‘Caught on Camera’: Extrajudicial killings of Palestinians
Israel/Palestine
Annie Robbins on October 18, 2015 77 Comments
Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor press conference in Geneva. October
16,2015
A new report summarizing Israel’s Arbitrary Killings and its System of
Structural Violence was released by the Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor
at a press conference in Geneva on Friday. The release included the following
video, “Caught on Camera: Israel’s extrajudicial killings,” illustrating the
killings of Palestinian civilians involved in political protests during the
last two weeks.
The report follows Euro-Med Monitor‘s October 10th Call on International
Community to hault Israel’s extrajudicial executions.
Euro-Med Monitor Press Release: ISRAELI BRUTALITIES CAUGHT ON CAMERA:
While the Israeli government has to date escaped serious accountability for
repeated human rights violations, “citizen journalism”—in which excessive acts
of force are caught on camera—now is making it more difficult for the acts to
be obscured or brushed aside, says the report.
“Thanks to the courageous acts of activists, family members and bystanders,
Euro-Med has collected video footage and eyewitness testimonies documenting
numerous, egregious abuses by Israeli soldiers during the last few weeks, which
we believe is only the tip of the iceberg,” says Daniela Dönges. “In our
report, we name eight of them, because they are not just numbers. They are
human beings with stories that must be told.”
The eight cases called out in the report are:
• Thirteen-year-old Ahmed Manasra, who was run over by a car and
beaten with sticks and metal pipes, then deprived of any medical care for 25
minutes. The Israelis claimed he tried to attack their soldiers, but video
recordings show otherwise. Instead, he is seen lying on the ground, bleeding
and calling for help.
• Sixteen-year-old Marah Bakri also was accused of trying to
stab an Israeli soldier, but widely circulated photos calls that claim into
serious question. In one, nine soldiers pointing guns surround the young girl,
covered in blood on the ground. The authorities refused to produce its evidence
of a crime.
• Israa Abed, 29, is another alleged knife-wielding attacker.
Surveillance video footage shows only a terrified young woman who panicked when
ordered to remove her hijab, a sign of her religion. She refused, but threw up
her hands. Abed was shot by four bullets.
• Fadi Samir Mustafa Alloun, 19, another accused stabber, was
actually chased by a group of enraged Israeli settlers. The police came to
protect the settlers, not Fadi. Video recordings shared on Israeli websites
show the settlers before the police shot him.
• Hadil Alhashlamoun, 18, was passing through a checkpoint when
she set off a metal detector alarm. There are conflicting witness accounts
regarding whether the girl had a knife, but photographic evidence and
eyewitness testimony is clear that she posed no risk. While she was lying on
the ground, two soldiers shot bullets into both knees, her right thigh, her
pelvis, her abdomen, both forearms and her chest.
• Twenty-five-year-old Muhammed Bassam Amsha, also was passing
through a checkpoint when he was killed. Soldiers claimed they had photos
showing the young man had a knife, but refused to produce them.
• Tha’er Abughazaleh,19, did indeed stab a soldier in rage and
frustration. But instead of then running away from police, leading them to
shoot, photographic evidence suggest he was unnecessarily shot point blank in
the head.
• Falah Hamdi Zamel Abumaria, 53, was shot and killed in his
home when the Israeli military came to seize his son. Despite the official
story that the Israelis were attaced by the older man, eyewitnesses tell the
truth, that Abumaria was trying to defend his son—with a pottery vase. For
that, he was shot three times in the chest.
“No thinking person with a heart can hear this list and not feel horrified and
aghast,” says Dönges. “Yet up until now, Israel has escaped any kind of serious
accounting beyond some talk. The Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor calls
on the Israeli authorities to conduct a transparent investigation into these
thinly veiled outright murders. However, because we lack any confidence they
will do so, we also call on the UN special rapporteurs for extra-judicial
killings and the Palestinian territories to visit the region to do their own
investigation.”
Full report here (pdf).
