Petition to protest Israeli assault on Mohammed Omer

fuck

http://wrmea.org/action_alerts/070208_personal.html

Byrnzie

Signed.
Thanks for posting.

Byrnzie

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article11028.htm

Not guilty. The Israeli captain who put 17 bullets into a Palestinian schoolgirl

· Officer ignored warnings that teenager was terrified
· Defence says 'confirming the kill' standard practice

By Chris McGreal in Jerusalem

11/16/05 "The Guardian" -- -- An Israeli army officer who fired the entire magazine of his automatic rifle into a 13-year-old Palestinian girl and then said he would have done the same even if she had been three years old was acquitted on all charges by a military court yesterday.
The soldier, who has only been identified as "Captain R", was charged with relatively minor offences for the killing of Iman al-Hams who was shot 17 times as she ventured near an Israeli army post near Rafah refugee camp in Gaza a year ago.

The manner of Iman's killing, and the revelation of a tape recording in which the captain is warned that she was just a child who was "scared to death", made the shooting one of the most controversial since the Palestinian intifada erupted five years ago even though hundreds of other children have also died.

After the verdict, Iman's father, Samir al-Hams, said the army never intended to hold the soldier accountable.

"They did not charge him with Iman's murder, only with small offences, and now they say he is innocent of those even though he shot my daughter so many times," he said. "This was the cold-blooded murder of a girl. The soldier murdered her once and the court has murdered her again. What is the message? They are telling their soldiers to kill Palestinian children."

The military court cleared the soldier of illegal use of his weapon, conduct unbecoming an officer and perverting the course of justice by asking soldiers under his command to alter their accounts of the incident.

Capt R's lawyers argued that the "confirmation of the kill" after a suspect is shot was a standard Israeli military practice to eliminate terrorist threats.

Following the verdict, Capt R burst into tears, turned to the public benches and said: "I told you I was innocent."

The army's official account said that Iman was shot for crossing into a security zone carrying her schoolbag which soldiers feared might contain a bomb. It is still not known why the girl ventured into the area but witnesses described her as at least 100 yards from the military post which was in any case well protected.

A recording of radio exchanges between Capt R and his troops obtained by Israeli television revealed that from the beginning soldiers identified Iman as a child.

In the recording, a soldier in a watchtower radioed a colleague in the army post's operations room and describes Iman as "a little girl" who was "scared to death". After soldiers first opened fire, she dropped her schoolbag which was then hit by several bullets establishing that it did not contain explosive. At that point she was no longer carrying the bag and, the tape revealed, was heading away from the army post when she was shot.

Although the military speculated that Iman might have been trying to "lure" the soldiers out of their base so they could be attacked by accomplices, Capt R made the decision to lead some of his troops into the open. Shortly afterwards he can be heard on the recording saying that he has shot the girl and, believing her dead, then "confirmed the kill".

"I and another soldier ... are going in a little nearer, forward, to confirm the kill ... Receive a situation report. We fired and killed her ... I also confirmed the kill. Over," he said.

Palestinian witnesses said they saw the captain shoot Iman twice in the head, walk away, turn back and fire a stream of bullets into her body.

On the tape, Capt R then "clarifies" to the soldiers under his command why he killed Iman: "This is commander. Anything that's mobile, that moves in the [security] zone, even if it's a three-year-old, needs to be killed."

At no point did the Israeli troops come under attack.

The prosecution case was damaged when a soldier who initially said he had seen Capt R point his weapon at the girl's body and open fire later told the court he had fabricated the story.

Capt R claimed that he had not fired the shots at the girl but near her. However, Dr Mohammed al-Hams, who inspected the child's body at Rafah hospital, counted numerous wounds. "She has at least 17 bullets in several parts of the body, all along the chest, hands, arms, legs," he told the Guardian shortly afterwards. "The bullets were large and shot from a close distance. The most serious injuries were to her head. She had three bullets in the head. One bullet was shot from the right side of the face beside the ear. It had a big impact on the whole face."

