As if there was any doubt:
A military jury convicted an Army sergeant of premeditated murder and attempted murder on Thursday for killing two of his comrades and wounding 14 others in an attack on his own camp in Kuwait at the start of the Iraq war.
The sergeant, Hasan Akbar, 34, could be sentenced to death when the 15-member jury reconvenes on Monday.
Prosecutors said Sergeant Akbar, a Muslim, told investigators that he attacked the brigade command section of Camp Pennsylvania in Kuwait, using stolen grenades and a rifle, because he was concerned that troops would kill Muslims in Iraq. They said he coolly carried out the attack on the 101st Airborne Division to achieve “maximum carnage.”
A traitor and a murderer- cases like this really test my opposition to the death penalty.
Mr Furious
Interesting. I would not have guessed you were opposed to the death penalty…
I’m not opposed to the death penalty, in theory, even though I am a liberal. I worry about the death penalty in practice because of its unfair implementation and the state of the legal system–basically I’m worried about executing an innocent man.
That doesn’t seem to be an issue here.
Dr. Jack Shepard
Assassination of Iain Hook a Top British UN Official by the Israeli Defense Force Uncovered Up!
by Dr. Jack Shepard
Drawn by one of Iain Hook colleagues who was present at the shooting
Iain Hook: Blair buries evidence of murder by Israel
April 2, 2005 – by Socialist Worker
http://www.socialistworker.co.uk/article.php4?article_id=6158
Tony Blair’s government is involved in a cover-up over the killing of the British United Nations (UN) official Iain Hook, who was shot in the back by an Israeli soldier in 2002.
Last week the foreign office flatly refused to release the information it holds on Iain
Dr. Jack Shepard
Dr. Jack Shepard says, “WE REALIZE THAT THERE CAN’T BE THIS MANY “ACCIDENTS”?
http://www.shepardusgov.com/dedicated/RachelCorrie.html
Rachel Corrie
1979 – 2003
http://jerusalem.indymedia.org/news/2005/03/161649.php
Rachel Corrie: On the Anniversary of a Death
By Dr Jack Shepard
There is a quiet battle going on for the memory of a young woman who could have been my daughter, or perhaps yours.
I feel her shining principles should be praised, her courage honored, her death grieved. We believe that her heroism was noble, her bravery admirable, and her compassion for others the most fundamental form of morality Rachel Corrie had. We will never be forgotten her. She was 23 when she was killed. Her sacrifice I pray will not be forgotten; and her death I hope will be used to call attention to the absence of Ariel Sharon’s action to follow the wishes of President George W. Bush and other World Leaders; in the steps that Ariel Sharon must take to have Middle East Peace.
Because as President George W. Bush knows without Peace between the Israeli’s and the Palestinians; World peace is impossible and the success of your mission is Iraq impossible. Most important my fellow Americans must pressure Ariel Sharon to immediately follow President George W. Bush’s road map for peace in the Middle East, because a continuation of Ariel Sharon’s present policies toward the Palestinian People have reached such extreme they now endanger America’s very existence, and the future of our children.
We won’t forget Rachel’s young idealism, her sweet bravery, her needless death. And we won’t forget her beliefs, the third of which killed her: that good would triumph, that justice would prevail, that Israel would not kill her. I pray America as a nation is not also killed by the present policies of Ariel Sharon just as poor Rachel Corrie was.
She was wrong on that last one. On March 16, 2003, two Israeli soldiers drove a house-crushing bulldozer over her – twice – crushing her into the Gaza dirt. With five other nonviolent human rights defenders, Rachel had been sitting in front of a family home in Palestine, pleading with Israeli soldiers not to demolish it. They didn’t (until later); they demolished her instead.
I pray America is not destroyed by being blamed for the policies of Ariel Sharon and Ariel Sharon’s complete failure to work with and keep his promises to President George W. Bush. If Ariel Sharon continues not to work immediate with President George W. Bush he is guaranteeing someday and in sometime the complete destruction of Israel, just as it happened to every King of Israel in the Old Testament who lived, acted and did things that were displeasing to God.
In ancient history God sent his Prophets to the Kings of Israel, under those Kings that really believed and acted according to God’s wishes the Israeli people prospered but those Kings of Ancient Israel who did not listen to the prophets of the Old Testament we saw the people of Israeli during their rule destroyed and sent into exile.
