Category: In the Media

Commander and soldier convicted for shooting of bound Palestinian

Anshel Pfeffer | Ha’aretz

15 July 2010

An Israel Defense Forces court on Thursday convicted a former commander and a soldier involved in shooting a bound Palestinian at close range in the West Bank city of Na’alin two years ago.

The affair unfolded after Lt. Col. Omri Burberg was filmed holding the blindfolded and bound prisoner and ordering Staff Sgt. Leonardo Korea to fire a rubber bullet his leg. The Palestinian, 27-year-old Ashraf Abu Rahme, was lightly wounded in the incident.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e2RiEXrJ69o

Burberg and Korea were charged with unbecoming behavior after a military-police investigation into the affair. Burberg was transferred following the incident from his post in Battalion 71 to the armored corps training grounds at Tze’elim.

In response to the relatively light charges, four civil-rights organizations petitioned the High Court of Justice on behalf of Abu Rahme, requesting that the court order the Military Advocate General to change the charge to something more serious.

Military Advocate General Avichai Mandelblit responded by adding attempted threat and behavior unfitting for a commander to the charges against Burburg, and illegal use of a weapon to the charges against Korea.

Burberg arrested Ashraf Abu Rahme on July 7, 2008 for his “involvement in disrupting the peace.” The prisoner was taken to the entry of the village, where he was bound and his eyes were covered.

Burberg, who had known Abu Rahme because of his role in previous demonstrations, allegedly said: “Now you will stop demonstrating against the IDF.” Abu Rahme responded in Arabic, which suggests he might not understand Hebrew.

The officer suspected that Abu Rahme was lying, and turned to Korea, a soldier on his staff, and asked him: “What do you say – should we take him aside and shoot him with a rubber [bullet]?”

Korea said in response: “I have no problem to shoot him with a rubber [bullet].”

Burberg stood the prisoner on his feet, led him to a nearby jeep and told L. to prepare a rubber bullet. “I already have one in the barrel,” L. responded.

At that point, L. aimed at the Palestinian’s foot and fired a rubber bullet from a very short range. Burberg allegedly pushed the soldier and shouted at him for shooting a bound prisoner. L. said he thought he had received an order to shoot.

“As a result of the shooting, Abu Rahme suffered superficial injuries on his left toe, was treated by a medic and did not require further care,” the chief prosecutor, Colonel Liron Liebman, wrote in the original indictment.

East Jerusalem home demolitions continue

Ma’an News Agency

13 July 2010

Israeli bulldozers demolished two homes in the East Jerusalem town of Al-Isawiya on Tuesday morning, saying the buildings were constructed without permits, with a third reported by a Reuters cameraman in Beit Hanina.

Witnesses in Al-Isawiya said Israeli forces entered the town early in the morning, blocking off main streets and forcing entry into the two buildings later demolished.

The families of Sabah Abu Rmeileh and Mahmoud Abu Rayaleh reported that one woman, Sabah Abu Rmeileh, was injured during the incident, during which clashes erupted. Both homes were reportedly under construction, and a third structure serving as a small shed, was also demolished.

Reports from Reuters said a cameraman captured a third demolition in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Beit Hanina, which the Israeli press billed as the first home demolition in eight months.

The demolitions were the first in nearly a month, following the destruction of two agricultural buildings in Abu Tur and Silwan. The last home demolition was a self-demolition, ordered by an Israeli court on Nayef Kasteru, a father of three living in the Aqbat As-Saraya neighborhood of Jerusalem’s Old City on 4 July.

Fatah Revolutionary Council member Dmitry Dliani said the demolitions, coming a day after the announcement of plans to build 32 more settlement homes in the Pisgat Ze’ev settlement, showed the “true colors of Israel.”

Dilani noted that the demolitions also came between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s visit to the US, and the nation’s Middle East Envoy’s visit to the region, expected to be his last unless proximity talks are transformed into direct peace negotiations.

