31 dec 2017
The ruling Israeli Likud party is to convene, on Sunday, to vote on urging party leaders to formally annex the occupied West Bank to Israel, and allow unlimited construction in illegal Jewish settlements.
A number of party heavyweights have released statements or videos expressing support for the vote, which will take place at the Avenue Conference Centre, near Ben Gurion Airport, Israeli newspaper Times of Israel said.
They include Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein, Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat, Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan, Environmental Protection Minister Ze’ev Elkin and Transportation Minister Yisrael Katz.
The keynote address, at the confab, was reportedly given to longtime Netanyahu opponent and former cabinet minister Gideon Sa’ar, also a backer of the resolution.
Likud activists in the illegal settlements of the occupied West Bank, who gathered over 900 signatures of Central Committee members, called for allowing the resolution to be presented without requiring the consent of party leaders.
The resolution reads: “Fifty years after the liberation of Judea and Samaria [occupied West Bank], and with them Jerusalem, our eternal capital, the Likud Central Committee calls on Likud’s elected leaders to work to allow unhindered construction and to extend Israeli law and sovereignty in all the areas of liberated settlement in Judea and Samaria.”
Extending Israeli law and sovereignty means considering the occupied Palestinian lands as part of Israel, which was built on 78 per cent of Palestine’s area occupied in 1948.
A number of party heavyweights have released statements or videos expressing support for the vote, which will take place at the Avenue Conference Centre, near Ben Gurion Airport, Israeli newspaper Times of Israel said.
They include Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein, Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat, Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan, Environmental Protection Minister Ze’ev Elkin and Transportation Minister Yisrael Katz.
The keynote address, at the confab, was reportedly given to longtime Netanyahu opponent and former cabinet minister Gideon Sa’ar, also a backer of the resolution.
Likud activists in the illegal settlements of the occupied West Bank, who gathered over 900 signatures of Central Committee members, called for allowing the resolution to be presented without requiring the consent of party leaders.
The resolution reads: “Fifty years after the liberation of Judea and Samaria [occupied West Bank], and with them Jerusalem, our eternal capital, the Likud Central Committee calls on Likud’s elected leaders to work to allow unhindered construction and to extend Israeli law and sovereignty in all the areas of liberated settlement in Judea and Samaria.”
Extending Israeli law and sovereignty means considering the occupied Palestinian lands as part of Israel, which was built on 78 per cent of Palestine’s area occupied in 1948.
Commission of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs on Sunday said that the Israeli public prosecution has filed an objection to a supreme court decision prohibiting the detention of Palestinian martyrs' bodies.
The Israeli supreme court, a few weeks ago, ruled that the Israeli government does not have the right to withhold the bodies of Palestinian martyrs and ordered handing them over to their families.
The Commission said in a statement that the court gave the Israeli government a six-month time limit to release the bodies or pass a law authorizing it to hold onto them.
The Israeli occupation authorities are currently holding the bodies of ten Palestinian martyrs, four of whom were recently transferred to the "cemeteries of numbers" where 250 others are buried.
Israel's "cemeteries of numbers" are closed military cemeteries where the Israeli authorities hold the remains of Palestinian and Arab martyrs and which martyrs' families and human rights organizations are denied access to.
Gravestones are marked by numbers instead of names and the authorities refuse to disclose any personal information concerning the martyrs buried therein.
The Israeli supreme court, a few weeks ago, ruled that the Israeli government does not have the right to withhold the bodies of Palestinian martyrs and ordered handing them over to their families.
The Commission said in a statement that the court gave the Israeli government a six-month time limit to release the bodies or pass a law authorizing it to hold onto them.
The Israeli occupation authorities are currently holding the bodies of ten Palestinian martyrs, four of whom were recently transferred to the "cemeteries of numbers" where 250 others are buried.
Israel's "cemeteries of numbers" are closed military cemeteries where the Israeli authorities hold the remains of Palestinian and Arab martyrs and which martyrs' families and human rights organizations are denied access to.
Gravestones are marked by numbers instead of names and the authorities refuse to disclose any personal information concerning the martyrs buried therein.
The Israeli Police Investigations Division (PID) decided to close its probe into the January killing of Ya’akub Abu-Al-Qi’an, and to not hold any officers responsible for his death, Adalah – The Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel, said on Thursday.
Abu Al-Qi’an, a 50-year-old math teacher from Atir-Umm al-Hiran in the Naqab (Negev), Israel’s southern desert region, was killed on 18 January after Israeli police opened fire on his vehicle, as he was driving through the Bedouin village during state preparations for a large-scale home demolition.
