Not Guilty: Israeli Soldier Shot Palestinian Girl 17 Times
An Israeli army officer, who killed a 13-year-old Palestinian girl by shooting her 17 times, has been acquitted on all charges by an Israeli military court.
Last year, Iman al-Hams walked into a security zone at an Israeli army post along the Gaza Strip border, an area forbidden for all non-military personnel. She was also carrying a backpack, which is a common carrying-case for explosives for suicide bombers.
A soldier in a watchtower saw the girl, and radioed troops on the ground. In a recording obtained by an Israeli television station, the soldier describes Iman as "a little girl" who was "scared to death." Troops opened fire. She dropped the bag and started running. They then fired at the bag, establishing that it did not contain explosives. The recording reveals she was running away from the army post when she was shot.
An officer identified only as "Captain R" moved in for "confirmation of the kill," which is apparently standard procedure. But Palestinian witnesses say while she was lying on the ground, Capt. R opened fire at the girl, emptying his weapon.
On the tape, Captain R "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."
Captain R was not charged with her killing, rather he was charged with 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.
Captain R claimed he did not fire the shots at the girl, only near her. But Dr. Mohammed al-Hams, who inspected the child's body, 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 British newspaper 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."
Following the verdict, Captain R burst into tears, turned to the public benches and said: "I told you I was innocent."
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 offenses, 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."
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There's the real good rightwing Pro Life nazi message.
If people don't fit in the Zionist or should I say NAZI plan they are murdered.
"But Dr. Mohammed al-Hams, who inspected the child's body, counted numerous wounds.'
And, who is Dr. al-Hams? A Palestinian? Isn't it interesting that he has the same last name as the 13 year old girl?
Wasn't there an autopsy? There seems to be some ambiguity in this particular "fact."
Careful reading of the article seems to indicate that the information is based on the recording of a radio conversation, NOT video.
No explanation of how she "wandered" into a security zone?
The fact that she was "scared to death" somehow means she wasn't a suicide bomber? Or was she simply acting to give her a better chance of penetrating Israeli security?
Why didn't the individual who posted the story here (mostly plagiarized from a UK Guardian article: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2005/nov/16/israel2 ) not include this portion:
"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."
Interesting that Mr. Berman left that out...
BTW, the transcript of the radio conversastion is available at the above link. It also shows that the girl was hiding behind an embankment when she was shot: "A girl about 10, she's behind the embankment, scared to death."
Yet Mr. Berman asserts that she was running away. What is your source for that information, Mr. Berman?
Still don't think the shooting was justified? Check out this Wikipedia article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Child_suicide_bombers_in_the_Israeli %E2%80%93Palestinian_conflict
Also:
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0 ,7340,L-3443790,00.html
BTW, firing into explosives will not necessarily detonate them. So, did the backpack contain explosives or not? Where did it go? It must have been examined afterwards...
This article: http://www.haaretz.com/news/idf-court-acquits-officer-accused-of-confirming-kill-of-gaza-girl-1.174173 reveals more information:
"The witnesses, Givati Brigade soldiers from R's company, said they lied during the military probe of the incident and in statements they provided the court in an effort the cause the ousting of R from the company."
Apparently, Captain R wasn't Jewish, and wasn't popular among his troops. According the UK Guardian article cited above: "Capt R claimed that the soldiers under his command were out to get him because they are Jewish and he is Druze."
Now, parents, if you lived near a security checkpoint that you knew was a free-fire zone, wouldn't you warn your children about it? A 13 year old is quite capable of comprehending "you don't go there. Period." Or did her parents "sacrifice" their daughter in support of the "Intafada?"
Also, he was tried - and acquitted - in a Court of Law, and it WAS NEVER ESTABLISHED that he "emptied his magazine into her."
BTW, when are the Palistinians going to release Cpl Gilad Shalit?
Possibly when he is an Old Man. :)
paragraph to drop...about the lie on the bullets.
People demand freedom of speech to make up for the freedom of thought which they avoid. - Soren Aabye Kierkegaard (1813-1855)
Just tell the part of the truth that supports the Liberal agenda, oppressing the rest of the information....
Whether the girl was walking in that direction or wherever she was, it is criminal to shoot a child. Did they not shoot at the backpack and figure out it did not contain explosives? The point here is not that Captain R was guilty, the issue is that the Israeli government is guilty of murder.
Then they wonder why the Palestinians hate them and are so willing to blow themselves up just to kill a few of them... if I were the girl's father, I would be a Jihadist of the worse kind by now. Just saying. How many of these cases must there be before the world does a double take and refuses to stand for it?
Neither side is free of sin, but this type of behavior will solve nothing and only inflame the hatred. There is no "better man" in this situation it seems.
Muslim terrorists across the Middle East use children as human shields, suicide bombers, and aggressors towards their "enemies" on a routine basis.
Apparently you're not aware of that. Isn't it criminal to INTENTIONALLY put children in danger of being shot?
And since when do two wrongs make a right? Oh, yea, since Israel and the US decided everyone ELSE is expendable.
Or have you forgotten 3/11?
Don't even try to spin some ETA yarn ala self-serving Anzar. Maybe you need to taste dust in the air in order to remember why little girls get gunned down when they act like bombers.
The plural of 'anecdote' is not 'data'.