli authorities on 14 September, the organization has detailed 20 cases of apparently unlawful killings of Palestinians by Israeli forces seeking clarification about the status of investigations. In at least 15 of the cases, Palestinians were deliberately shot dead, despite posing no imminent threat to life, in what appear to be extrajudicial executions. The Israeli authorities have not responded to Amnesty International’s concerns.

Since the escalation of violence in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories last year, there has been a worrying rise in unlawful killings by Israeli forces, fostered by a culture of impunity,” said Philip Luther, Research and Advocacy Director for the Middle East and North Africa at Amnesty International.

Soldiers prepare to carry away a Palestinian they have shot dead in Hebron. It’s not clear if this is the 17 year old girl, Kilzar Mohd Abdulhaleem al-Owiwi, whom they killed when she approached them wth a knife, February 2016. EPA photo.

The cases of unlawful killings outlined in this memorandum reveal a shocking disregard for human life and pose some serious questions to the Israeli authorities. Those responsible must be brought to justice to ensure this cycle of unlawful killings ends.
Philip Luther, Research and Advocacy Director for the Middle East and North Africa

Since 1 October 2015, Israel and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, have witnessed the most significant wave of violence since the end of the second intifada in 2005. More than 225 Palestinians and three foreign nationals were killed by Israeli forces over the past year, most of them during suspected, attempted or actual attacks against Israeli soldiers, police and civilians. At least 35 Israelis and two foreign nationals were killed in the same period by Palestinian attackers.

In some cases, lethal force may have been the only means of protecting the lives of civilians or members of the security forces. However, as in the cases highlighted in the memorandum, in many instances those killed did not pose an immediate threat to life. This includes the shooting of people who were wounded or fleeing and the shooting of unarmed protesters.

Unlawful killings by Israeli forces are nothing new. In the 2014 report, Trigger-happy: Israel’s use of excessive force in the West Bank, Amnesty International documented 19 apparently unlawful killings, including three cases where there was evidence of wilful killings, which amount to war crimes.

As violence continues in Israel and the OPT, the families of those unlawfully killed in the past year are left without justice. Of the 20 incidents in the memo, an indictment has been filed against a soldier in only one case. In many cases where there appears to be evidence of an extrajudicial execution, there is not even an open criminal investigation.

Hadeel al-Hashlamoun was 18 when she was shot dead by Israeli forces in Hebron on 22 September 2015. According to a witness she was holding a knife, but was separated from the soldiers by metal barriers. A review by the Israeli army concluded that she could have been detained alive. Amnesty International is not aware of any criminal investigation into her death.


A male relative, believed to be Hadeel al-Hashlamoun’s father, kisses the dead teenager.

Hadeel’s father, Dr Salah al-Hashlamoun, said:

I have been going through some serious depression and loss of hope recently, it is now a year since my daughter was killed, the problem is not only that we have not seen any bit of justice but that Israel continues to kill our youth, that the killing is increasing.

It is now a year since my daughter was killed, the problem is not only that we have not seen any bit of justice but that Israel continues to kill our youth, that the killing is increasing

I want to shed light on the case of my daughter again now with the anniversary – not only to have justice for us but maybe to try and slow down the rate of murder which is again on the rise.”

Dr Salah al-Hashlamoun, father of Hadeel, who was shot dead by Israeli forces last year

Salman Shaalan’s nephew, Mahmoud Muhammad Ali Shaalan, was 16 when he was killed on 26 February 2016 at Beit El checkpoint, near Ramallah. According to eyewitness testimony provided to Amnesty International, he was shot from a distance by Israeli soldiers after being turned away from the checkpoint. An autopsy corroborated this version of events, but a criminal investigation into the killing has still not been opened. His family have also been denied access to video footage of the killing.

Salman Shaalan said:

It’s been a nightmare for us. All evidence points to him being killed for no reason, so everyone is staying quiet, just hoping it goes away. They’re not investigating, not going to find out what happened.

What we are faced with today is a fight against the reality that Israel can do anything it wants without being held accountable by anyone. I hope the time for justice is coming.

Amnesty International’s research shows that the military justice system consistently fails to deliver justice for Palestinian victims of unlawful killings and their families. The conduct of the Police Internal Investigations Department with regard to allegations of unlawful killings carried out by the Israel Police also raises serious questions about their ability to carry out impartial and independent investigations. Philip Luther said:

Relatives of Israelis killed by Palestinians can count on a state that aggressively pursues the attackers – and often oversteps the bounds of legality in that pursuit. Palestinians, on the other hand, do not have anyone to protect their rights.

The only way to prevent further unlawful killings is to end the impunity that exists for those who have carried them out in the past. Israel has a duty to thoroughly, impartially and promptly investigate all killings by its security forces, and to keep families fully informed. The Israeli government must urgently reform its investigation systems so that it can fulfil this duty and bring those responsible for extrajudicial executions to justice.

 

 

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