That same day, according to WAFA, Adalah filed a request demanding the PID open an investigation into the killing.
“The closure of this investigation means the PID continues to grant legitimacy to deadly police violence against Arab citizens of Israel,” said Adalah in a statement responding to the PID’s decision to close the investigation without bringing any officers to justice.
“Though it was clear from day one that officers opened fire on a civilian without justification and in contravention of the police’s own open-fire regulations, it appears as if the PID is again whitewashing the most serious incidents. Just as the PID failed to hold any officers responsible for the October 2000 killings and the subsequent police killings of more than 50 Palestinian Arab citizens of Israel, this latest decision is further indication of the systemic failure of the PID.”
Adalah added: “The Israeli police and public security minister continue to propagate the same lie they initially promoted the day of the killing, according to which the incident was an intentional vehicular ramming attack against Israeli police officers. This lie was repeatedly refuted by multiple sources and video documentation of the incident.”
It said that despite repeated requests, the PID has yet to provide the widow of Abu Al-Qi’an with her late husband’s autopsy report and ignored her requests to receive updates on developments in the investigation.
“We call on the Israeli state attorney to immediately bring to justice those responsible for the killing of Ya’akub Abu Al-Qi’an,” demanded Adalah.
Abu Al-Qi’an, a 50-year-old math teacher from Atir-Umm al-Hiran in the Naqab (Negev), Israel’s southern desert region, was killed on 18 January after Israeli police opened fire on his vehicle, as he was driving through the Bedouin village during state preparations for a large-scale home demolition.
That same day, according to WAFA, Adalah filed a request demanding the PID open an investigation into the killing.
“The closure of this investigation means the PID continues to grant legitimacy to deadly police violence against Arab citizens of Israel,” said Adalah in a statement responding to the PID’s decision to close the investigation without bringing any officers to justice.
“Though it was clear from day one that officers opened fire on a civilian without justification and in contravention of the police’s own open-fire regulations, it appears as if the PID is again whitewashing the most serious incidents. Just as the PID failed to hold any officers responsible for the October 2000 killings and the subsequent police killings of more than 50 Palestinian Arab citizens of Israel, this latest decision is further indication of the systemic failure of the PID.”
Adalah added: “The Israeli police and public security minister continue to propagate the same lie they initially promoted the day of the killing, according to which the incident was an intentional vehicular ramming attack against Israeli police officers. This lie was repeatedly refuted by multiple sources and video documentation of the incident.”
It said that despite repeated requests, the PID has yet to provide the widow of Abu Al-Qi’an with her late husband’s autopsy report and ignored her requests to receive updates on developments in the investigation.
“We call on the Israeli state attorney to immediately bring to justice those responsible for the killing of Ya’akub Abu Al-Qi’an,” demanded Adalah.
29 dec 2017
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Israel’s justice ministry intends to close a probe into the January killing of a Palestinian citizen by police in the Bedouin village of Umm al-Hiran in southern Israel.
For a second time the ministry’s police investigations unit has recommended to state prosecutors that no charges be filed against police. Israeli police assert that Yaqoub Abu al-Qiyan, a 50-year-old math teacher, deliberately ran over and killed a police officer, 37-year-old Erez Levi. “Verification of killing” |
However, analysis by the UK-based research group Forensic Architecture indicates that Abu al-Qiyan was driving slowly and his vehicle only accelerated after he was shot at by police, suggesting he lost control of his car.
In one of the recordings, a single gunshot can be heard after Abu al-Qiyan’s car comes to a stop.
“This last shot is consistent with what the Israeli security personnel calls ‘verification of killing’ – the shooting to kill of already neutralized people,” according to Forensic Architecture.
Adalah, a rights group which filed a request for an investigation by the justice ministry’s police conduct unit into Abu al-Qiyan’s slaying, protested the recommended closure of the probe.
“The closure of this investigation means the [Police Investigations Department] continues to grant legitimacy to deadly police violence against Arab citizens of Israel,” Adalah stated.
“Though it was clear from day one that officers opened fire on a civilian without justification and in contravention of the police’s own open-fire regulations, it appears as if the [Police Investigations Department] is again whitewashing the most serious incidents.”
No police officer has been held responsible in more than 50 cases of Palestinian citizens killed by police since 2000, according to Adalah.
Home demolition raid
Abu al-Qiyan was killed as Israeli forces were preparing to demolish several buildings in Umm al-Hiran.
The Israeli government seeks to evacuate the Palestinian Bedouin village in order to build a Jewish settlement in its place.