Ariel Sharon has forgotten God’s teachings and must remember this is not the first time all the children of Israel have returned to the land that God promised Abraham. The last time the nation of Israel returned to the promised land, their actions so displeased God; that God smashed and destroyed the Israel and sent the surviving remnant of Israeli’s into exile. Ariel Sharon forgot that God knows all and God sees all
WE CAN BE DIVINELY ASSURED OF A GREAT FUTURE. IN OUR AGE WE CAN HAVE SUCH HAPPINESS THAT THE WORLD HAS NEVER KNOWN.
WE ARE ALL CHILDREN OF GOD; WE ARE ALL AT THE HEART OF THE PROPHETIC HEART OF PROPHETIC HOPE FOR PEACE AND JOY.
OUR ONLY CHANCE FOR PEACE AND SURVIVIAL IS BY A RENEWED COMMITMENT TO THE REALIZATION OF THE KINGSHIP OF GOD. FOR THIS, THE ESSENTIALS OF HOPE IMPLY A PROFOUND NEW SPIRITUAL OUTLOOK OF VIRTUE AND HOLINESS WHICH ENTAILS A NEW MODE OF LIFE.
WE MUST ASK FOR DIVINE FORGIVENESS BY BEGINNING TO LEARN THE TRUE KNOWLEDGE OF GOD. BY LEARNING THE TRUE KNOWLEDGE OF GOD; THEN AND ONLY THEN CAN WE BEGIN TO ENJOY PEACE AND HAPPINESS.
MORALITY IS BASED ON THE LAW ENUNICATED BY GOD BUT NOW IS BROKEN. IF ANYONE IS TO ESCAPE PUNISHMENT FOR THEIR SINS THEY MUST SEEK GOD. THE MORAL CONDUCT OF THE PEOPLE OF THE WORLD IS MUCH MORE IMPORTANT THAT THE RITUAL PRACTICE.
If Ariel Sharon does not seek God and continues to displease God it is guaranteed sometime God will punish Israel again for their sins. Ariel Sharon MUST WORK TO CHANGE his PRESENT PATTERN OF NATIONAL AND COLLECTIVE WICKEDNESS OR he WILL INVITE THE VENGEANCE OF GOD on Israel. Ariel Sharon has created a situation today WHERE WICKEDNESS IS RIFE AND INVITES THE VENGEANCE OF GOD ON ALMOST ALL.
WE MUST WORK TO CHANGE OUR PRESENT PATTERN OF NATIONAL AND COLLECTIVE WICKEDNESS OR WE WILL INVITE THE VENGEANCE OF GOD. If Ariel Sharon does not immediate work with President George W. Bush and other World Leaders by doing things that please God. God will break Israel just as the Israeli Caterpillar D-9 bulldozer broke all the things that break when Rachel Corrie was killed. .
We heard about Rachel Corrie on March 16th, the second anniversary of her death. Israel, as with all those it kills, claims that her death “was an accident” or “was necessary for security” or that “she was a terrorist” or that “she was protecting terrorists…” As fast as these Israeli fabrications are refuted, new ones are produced. Never mind that they’re self-contradictory – our complicit media never question. What Israel says, our media repeats.
Ariel Sharon may be able to fool the American Public but he forgets he can not fool God, God is all seeing and all knowing. This unfairness that Ariel Sharon has created has reach such high levels it threatens the very future of America by helping the Islamic Terrorists recruit more suicide killer to killer our American Troops in Iraq and if Ariel Sharon continues not to listen to President George W. Bush and the other World leaders his policies forever increases the of risk of another terrorist attack on our American soil.
From across the country, slowly but steadily, there will be the start of an American uprising
One by one, people are rising up – community by community and town by town waking up to the unfairness that the Islamic Community sees everyday on their satellite TV programs when they are watching the policies of the Israeli Military under the command of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s policies of cruelty and aggression have even reached in to an American home. The home of a 23 years old American Rachel Corrie who was crushed to death, just trying to show the world American’s and America is a nation as President George W. Bush would call Compassionate People trying to help others.
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon by not working with President George W. Bush and his vision of peace for the Middle East has gotten to such an extreme that Ariel Sharon actions are actually placing the very future and safety of America at risk.
If Ariel Sharon does not immediately change course and work with President George W. Bush and the other World Leaders for an immediate peace; even King Abdullah of Jordan said yesterday we ( the world) will be losing maybe our last chance at Middle East and World Peace..