The army's initial investigation concluded that the captain had "not acted unethically". But after some of the soldiers under his command went to the Israeli press to give a different version, the military police launched a separate investigation after which he was charged.

Capt R claimed that the soldiers under his command were out to get him because they are Jewish and he is Druze.

The transcript

The following is a recording of a three-way conversation that took place between a soldier in a watchtower, an army operations room and Capt R, who shot the girl

From the watchtower "It's a little girl. She's running defensively eastward." "Are we talking about a girl under the age of 10?" "A girl about 10, she's behind the embankment, scared to death." "I think that one of the positions took her out." "I and another soldier ... are going in a little nearer, forward, to confirm the kill ... Receive a situation report. We fired and killed her ... I also confirmed the kill. Over."

From the operations room "Are we talking about a girl under the age of 10?"

Watchtower "A girl about 10, she's behind the embankment, scared to death."

A few minutes later, Iman is shot from one of the army posts

Watchtower "I think that one of the positions took her out."

Captain R "I and another soldier ... are going in a little nearer, forward, to confirm the kill ... Receive a situation report. We fired and killed her ... I also confirmed the kill. Over."

Capt R then "clarifies" why he killed Iman

"This is commander. Anything that's mobile, that moves in the zone, even if it's a three-year-old, needs to be killed. Over."

© Guardian Newspapers Limited 2005

fuck

Wow.

The problem with statistics is that when you just hear "hundreds/thousands of children", you don't think much of it. Now when you hear a shocking story about 1 of them, you think about how every other child has their own story. It's sickening to see people still say things like "Yeah, I know Israel does that and it's not good..." but then have them defending any other action they do and show a complete disregard to address the serious issues...

Thanks for signing the petition.

polaris

how do you live with yourself when your "job" is to shoot defenceless children?

g under p

Here he is speaking about the incident in his own words on Democracy Now!

* Award-Winning Palestinian Journalist Mohammed Omer Details Abuse by
Israeli Security Officials *

We go to Gaza to speak with award-winning Palestinian journalist Mohammed
Omer. The twenty-four-year-old journalist and photographer from Gaza was
physically and psychologically abused by Israeli security officials late
last month. Omer, who is a correspondent for the Inter Press Service, was on
his way back home after receiving the prestigious Martha Gellhorn Prize for
Journalism in London.

Listen/Watch/Read
http://www.democracynow.org/2008/7/7/award_winning_palestinian_journalist


Peace

El_Kabong

Byrnzie wrote:

Capt R then "clarifies" why he killed Iman

"This is commander. Anything that's mobile, that moves in the zone, even if it's a three-year-old, needs to be killed. Over."[/b]

© Guardian Newspapers Limited 2005

that is just fucking disgusting. how can we give them aid when their military thinks it's justified to kill children??

http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=3927316&blogID=382790838

Byrnzie

El_Kabong wrote:

that is just fucking disgusting. how can we give them aid when their military thinks it's justified to kill children??

http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=3927316&blogID=382790838

Because the mainstream media tells us that Israel is 'defending itself from terrorists'.

Get Ready for Eddy

Byrnzie wrote:

Because the mainstream media tells us that Israel is 'defending itself from terrorists'.

have you ever been to israel? i know over 10 israeli girls that were killed by palestinian suicide bombers.

israel's way of dealing with things is far from perfect, but if you'd ever actually been to israel you would see that it's not just palestinian target practice. most of the fighting takes between palestinian or lebanese militiamen and israeli soldiers. of course it's tragic when civilians get killed, but it's not like israel is just shooting everyone they see. what about the american soldiers have shot iraqi children, when the lebanese government shot missles into civilian israeli buildings over the border?

look at the big picture before you go calling people child killers

Get Ready for Eddy

oh, and that little girl was killed after:

"Earlier Saturday, a senior commander in the Izzedine al-Qassam Brigade militant group was killed and two of his bodyguards were wounded when the car they were riding in was hit in Gaza City by an Israeli airstrike, Palestinian security sources told CNN."