Several demonstrators – including Ayman Odeh, a Palestinian member of Israel’s parliament, the Knesset – were injured by sponge-tipped bullets and other weapons fired by police during the raid.
Israeli media have reported that the police conduct unit will also recommend closing an investigation of officers suspected of assaulting the Palestinian lawmaker.
Police and senior Israeli government officials wasted no time in framing Abu al-Qiyan as a terrorist immediately after his death.
Despite repeated requests, the Israeli justice ministry police conduct unit has not given Abu al-Qiyan’s widow a copy of her late husband’s autopsy report, according to Adalah.
Odeh told the Israeli daily Haaretz that he had little expectation that the police who shot Abu al-Qiyan and prevented him from receiving first aid, leaving him to bleed to death, would be held accountable for their actions.
“Shouldn’t someone also be punished for that?” Odeh stated.
In one of the recordings, a single gunshot can be heard after Abu al-Qiyan’s car comes to a stop.
“This last shot is consistent with what the Israeli security personnel calls ‘verification of killing’ – the shooting to kill of already neutralized people,” according to Forensic Architecture.
Adalah, a rights group which filed a request for an investigation by the justice ministry’s police conduct unit into Abu al-Qiyan’s slaying, protested the recommended closure of the probe.
“The closure of this investigation means the [Police Investigations Department] continues to grant legitimacy to deadly police violence against Arab citizens of Israel,” Adalah stated.
“Though it was clear from day one that officers opened fire on a civilian without justification and in contravention of the police’s own open-fire regulations, it appears as if the [Police Investigations Department] is again whitewashing the most serious incidents.”
No police officer has been held responsible in more than 50 cases of Palestinian citizens killed by police since 2000, according to Adalah.
Home demolition raid
Abu al-Qiyan was killed as Israeli forces were preparing to demolish several buildings in Umm al-Hiran.
The Israeli government seeks to evacuate the Palestinian Bedouin village in order to build a Jewish settlement in its place.
Several demonstrators – including Ayman Odeh, a Palestinian member of Israel’s parliament, the Knesset – were injured by sponge-tipped bullets and other weapons fired by police during the raid.
Israeli media have reported that the police conduct unit will also recommend closing an investigation of officers suspected of assaulting the Palestinian lawmaker.
Police and senior Israeli government officials wasted no time in framing Abu al-Qiyan as a terrorist immediately after his death.
Despite repeated requests, the Israeli justice ministry police conduct unit has not given Abu al-Qiyan’s widow a copy of her late husband’s autopsy report, according to Adalah.
Odeh told the Israeli daily Haaretz that he had little expectation that the police who shot Abu al-Qiyan and prevented him from receiving first aid, leaving him to bleed to death, would be held accountable for their actions.
“Shouldn’t someone also be punished for that?” Odeh stated.
An Israel judge ripped into the Shin Bet, an Israeli intelligence service, for its interrogation tactics, saying they could lead people to confess crimes they did not commit.
The panel of Be’er Sheva District Court judges has issued the opinion blasting the security service as part of a ruling explaining their acquittal last month of Khalil Nimri, a Palestinian accused of terrorism.
Israeli newspaper Haaretz said, according to Days of Palestine that the court found that Nimri, who had been charged with planning an attack on Eilat hotel, had confessed under interrogation to acts that it was doubtful that he committed.
“The Shin Bet needs to take a good look at itself so that interrogation techniques, which do indeed sometimes uncover dangerous acts of terrorism, aren’t also liable to induce innocent people to admit to acts that they did not commit,” the judges declared.
“There is tangible concern that the defendant was arrested and spent two years in detention over no fault of his own,” they added.
Nimri was arrested about two years ago, after a reception clerk at an Eilat hotel claimed that he had approached the reception desk and asked questions that aroused the clerk’s suspicions. The questions related to ultra-Orthodox hotel guests, the clerk said, according to Haaretz.
However, several days later the clerk encountered another Palestinian, Ashraf Salaimeh, and realised that it was he and not Nimri who had approached the reception desk. The clerk then informed the police of his mistake.
Salaimeh was arrested, but Nimri had already admitted under Shin Bet interrogation to having planned a terrorist attack on the hotel.
Salaimeh and Nimri, who worked and lived in Eilat, were charged with conspiracy and assisting the enemy in wartime. They were accused of planning to plant explosives at Eilat’s Rio Hotel a plan that, according to the indictment, was foiled thanks to the hotel staff’s alertness.
Israeli Yedioth Ahronoth also reported that the judges found that, while under interrogation, Nimri had believed that the Shin Bet was threatening his family and would prolong his interrogation until he confessed.