On an International Solidarity Movement demonstration Rachel Corrie 23-year-old US peace activist Rachel Corrie stood in front of a Palestinian home, trying to prevent its demolition. The D9 driver initially dumped sand on Rachel, later driving over her as demolition proceeded. Rachel died of her injuries
Rachel Corrie (L) and Nick (R) oppose the potential destruction of this home (to the west of the Doctor’s home where Rachel was killed). In the instance pictured, the Caterpillar D-9 bulldozer did not stop and Rachel was pinned between the scooped earth and the fence behind her. On this occasion, the driver stopped before seriously injuring her. Picture taken between 3:00-4:00PM, 16 March 2003, Rafah, Occupied Gaza. (Photo: Joseph Smith/ISM Handout).
But perhaps the bulldozers are best described by the experiences of two young people, Rachel Corrie crusted to death after the D6 driver initially first dumped sand on her then later driving over her; on the other side of the Occupation. Israeli Army D9-operator Moshe Nissim describes his experience of Jenin: “I had no mercy for anybody. I would erase anyone with the D9 … when I was told to demolish a house, I took the opportunity to bring down some more houses”. His unit was cited for outstanding service. WHERE WICKEDNESS IS RIFE AND INVITES THE VENGEANCE OF GOD ON ALMOST ALL.
Caterpillar’s D9 bulldozers have been the weapon of choice to carry out some of the worst human rights violations witnessed during the Intifada. In Jenin camp, home to 14,000 refugees, bulldozers were a key component of Operation Defensive Shield, the “most extensive and severe” human rights violation since 1967 (B’Tselem). Hawashin district of the camp was leveled down to the last house, with many residents given no notice of demolition. Many were buried alive, including 38-year-old paraplegic Jamal Suliman. In his mother’s words “the bulldozer wouldn’t wait even one minute so that we could take Jamal out of the house. WHERE WICKEDNESS IS RIFE AND INVITES THE VENGEANCE OF GOD ON ALMOST ALL
During a similar raid on a refugee camp in Rafah in May 2004, United Nations Special Rapporteur on human rights John Dugard noted “Homes have been destroyed in a purely purposeless manner. Bulldozers have savagely dug up roads, including electricity, sewerage and water lines, in a brutal display of power”. In total 298 homes were destroyed in Rafah in a single month
The toll of human lives destroyed with these machines is truly horrifying. During the last 4 years the Israeli army has flattened over 4,000 homes – rendering tens of thousand homeless, traumatized and impoverished. Israel claims that these demolitions are punitive actions against suspected terrorists. While such punishment is anyway illegal under international humanitarian law, a recent report by Israeli human rights organization B’Tselem found that in half of all cases there was nothing linking the houses to terrorism. WHERE WICKEDNESS IS RIFE AND INVITES THE VENGEANCE OF GOD ON ALMOST ALL
Palestinians are currently suffering from poverty levels comparable with some of the poorest parts of sub-Saharan Africa – in the words of the United Nations it bears the “effects of a terrible natural disaster”, though one created by people and politics. A key source of this poverty is the destruction of agricultural land, the only possible source of livelihood open to many Palestinians. Caterpillar bulldozers have been used to rip up extensive areas of cultivated land, destroying thousands of olive and citrus trees. The destruction of wells, storage tanks and water pumps has several limited access to drinking water. WHERE WICKEDNESS IS RIFE AND INVITES THE VENGEANCE OF GOD ON ALMOST ALL
In the words of the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the right to food, Caterpillar’s D-9 bulldozers have been responsible for destroying “agricultural farms, greenhouses, ancient olive groves.. numerous Palestinian homes and sometimes human lives”. Caterpillar has been supplying the Israeli military with its “key weapon”, in the words one Israeli commander.
Amongst the gems of irony lifted from Caterpillar’s Code are that “We believe that our success should also contribute to the quality of life and the prosperity of communities”. The Caterpillar that crushed Rachel Corrie ended the quality of her life in the most brutal way imaginable. WHERE WICKEDNESS IS RIFE AND INVITES THE VENGEANCE OF GOD ON ALMOST ALL.