Like i said, tragic, but it wasn't like he went and shot a little girl to test his sniper rifle...

also:

"Also Friday, Palestinian militants who had been in a firefight with Israeli soldiers escaped, many of them slipping away in a crowd of women who had come to join what had begun as a standoff."

slipping into a crowd of women? that's very noble and heroic right?

cited: http://edition.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/meast/11/04/mideast/index.html

fuck

Get Ready for Eddy wrote:

have you ever been to israel? i know over 10 israeli girls that were killed by palestinian suicide bombers.

congratulations, you know 10 out of maybe 60 Israelis that have been killed the last 6 years or so.

israel's way of dealing with things is far from perfect, but if you'd ever actually been to israel you would see that it's not just palestinian target practice. most of the fighting takes between palestinian or lebanese militiamen and israeli soldiers. of course it's tragic when civilians get killed, but it's not like israel is just shooting everyone they see. what about the american soldiers have shot iraqi children, when the lebanese government shot missles into civilian israeli buildings over the border?

look at the big picture before you go calling people child killers

I've been to Palestine, actually. Beautiful country. The Israelis have the opportunity to go to clubs, malls, and do thousands of fun things. On the other hand, the Palestinians are lucky if the Israelis are nice enough to provide them food, medicine, and electricity.

You have such a fake argument... just like everyone else who supports the Israeli occupation in disguise... you condemn killings of civilians, but then, the next second, you find ways to try to justify Israel's criminal actions.

Get Ready for Eddy wrote:

oh, and that little girl was killed after:

"Earlier Saturday, a senior commander in the Izzedine al-Qassam Brigade militant group was killed and two of his bodyguards were wounded when the car they were riding in was hit in Gaza City by an Israeli airstrike, Palestinian security sources told CNN."

wtf does this have anything to do with killing an innocent little girl? how can you justify that?

also:

"Also Friday, Palestinian militants who had been in a firefight with Israeli soldiers escaped, many of them slipping away in a crowd of women who had come to join what had begun as a standoff."

slipping into a crowd of women? that's very noble and heroic right?

unfortunately, the Israelis have stripped the Palestinians of everything that could be called 'noble'... they have nothing to do but use guerilla war tactics just like EVERY other people under oppression have used in history... the Americans in the American revolution, the french in the nazi occupation of france, the algerians in the french occupation of algeria, etc....

Get Ready for Eddy

_outlaw wrote:

congratulations, you know 10 out of maybe 60 Israelis that have been killed the last 6 years or so.


I've been to Palestine, actually. Beautiful country. The Israelis have the opportunity to go to clubs, malls, and do thousands of fun things. On the other hand, the Palestinians are lucky if the Israelis are nice enough to provide them food, medicine, and electricity.

...


unfortunately, the Israelis have stripped the Palestinians of everything that could be called 'noble'... they have nothing to do but use guerilla war tactics just like EVERY other people under oppression have used in history... the Americans in the American revolution, the french in the nazi occupation of france, the algerians in the french occupation of algeria, etc....

first of all, 1,168 israelis have died in terrorist attacks since 2000. second of all, i guess you mean you've been to the REGION of palestine because it's not an actual COUNTRY. so i know you're lying about that.

also, you're allowed to go into malls, clubs, and do "thousands" of fun things when you're palestinian as well...trust me, i've actually BEEN THERE BEFORE. everyone, including israelis, old ladies, and young children get searched when entering malls. wtf kind of an argument is "On the other hand, the Palestinians are lucky if the Israelis are nice enough to provide them food, medicine, and electricity."? food, medicine, and electricity are based off of where you live, not you're religion/race. there are hungry israelis on the streets too.

trust me man, you are not educated on the situation over in israel...