The judges found, according to Yedioth Ahronoth, that the interrogator “told the defendant [Nimri] that he needed to lie to satisfy the Shin Bet.”
Criminal proceedings against Salaimeh are continuing. He has also confessed but has also retracted his confession several times. This proves that his confessions were made under pressure and for sure they could be false.
The panel of Be’er Sheva District Court judges has issued the opinion blasting the security service as part of a ruling explaining their acquittal last month of Khalil Nimri, a Palestinian accused of terrorism.
Israeli newspaper Haaretz said, according to Days of Palestine that the court found that Nimri, who had been charged with planning an attack on Eilat hotel, had confessed under interrogation to acts that it was doubtful that he committed.
“The Shin Bet needs to take a good look at itself so that interrogation techniques, which do indeed sometimes uncover dangerous acts of terrorism, aren’t also liable to induce innocent people to admit to acts that they did not commit,” the judges declared.
“There is tangible concern that the defendant was arrested and spent two years in detention over no fault of his own,” they added.
Nimri was arrested about two years ago, after a reception clerk at an Eilat hotel claimed that he had approached the reception desk and asked questions that aroused the clerk’s suspicions. The questions related to ultra-Orthodox hotel guests, the clerk said, according to Haaretz.
However, several days later the clerk encountered another Palestinian, Ashraf Salaimeh, and realised that it was he and not Nimri who had approached the reception desk. The clerk then informed the police of his mistake.
Salaimeh was arrested, but Nimri had already admitted under Shin Bet interrogation to having planned a terrorist attack on the hotel.
Salaimeh and Nimri, who worked and lived in Eilat, were charged with conspiracy and assisting the enemy in wartime. They were accused of planning to plant explosives at Eilat’s Rio Hotel a plan that, according to the indictment, was foiled thanks to the hotel staff’s alertness.
Israeli Yedioth Ahronoth also reported that the judges found that, while under interrogation, Nimri had believed that the Shin Bet was threatening his family and would prolong his interrogation until he confessed.
The judges found, according to Yedioth Ahronoth, that the interrogator “told the defendant [Nimri] that he needed to lie to satisfy the Shin Bet.”
Criminal proceedings against Salaimeh are continuing. He has also confessed but has also retracted his confession several times. This proves that his confessions were made under pressure and for sure they could be false.
The Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel, Adalah slammed the Israeli Justice Ministry's Police Investigations Division (PID)’s decision to close its probe into the police killing of Ya'akub Abu-al-Qi'an in January 2017 and to not hold any officers responsible for his death.
According to a statement by Adalah, Abu al-Qi'an, a 50-year-old math teacher from Atir-Umm al-Hiran in Negev, Israel's southern desert region, was killed on 18 January 2017 after Israeli police opened fire on his vehicle as he was driving through the Bedouin village during preparations for a large-scale home demolition. That same day, Adalah filed a request demanding the PID open an investigation into the killing.
“The closure of this investigation means the PID continues to grant legitimacy to deadly police violence against Arab citizens of Israel. Though it was clear from day one that officers opened fire on a civilian without justification and in contravention of the police’s own open-fire regulations, it appears as if the PID is again whitewashing the most serious incidents,” the statement read.
“Just as the PID failed to hold any officers responsible for the October 2000 killings and the subsequent police killings of more than 50 Palestinians, this latest decision is further indication of the systemic failure of the PID,” it added.
"The Israeli police and public security minister continue to propagate the same lie they initially promoted the day of the killing, according to which the incident was an intentional vehicular ramming attack against Israeli police officers. This lie was repeated refuted by multiple sources and video documentation of the incident,” Adalah said.
“In addition, despite Adalah's repeated requests, the PID has yet to provide the widow of Abu Al-Qi'an with her late husband's autopsy report and ignored her requests to receive updates on developments in the investigation,” the center further stated.
Adalah called on the Israeli attorney to immediately bring to justice those responsible for the killing of Ya'akub Abu al-Qi'an.
According to a statement by Adalah, Abu al-Qi'an, a 50-year-old math teacher from Atir-Umm al-Hiran in Negev, Israel's southern desert region, was killed on 18 January 2017 after Israeli police opened fire on his vehicle as he was driving through the Bedouin village during preparations for a large-scale home demolition. That same day, Adalah filed a request demanding the PID open an investigation into the killing.