Herald Tribune
Killed in Israel
Wednesday March 3, 2004
Killed in Israel
Only a year ago, the month of March would have held the same positive associations for me as it has for many – the beginning of the end of winter, the promise of springtime and even summer. This year, and for every year for the rest of my life, the approach of March will mean something else entirely – the anniversary of the brutal death of my cousin, Rachel Corrie. .On March 16, 2003, an Israeli soldier and his commander ran over Rachel with a nine-ton Caterpillar bulldozer while she stood – unarmed, clearly visible in her orange fluorescent jacket – protecting a Palestinian home slated for demolition by the Israeli army. .The death of Rachel Corrie, and the response that her case has – and has not – received, reveal several disturbing, indeed immoral and criminal, truths. First, Rachel died while attempting to prevent the demolition of a home, a common practice of the Israeli Army’s collective punishment that has left more than 12,000 Palestinians homeless since the beginning of the second uprising in September 2000. This practice violates international law, including the Fourth Geneva Convention. .Second, Rachel was run over by a Caterpillar bulldozer, manufactured in the United States and sent to Israel as part of the regular U.S. aid package to Israel, which amounts to $3 billion to $4 billion annually, all of it from U.S. taxpayers. The use of Caterpillar bulldozers to destroy civilian homes, not to mention to run over unarmed human rights activists, violates U.S. law, including the U.S. Arms Export Control Act, which prohibits the use of military aid against civilians. .Third, the self-acquittal of the Israeli army for Rachel’s death and the resistance of the state of Israel to an independent investigation into this case reveals both the Sharon administration’s unwillingness to take responsibility for the death of a U.S. citizen and the Bush administration’s cowardice in allowing another nation to attack U.S. citizens with impunity. .Fourth, Rachel’s death was in fact only the first of several Israeli attacks on foreign citizens in the West Bank and Gaza. Brian Avery, from New Mexico, was shot in the face on April 5; Tom Hurndall, a British citizen, was shot in the head on April 11 and died Jan. 13, and James Miller, another British citizen, was also shot and killed in April. To date, only in Hurndall’s case will the Israeli soldier responsible for the attack face trial, and this is because the British government, after several months, finally responded to the overwhelming evidence presented by the Hurndall family. .As we approach March 16, residents and citizens of the United States should ask themselves how it is that an unarmed U.S. citizen can be killed with impunity by a soldier from an allied nation receiving massive U.S. aid, using a product manufactured in the United States by a U.S. corporation and paid for with U.S. tax dollars. When three Americans were killed, presumably by Palestinians, in an explosion on Oct. 15, 2003, as they traveled through Gaza, the FBI came within 24 hours to investigate the deaths. After one year, neither the FBI nor any other U.S.-led team has done anything to investigate the death of an American killed by an Israeli. .Why the double standard? Perhaps this reveals the most disturbing truth of all. .Elizabeth Corrie is an administrator and teacher in a school in Atlanta. ________________________________________________________________________ Seattle Post-Intelligencer
Our Place in the World: Still no justice for Rachel Corrie
By WENDY SMITH
GUEST COLUMNIST
Friday 23, 2004
Tom Hurndall, a 22-year-old British peace activist, died last week in a London hospital. He was shot in the head by Israeli sniper fire nine months ago while shepherding Palestinian children in the Gaza Strip out of the line of fire. He had been in a coma since his injury. Hours before Hurndall died, the soldier who shot him was charged with aggravated assault. The charge is now likely to be revised to manslaughter or murder; British police are participating in an official investigation of his death.
Rachel Corrie from Olympia was crushed to death by an Israeli military bulldozer in the Rafah refugee camp about a month before Hurndall was shot there. Like Hurndall, Corrie was a volunteer with the Palestinian-led International Solidarity Movement to End the Occupation of Palestine (ISM). Like Hurndall, she was killed by an identifiable Israeli soldier. As in Hurndall’s case, the Israeli government initially released a report on Corrie’s killing, stating that nobody connected with the Israeli military was culpable and that further investigation was not required.
So, why has Hurndall’s killer been charged when nothing has happened to Corrie’s killer?
According to the Hurndall family, the only reason the soldier who shot him has been charged is because of pressure applied by the family. Hurndall’s father is an attorney. He went to Rafah shortly after the shooting and compiled an extensive dossier of eyewitness affidavits, forensics reports, photographs and other relevant information. This dossier was put before the British foreign secretary in a way that made it very difficult to ignore. Ultimately, the British government went to bat for Hurndall, an unarmed British civilian killed by an Israeli soldier under the impression that he could shoot with impunity.
Indeed, the soldier had good reason to believe this. More than 2,000 unarmed Palestinian civilians, many of them children, have been killed in the occupied territories since the current intifada began in September 2000. Only 10 Israeli soldiers have been indicted and none has been convicted. A culture of impunity permeates the Israeli military, which is well known for its non-investigations of itself. For this reason, the Hurndall family would like to see the investigation of his death extend all the way up the chain of command.