In a statement about the demolitions, Dliani said the only conclusion to be drawn about the timing of the demolitions was that “the occupying power and the American administration share a common interest in harming the Palestinians of Jerusalem.”

http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=299074

IDF to probe death of Palestinian protester at West Bank rally

Anshel Pfeffer | Ha’aretz

12 July 2010

The Military Advocate General on Monday ordered the army’s criminal investigations unit to investigate the death of a Palestinian protester who was killed by a tear gas canister at a demonstration in Bil’in in April 2009.

The Military Advocate General had refused to open a criminal investigation into the death of Bassem Abu-Rahma, but on Monday changed its mind after expert testimony showed that the tear gas canister was aimed directly at Abu-Rahma and was fired in violation of military orders.

The Military Advocate General notified Abu-Rahma’s family and human rights lawyer Michael Sfard, who had planned to petition the High Court of Justice over the case.

The Israel Defense Forces first said Abu-Rahma was in a group of Palestinians hurling rocks at troops. But video footage showed him shouting, not throwing rocks, when he was shot.

Video footage filmed during the April 2009 protest against the separation fence in the Palestinian village of Bil’in also showed IDF troops firing tear gas canisters directly at demonstrators while in the presence of commanding officers.

Abu-Rahma’s family welcomed the decision. “We are extremely happy that an investigation is finally being opened,” said Ahmed Abu-Rahma, the victim’s brother.

“This should have happened on the day [he was killed], and it is clear that the army opened the investigation because it was forced to, and that in the past year and a quarter it has tried to cover up the shooting of a non-violent protester that it had no reason to harm, let alone kill,” Ahmed Abu-Rahma continued.

The original decision not to investigate Abu-Rahma’s death ignored the video footage and relied on IDF solders’ testimony that the tear gas canister hit wire along the separation fence and then ricocheted, striking Abu-Rahma. However, experts said that had the soldier who fired the canister followed IDF instructions, it would have landed hundreds of meters past where Abu-Rahma was standing.

Rights groups B’Tselem and Yesh Din said they were satisfied by the decision to probe the events surrounding Abu Rahma’s death, but stressed that the delay in reaching the decision was unjustified.

“We hope the amount of time that has passed since the event won’t affect the effectiveness of the investigation, and that today’s decision by the Military Advocate General will bring justice to Abu-Rahma’s family and the village of Bil’in,” the groups said in a statement.

Sarit Michaeli of B’Tselem said the military informed the group on Monday of the decision. The military had no immediate comment.

Michaeli said there was no justification for the army taking 15 months to investigate the death, which she said was recorded on three video cameras.

Aljazeera: Gaza farmers risk being shot

Aljazeera English

As a Libyan backed aid ship sails for the Gaza Strip, another group of international activists has been defying the blockade, but this time on the land.

Foreigners acting as human shields have been helping farmers in Gaza harvest their crops.

About 30 per cent of Gaza’s arable land is on the border with Israel and the area has been declared a buffer zone by the Israeli army.

Palestinian farmers risk being shot with live fire for working their fields.

Nicole Johnston reports from Bani Salah.

Israelis and internationals demonstrate outside Barakat’s house in west Jerusalem

Wadi Hilweh Information Center

6 July 2010

Dozens of international and Israeli solidarity activists protested in solidarity with Silwan in front of the west Jerusalem house of Jerusalem mayor Nir Barkat. Demonstrators stated that they were opposing his racist policy in Silwan, which follows an agenda of promoting illegal settlements.

The demonstrators condemned the intention of the Jerusalem Municipality to demolish houses in Silwan in order to build a biblical garden which will be linked to the settlement City of David tourist site in the village.

The demonstrators instead sarcastically demanded that Barakat’s house should be demolished and a biblical park built upon it. They also asked that Barakat’s neighbors accept the building of a second floor for Barakat upon their own house – in mockery of the ‘compensation’ offer he made to the 22 houses that he plans to demolish in Silwan.