Thanks to Susan Abulhawa
‘Caught on Camera’: Extrajudicial killings of Palestinians
Israel/Palestine
Annie Robbins on October 18, 2015 77 Comments
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Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor press conference in Geneva. October
16,2015
A new report summarizing Israel’s Arbitrary Killings and its System of
Structural Violence was released by the Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor
at a press conference in Geneva on Friday. The release included the following
video, “Caught on Camera: Israel’s extrajudicial killings,” illustrating the
killings of Palestinian civilians involved in political protests during the
last two weeks.
The report follows Euro-Med Monitor‘s October 10th Call on International
Community to hault Israel’s extrajudicial executions.
Euro-Med Monitor Press Release: ISRAELI BRUTALITIES CAUGHT ON CAMERA:
While the Israeli government has to date escaped serious accountability for
repeated human rights violations, “citizen journalism”—in which excessive acts
of force are caught on camera—now is making it more difficult for the acts to
be obscured or brushed aside, says the report.
“Thanks to the courageous acts of activists, family members and bystanders,
Euro-Med has collected video footage and eyewitness testimonies documenting
numerous, egregious abuses by Israeli soldiers during the last few weeks, which
we believe is only the tip of the iceberg,” says Daniela Dönges. “In our
report, we name eight of them, because they are not just numbers. They are
human beings with stories that must be told.”
The eight cases called out in the report are:
• Thirteen-year-old Ahmed Manasra, who was run over by a car and beaten
with sticks and metal pipes, then deprived of any medical care for 25 minutes.
The Israelis claimed he tried to attack their soldiers, but video recordings
show otherwise. Instead, he is seen lying on the ground, bleeding and calling
for help.
• Sixteen-year-old Marah Bakri also was accused of trying to stab an
Israeli soldier, but widely circulated photos calls that claim into serious
question. In one, nine soldiers pointing guns surround the young girl, covered
in blood on the ground. The authorities refused to produce its evidence of a
crime.
• Israa Abed, 29, is another alleged knife-wielding attacker.
Surveillance video footage shows only a terrified young woman who panicked when
ordered to remove her hijab, a sign of her religion. She refused, but threw up
her hands. Abed was shot by four bullets.
• Fadi Samir Mustafa Alloun, 19, another accused stabber, was actually
chased by a group of enraged Israeli settlers. The police came to protect the
settlers, not Fadi. Video recordings shared on Israeli websites show the
settlers before the police shot him.
• Hadil Alhashlamoun, 18, was passing through a checkpoint when she set
off a metal detector alarm. There are conflicting witness accounts regarding
whether the girl had a knife, but photographic evidence and eyewitness
testimony is clear that she posed no risk. While she was lying on the ground,
two soldiers shot bullets into both knees, her right thigh, her pelvis, her
abdomen, both forearms and her chest.
• Twenty-five-year-old Muhammed Bassam Amsha, also was passing through a
checkpoint when he was killed. Soldiers claimed they had photos showing the
young man had a knife, but refused to produce them.
• Tha’er Abughazaleh,19, did indeed stab a soldier in rage and
frustration. But instead of then running away from police, leading them to
shoot, photographic evidence suggest he was unnecessarily shot point blank in
the head.
• Falah Hamdi Zamel Abumaria, 53, was shot and killed in his home when
the Israeli military came to seize his son. Despite the official story that the
Israelis were attaced by the older man, eyewitnesses tell the truth, that
Abumaria was trying to defend his son—with a pottery vase. For that, he was
shot three times in the chest.
“No thinking person with a heart can hear this list and not feel horrified and
aghast,” says Dönges. “Yet up until now, Israel has escaped any kind of serious
accounting beyond some talk. The Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor calls
on the Israeli authorities to conduct a transparent investigation into these
thinly veiled outright murders. However, because we lack any confidence they
will do so, we also call on the UN special rapporteurs for extra-judicial
killings and the Palestinian territories to visit the region to do their own
investigation.”
Full report here (pdf).
Thanks to Susan Abulhawa