Corrie’s parents are not lawyers. In addition, they were told by members of the Washington state congressional delegation and State Department officials that if they quietly played along, justice for their daughter would ultimately be achieved. So far, all that has emerged is a non-credible Israeli military report claiming that 1) Corrie was not run over by a bulldozer and 2) even if she had been, the driver could not have seen her. These statements are contradicted respectively by the autopsy report and multiple eyewitness reports.
It is an insult to the human heart to have to force government officials to do their jobs properly while digesting the fact your child has been brutally killed.
Somehow the Hurndall family was able to take the necessary steps in the timeframe required. Believing what their congressman, senators and State Department officials told them, the Corries have been left to swallow lies.
Is this the best our members of Congress can do for a citizen killed abroad? Plenty of them made pretty speeches but real action is a question of political will.
Dr. Jack Shepard
Dr. Jack Shepard says, “WHEN WILL WE REALIZE THAT THERE CAN’T BE THIS MANY “ACCIDENTS”?
http://www.shepardusgov.com/dedicated/TomHurndall.html
Tom Hurndall 1981-2004
by Dr. Jack Shepard
This was the case in the killing of British ISM activist, Tom Hurndall, who was fatally shot in Rafah six days after Brian’s injury. The internal command inquiry ruled that Tom was shot because of the presence of a Palestinian militant in his vicinity. The criminal investigation of the military police discovered that the soldier who fired the fatal shot and another soldier had lied in the internal inquiry. Charges of killing and interfering with the investigative procedure were brought.
________________________________________________________________________________________________
Press Release : Major Breakthrough in case of Tom Hurndall Killing The campaign to obtain justice for Tom Hurndall has achieved an unprecedented breakthrough in its bid to get to the truth behind Tom’s killing by an Israeli soldier last spring. The 21 year old British student photographer, was shot while he was shepherding children to safety in Rafah, Gaza .
In May this year Tom’s family, through its lawyers – Avigdor Feldman and Michael Sfard, challenged the State Prosecution in respect of its decision not to release crucial evidence contained in the Military Police Inquiry Report.
They argued that ‘ there is a moral and legal obligation that whatever evidence has been collected and which has led to the indictment of a soldier for manslaughter should be made available ‘to be independently tested ‘. This, they argued ‘would be in line with the spirit of the consistent promises of ‘Openness and Transparency’ made by representatives of the Israeli Army and representatives of the Israeli Government including Ariel Sharon himself’.
The State Prosecution has been forced to take steps, unprecedented since the beginning of the Intifada in 2000, to make all of the evidence available to the family’s lawyers. Sight of the evidence will be limited to the family’s lawyers only and will not be directly available for family members or other parties to scrutinise. The State Prosecution has argued that this is to prevent a ‘Media Trial’.
Crucially, the implications of this result are substantial and are expected to be ground breaking.
The lawyers will seek to address three crucial issues:
Is the current indictment against a soldier for manslaughter, the appropriate indictment or should the indictment be changed to murder?
Are there others who should be indicted in relation to the incident leading to the death of Tom Hurndall?
Are there systemic causes which led to the fatal shooting of Tom Hurndall and does responsibility for his death rest also with those higher up the chain of command?
A family friend and spokesman for the Tom Hurndall Foundation said: “This is a major step forward in our campaign to find out exactly how Tom died and who is responsible. The implications of getting access to this evidence are substantial. We took this to the Supreme Court when we discovered that promises from the Israeli Government of transparency and openness were ill founded.”
He said: “Fourteen eye-witness statements gathered by the family, indicate that multiple shots were fired at a group of 20 children playing on a mound. Soldiers were firing above the heads and between the feet of the children – three of whom were frozen to the spot in terror. We have photographs of children fleeing from the shooting. In contrast the Israeli Army claims that there was a single shot
Dr. Jack Shepard
Dr. Jack Shepard says, “WHEN WILL WE REALIZE THAT THERE CAN’T BE THIS MANY “ACCIDENTS”?
http://www.shepardusgov.com/dedicated/BrianAvery.html
Brain Avery
By Dr.Jack Shepard
Brian Avery challenges Israeli military impunity
Press Release, International Solidarity Movement, 23 February 2005
On February 23 at 2:45 PM, Brian Avery will arrive in Tel Aviv from the U.S. in order to be present on February 28th when the Israeli Supreme Court hears his petition demanding a criminal investigation of his shooting.
