Tuesday 12TH
posted by James Tweedie in World
ISRAELI military prosecutors faced criticism yesterday for inaction and “whitewashing” over the killings of two protesting Palestinian teenagers.
A hearing into the 2014 shooting of 17-year-old Nadim Siyam Nuwara at a protest near Ramallah was postponed yesterday, the day after charges over the shooting of another youth were dropped.
The military advocate general’s office said on Sunday that Colonel Yisrael Shomer would not stand trial for the July 3 fatal shooting of Muhammad Hani al-Kasbah.
The 17-year-old was shot in the head and chest after allegedly throwing a stone at an Israeli army convoy close to the Qalandiya checkpoint, south of Ramallah.
“Colonel Shomer exited his vehicle and fired into the air and towards the lower extremities of the assailant,” the Israeli army said in a statement.
“However, due to the reality of the operational situation, the shots resulted in the death of the assailant.”
But video of the incident showed the boy running away from the vehicle after throwing the stone.
Palestinian human rights group al-Haq reported at the time that the occupation troops had arbitrarily shot dead Mr Kasbah, who “posed no threat to the Israeli soldiers’ lives at the time of the shooting.”
His two brothers Yasser and Samer al-Kasbah were killed by Israeli forces in the Qalandiya refugee camp in May 2002.
“This decision is an integral part of the whitewash mechanism which is Israel’s military investigative system,” said Israeli rights group B’Tselem on Sunday.
The same day, Palestinian Foreign Minister Riad Malki expressed hope that US President Barack Obama would back a draft United Nations security council resolution seeking “accountability” for illegal Israeli settlements on Palestinian land in the West Bank.
Mr Malki said the hope was that Mr Obama, freed of re-election concerns, would break with old habits and refrain from vetoing the motion — as Washington has done with all attempts to censure Israel.
“There are indications that President Barack Obama may try to put a basis for a new era regarding the Palestinian-Israeli issue before leaving the White House after his achievements in Iran and Cuba,” he said.
The draft, which stresses the “violence and terrorism of the settlers,” still needs approval from Arab nations before the Palestinians would consider presenting it.
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