Get Ready for Eddy

o, and wtf? running into a crowd of women is the only option left to the terrorist militiamen? how about not putting women and children at risk and surrendering? i guess it's acceptable because israel doesn't give them thousands of fun things to do

Get Ready for Eddy

_outlaw wrote:

You have such a fake argument... just like everyone else who supports the Israeli occupation in disguise... you condemn killings of civilians, but then, the next second, you find ways to try to justify Israel's criminal actions.

kind of how you're justifying terrorists blowing themselves up in the middle of large crowds? except that israel has never had a citizen of their country strap a bomb onto themselves and run into the muslim marketplace. not that they should--it's awful. nor should they kill civilians, but that's what fucking happens when you shoot a missle at a bunch of soldiers and then hide in a crowd of women and children to try and hide.

i can promise you that israeil soldiers would not shoot a missle at lebanon and then hide in a crowd of israeli civilians. and you know what the headline would be if they did:

"israeli soldier shoots missle at lebanese border and hides in a crowd of women and children". now you see the other side of the argument, it's not as black and white as "a bunch of psychopaths killing innocent civilians"

g under p

Get Ready for Eddy wrote:

kind of how you're justifying terrorists blowing themselves up in the middle of large crowds? except that israel has never had a citizen of their country strap a bomb onto themselves and run into the muslim marketplace. not that they should--it's awful. nor should they kill civilians, but that's what fucking happens when you shoot a missle at a bunch of soldiers and then hide in a crowd of women and children to try and hide.

i can promise you that israeil soldiers would not shoot a missle at lebanon and then hide in a crowd of israeli civilians. and you know what the headline would be if they did:

"israeli soldier shoots missle at lebanese border and hides in a crowd of women and children". now you see the other side of the argument, it's not as black and white as "a bunch of psychopaths killing innocent civilians"

Israeli soldiers are as much of a psychopath so now where does this leave this conflict? What's the solution, would Israel be this way if they had no US backing?

Peace

Get Ready for Eddy

g under p wrote:

Israeli soldiers are as much of a psychopath so now where does this leave this conflict? What's the solution, would Israel be this way if they had no US backing?

Peace

when i said it's not as black and white as a bunch of psychopaths killing innocent civilians i meant it's not as black and white as saying that israelis are a bunch of psychopaths just killing innocent civilians; earlier in the threat outlaw said that israelis are just civilian murderers--that's what i was referring to. and yes i believe they would be because they've been fighting terrorist attacks and their neighboring countries since 1948 so the only difference now is that they have funding from the United States to better protect themselves

g under p

Get Ready for Eddy wrote:

when i said it's not as black and white as a bunch of psychopaths killing innocent civilians i meant it's not as black and white as saying that israelis are a bunch of psychopaths just killing innocent civilians; earlier in the threat outlaw said that israelis are just civilian murderers--that's what i was referring to. and yes i believe they would be because they've been fighting terrorist attacks and their neighboring countries since 1948 so the only difference now is that they have funding from the United States to better protect themselves

.....And because of that backing they're 10 times more powerful of a country in trying to protect themselves from ALL of their neighboring countries. Now how does that relieve the volatility of this region?

Peace

Get Ready for Eddy

g under p wrote:

.....And because of that backing they're 10 times more powerful of a country in trying to protect themselves from ALL of their neighboring countries. Now how does that relieve the volatility of this region?

Peace

Israel is surrounded by Jordan, Lebanon, Syria and Egypt. They've defeated all of those countries in war in the past (all of which have been defensive wars). Just because the US gives them money doesn't mean they're going to invade these countries.

And what do you mean by the volatility of this region?

g under p

Get Ready for Eddy wrote:

Israel is surrounded by Jordan, Lebanon, Syria and Egypt. They've defeated all of those countries in war in the past (all of which have been defensive wars). Just because the US gives them money doesn't mean they're going to invade these countries.

And what do you mean by the volatility of this region?

Well the US not only gives money but it appears they give weapons also. It appears there is always violence in this region and with Israel's powerful weapons including nuclear, how does this mighty power they have end this violence in the region?

Peace

SpreadtheJAM

Yes. Israel would wipe the floor with those countries without our help.

Eliot Rosewater

This is the kind of shit that makes me think/say/type, "FUCK Israel". Does that make me antisemitic? I don't even fucking care. Israel has a serious case of America-syndrome and it's proven to do no good for civilizations in the long run.