Brian, an American human rights activist with the International Solidarity Movement (ISM), was shot in the face and critically wounded on April 5, 2003 by
Israeli soldiers while standing in street with his hands in the air in the West Bank town of Jenin.
A bullet entered his face, shattering his jaw and his nose. Since the incident he has been in rehabilitation and undergone a series of facial reconstruction surgeries
Four other international activists from Denmark and Sweden who witnessed the shooting testify that Brian, along with another ISM activist, was standing under a street lamp on a quiet empty street wearing a high visibility medic vest with his hands in the air, clearly indicating he was an unarmed international.
An Israeli Armored Personnel Carrier approached at less than 30kmph and without warning opened heavy fire from a range of just tens of meters, and then carried on driving.
The Israeli army conducted an internal command inquiry and concluded there was no evidence that Brian was hit by shots fired by Israeli soldiers.
The inquiry did not include testimonies from the eyewitnesses and relied entirely on the testimonies of Israeli soldiers serving in the region.
In several cases Israeli military Internal command inquiries absolved the army, but subsequent military police investigations uncovered incriminating evidence and serious charges were brought.
This was the case in the killing of British ISM activist, Tom Hurndall, who was fatally shot in Rafah six days after Brian’s injury. The internal command inquiry ruled that Tom was shot because of the presence of a Palestinian militant in his vicinity. The criminal investigation of the military police discovered that the soldier who fired the fatal shot and another soldier had lied in the internal inquiry. Charges of killing and interfering with the investigative procedure were brought.
All requests made on behalf of Brian for a police criminal investigation have received no response.
On the 28th of February his appeal demanding a criminal investigation will be heard by the Supreme Court.
The Brian Avery shooting: When will we realize that there can’t be this many “accidents”?
On 5 April 2003, Israeli troops shot activist Brian Avery in Jenin.
Avery, a 24-year-old American citizen from Albuquerque, New Mexico, experienced serious wounds to his face after Israeli troops shot at him with heavy machine gun fire from an armoured personnel carrier (APC).
Following the event, wire service organisations transmitted photo captions and text reports that failed to note key details, including:
that there were no clashes on the street where the shooting took place, nor indeed were there many people on the streets at all. As such, there was no reason for any weapons firing and there was no secondary target that the activists could be said to have been standing in front of or nearby, where they might have been hit in “crossfire”.that the ISM members were clearly marked as observers and were standing still with their hands in the air from the moment they heard the APC (a fact related to EI during communication with different officials in the ISM) until the moment that Israeli troops opened fire.
I REPEAT-That there were no clashes on the street where the shooting took place, nor indeed were there many people on the streets at all. As such, there was no reason for any weapons firing and there was no secondary target that the activists could be said to have been standing in front of or nearby, where they might have been hit in “crossfire”.that the ISM members were clearly marked as observers and were standing still with their hands in the air from the moment they heard the APC (a fact related to EI during communication with different officials in the ISM) until the moment that Israeli troops opened fire.
The two Israeli APCs present, including the one from which the shooting originated, did not offer any assistance after the incident, and in fact drove past the wounded activist without stopping.
The failure to report all three of these facts left the impression that this could have been a “crossfire” accident, a conclusion which the facts known even at this early stage do not support.
Michael Shaik, the International Solidarity Movement’s Media Coordinator in Beit Sahour, wrote about the incident:
“At the sight of the armoured vehicles both activists stood still and raised their hands above their heads. When the first armoured personnel carrier was 50 metres from them it fired a burst of machine gun fire (an estimated 15 rounds) at the ground in front of them so that they were sprayed by a shower of broken bullets and stones. Tobias, Brian’s companion, leapt aside. He had fled about three steps when he looked back to see Brian lying face down on the road in a pool of blood.”
In 6 April 2003 e-mail interview with the author, after Shaik had spoken further with the Jenin activists, he noted that:
“It was about 10 minutes from when they heard the bursts of machine gun fire when they were up in the [apartment] unit which serves as ISM HQ, to when Brian was shot. From the moment they saw the APCs coming around the corner to when Brian was shot was about 15 seconds. They raised their hands from the moments they heard the APCs coming (before they saw them). So they had their hands up for 30 to 60 seconds.”
An Associated Press article published on the Guardian’s website quoted eyewitness Tobias Karlsson, an ISM activist from Sweden, who insisted that the shooting was unprovoked and that there was no reason for the Israelis to be shooting:
“[Tobias] Karlsson said he, Avery and a Palestinian medical worker not with the group were approached slowly by the troops and stood with their hands up […] There was no communication with the soldiers, who Karlsson says fired unprovoked. Karlsson did not see gunmen in the area, and said few Palestinians were on the streets Saturday because of a curfew Israeli troops were enforcing.”
(Source: U.S. Peace Activist Shot in West Bank
http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/.html Associated Press, Sunday April 2003 1:40 AM)
Wire service coverage
While the Associated Press account touched on the main points, Reuters’ text and photo captions framed the injury as originating from a “ricochet” which, while technically correct in terms of the trajectory of the bullets that hit Avery, does not address the obvious lack of justifiction for any gunfire in the situation and implies that the incident was an accidental shooting.
ORIGINAL REUTERS CAPTION: PALESTINAIN Medics attend to Brian Avery of the United States who was wounded in the face by an apparent ricochet bullet [sic] from an Israeli armoured vehicle while in the streets of the West Bank city of Jenin during a curfew, April 5, 2003, Palestinian witnesses said. Israeli military sources said the armoured vehicle was exchanging fire with a Palestinian gunman. [sic] (REUTERS/str) Emphasis added.
An early caption on a Reuters-transmitted wire photo (see right) of Brian Avery being treated in Jenin Hospital (from 7:59PM ET) stated that Avery “was wounded in the face by an apparent ricochet bullet from an Israeli armoured vehicle”.
The sense communicated by this choice of words — that the event was an accident — is compounded by the patently bogus claim by “Israeli military sources” that concludes the caption and asserts that “the armoured vehicle was exchanging fire with a Palestinian gunman”.
Captions on later transmissions (8:19 ET and 8:20PM ET) stated, even more benignly, that Avery “was wounded in the face while in the streets of the West Bank city of Jenin” (emphasis added) as if he had merely tripped over the sidewalk while out shopping rather than communicate what actually happened — that Israeli troops shot him in the face with heavy machine gun fire.
Both captions sourced the key information that incriminated the Israeli troops to “Palestinian witnesses”, despite international eyewitnesses from the International Solidarity Movement also being present.
Reporting for Reuters in an article titled “Israeli Forces Kill Palestinian; U.S. Activist Hurt”, Dan Williams writes: “Witnesses said Avery was hit by an apparent ricochet bullet from an Israeli armored vehicle while in the streets of the West Bank city of Jenin during a curfew. Israeli military sources said the armored vehicle was exchanging fire with a Palestinian gunman. The sources said Avery was in a critical condition and had been put into intensive care at an Israeli hospital.” Even stranger, the narrative goes on to insert a ‘background paragraph’ which asserted that ISM activists:
“act as ‘human shields’ in the West Bank and Gaza Strip”; which, while true if we are talking about ISM activists confronting bulldozers in front of Palestinian homes under threat of demolition, or populating Palestinian civilian areas in danger of Israeli shelling, or accompanying ambulances in danger from Israeli gunfire — always with clear advance warning to Israeli forces and notification of the local consular representatives of the activists’ home countries — suggests to readers in this context that ISM activists typically try to physically stand in front of Palestinians while Israeli troops are shooting at them. They do not.
Carrying on this theme, the Reuters article incorrectly reports the name of the International Solidarity Movement as: “the International Solidarity Movement to Protect the Palestinian People” (emphasis added).
(Source: Israeli Forces Kill Palestinian; U.S. Activist Hurt
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news, by Dan Williams, Reuters, 5 April 2003.)
The Reuters article (as opposed to the Reuters’ photo captions) went on to note that Avery and his fellow activist were wearing “vests identifying ourselves as internationals” and that “Karlsson said he heard shots before the incident but could see no Palestinians in the area where Avery was hit.”
ORIGINAL AFP CAPTION: Medics check the bandages covering the face of American peace activist Barry [sic] Avery, 24, after being seriously wounded by gunshot during clashes between Palestinians and Israeli troops. [sic] (AFP/Saif Dahlah). Emphasis added. Williams’ report does not note that the shots — two bursts of gunfire — were heard “before” Avery and his companion left the apartment that serves as the ISM HQ in Jenin as opposed to immediately “before” the incident when they were on the streets. In fact, they heard no sounds of gunfire or “clashes” up to the point that Brian was shot.
Williams’ article chooses not dwell on the significance of the latter fact, which debunks the notion of an accidental ricochet happening while the army was aiming at another target. The eyewitnesses are clear on the fact that there was no shooting or clashes — or even many Palestinians on the streets — at the time of the incident.
Similar to the early Reuters captions, Agence France Presse (AFP) photo captions make the claim that Avery was shot “during clashes between Palestinians and Israeli troops.” Various ISM eyewitness categorically state that no such events were in process. AFP also misreported Avery’s first name as “Barry”, instead of Brian.
Conclusions
Shootings of Palestinian civilians are regularly reported as “accidental”, the result of “crossfire”, and Israeli spokespersons occasionally even express regret for these killings. However, experience with similarly patterned events on the ground and the frequency at which they have been occurring during the Second Intifada, force any empirical observer to conclude that killings are a typical feature of the Israeli army’s operations. The current Intifada death toll — 2,220 — and injury statistics — 22,308 –[1], and the circumstances of these acts of violence, as reported by medical authorities, reflect a rate of killing and injury far too high to be credibly explained as “accidental”.
Furthermore, the continuing, steady rate of killings and injuries suggests a criminal lack of willingness to do anything about it. Writing in the April 6th edition of the Sunday Herald (UK) Robert Tait notes that “In all, 17 Palestinians have been killed since the beginning of the Iraq war, including six children and an elderly man.” (War provides cover for a fresh Israeli crackdown
http://www.sundayherald.com, Robert Tait, Sunday Herald, 6 April 2003.)
For those of us who have lived as eyewitnesses in the West Bank or Gaza Strip, it is not news that Israeli troops regularly shoot at people without there being any genuine clashes or any legitimate threat to the soldier that would necessitate self defence. This fact is well documented by numerous human rights groups on the ground. It is also one of the expected consequences of maintaining a military occupation of a civilian population for over one-third of a century — the dehumanisation of the occupied people by the occupying army.
During the Intifada, we have observed that internationals have been increasingly targeted by the Israeli army. Most recently, on 16 March 2003, American ISM activist Rachel Corrie was crushed by an Israeli bulldozer in Rafah, Gaza, while attempting to protect the home of a Palestinian medical doctor from being demolished. Israel claimed that the bulldozer had limited visibility from the cabin.
Eyewitnesses stated that the bulldozer crew was aware of Corrie as she and other activists had been blocking its path repeatedly for a period of two hours, were well marked, and that Corrie had been at eye level with the cabin at the time of the incident. Most shockingly they reported that, following the incident, none of the Israeli troops nearby offered any assistance to the crushed activists. Neither did the Israeli army offer any help to Brian Avery. On these points, all eyewitnesses agree.
Similar to the Brian Avery shooting, on 22 November 2002 ISM activist and Irish national Caoimhe Butterly was shot in the leg in Jenin. Again, it was Palestinians who took her to the hospital.
This targeting is not limited to peace activists. On the same day as Butterly was shot, Israeli troops shot and killed British national Iain Hook, the Jenin project manager of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency. Israel claimed that one of its soldiers, whose automatic rifle would of course be equipped with telescopic sights, ‘mistook’ Hook’s mobile phone for ‘a gun’.
German doctor Harald Fischer and Italian cameraman Rafaeli Ciriello were both also killed by Israeli gunfire during the Intifada. Several others internationals have been injured by Israeli fire.
When will we realize that there can’t be this many “accidents”?
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Dr. Jack Shepard
Dr. Jack Shepard says, “WHEN WILL WE REALIZE THAT THERE CAN’T BE THIS MANY “ACCIDENTS”?
http://www.shepardusgov.com/dedicated/Aboel.html
Aboel Samad Shamalakh
1988-2002
MISSING ACCURATE INTELLIGENCE
By Dr. Jack Shepard
One Committed Atrocity against a child; is an example how hatred against America is created.
By Dr. Jack Shepard Dr. Jack Shepard says, America is blamed and hated throughout the Islamic World because of the Atrocities committed by the Israeli Military under the policies of Ariel Sharon toward the Palestinian Men, Women and especially things like the targeted cool blooded murdering of children like poor Aboel Samad Shamalakh, who was shown moments before he is killed in the morning by Israeli gunfire from a Israeli tank while he was working in his family field.
He may seem just another forgotten victim, but atrocities like this Israeli Military