“The closure of this investigation means the PID continues to grant legitimacy to deadly police violence against Arab citizens of Israel. Though it was clear from day one that officers opened fire on a civilian without justification and in contravention of the police’s own open-fire regulations, it appears as if the PID is again whitewashing the most serious incidents,” the statement read.
“Just as the PID failed to hold any officers responsible for the October 2000 killings and the subsequent police killings of more than 50 Palestinians, this latest decision is further indication of the systemic failure of the PID,” it added.
"The Israeli police and public security minister continue to propagate the same lie they initially promoted the day of the killing, according to which the incident was an intentional vehicular ramming attack against Israeli police officers. This lie was repeated refuted by multiple sources and video documentation of the incident,” Adalah said.
“In addition, despite Adalah's repeated requests, the PID has yet to provide the widow of Abu Al-Qi'an with her late husband's autopsy report and ignored her requests to receive updates on developments in the investigation,” the center further stated.
Adalah called on the Israeli attorney to immediately bring to justice those responsible for the killing of Ya'akub Abu al-Qi'an.
25 dec 2017
Kokia's father Boaz said he could kill his son's murders himself
Defense Minister Lieberman's bill seeking capital punishment for convicted terrorists may be put to the Knesset vote this week having garnered coalition support; backing the bill, families of terror victims push for 'deterrence package' that includes prison condition degradation, but AG opposes bill, claims penalty does not deter terrorists.
The bill calling to sentence terrorists to death, a flagship piece of legislation for the Yisrael Beytenu party and also enshrined in coalition agreements, was approved last week in a forum of coalition party leaders, paving the way for its expected vote at the Knesset plenum vote this week.
The bill may reach the Knesset as early as this Wednesday if enough time remains after the vote on the Recommendations Law.
While no coalition dissent is expected, the opposition has criticized the possible law, reminding its proponents that a military tribunal can already sentence to death anyone convicted of terrorism if the judges decide unanimously on the verdict, thereby rendering the law moot.
Yisrael Beytenu countered the claim, however, by saying the bill allowed tribunals to sentence terrorists to death with a simple majority vote, while also allowing civilian courts to do the same.
Two people who may be affected by the bill's passage are Khaled Abu Jaudah and his half-brother Zahi Abu Jaudah, two Bedouin from Kuseife who were indicted Sunday morning for the murder of IDF soldier Ron Kokia in Arad a month ago.
The Jaudah family disavowed the two suspects and was not present at their court date. One of Zahi's relatives said, "He wasn't in on it. He was forced to help his brother."
"It's hard for us. We're friends with Jews and were completely blindsided by their arrest. Khaled is an educated young man, it's really not clear what happened. Their father is in complete shock," said another relative.
Boaz, the father of the slain soldier, was present at the hearing and let loose on the defendants following the court's ruling with a verbal onslaught.
"If you were in my hands I'd slaughter you. We want to know who murdered our son. I'll look them in the eye and make sure they die," Boaz said.
"I call on the court to deal with the murderers and their families, which contributed to the act by their criminal conduct, harshly. It's important, both because we—as the victim's family—deserve justice and to deter other potential murderers. Beyond the death sentence I think the murderers deserve, or at least a prolonged prison term, punishment should also be financial, such as revocation of rights or reimbursing the state for the expenses and damages done to it because of the murder," the grieving father said.
Other families who have lost loved ones to terrorism joined Boaz Kokia's call. Hadas Mizrachi, the widow of Commander Baruch Mizrahi who was murdered in an attack that took place on Passover eve in Kiryat Arba three years ago, told Ynet, "Ron Kokia's father's cry must be heard at the offices of decision makers.
"The time has come for the death of innocents to be answered in kind. We call on the government's ministers to support the bill authorizing the execution of those who have murdered our loved ones. The State of Israel must create a real, significant deterrence against terrorism raging in the streets."
Michal Salomon, who lost three family members in a Halamish terror attack several months ago, said, "A despicable murderer who took a life must forfeit his. That is the only way of reducing the chance of them murdering again to zero. This punishment is only part of the deterrence package. Conditions in jails should also be changed for the worse for those killers."
'Put a stop to the murder industry'
The bereaved families' "Choose Life" forum was created two years ago and counts more than 100 families as members, mostly, though not exclusively, from the last wave of terror.
Among the families belonging to the forum are also non-Jewish bereaved families, such as the family of Yosef Othman, who was murdered in the Har Adar terrorist attack this past September.
The forum's goal is to help promote the aforementioned "deterrence package" against terrorists in an attempt to prevent further attacks. The families are supporting the death penalty bill while also seeking degradation in the conditions enjoyed by incarcerated terrorists.
Chairman of the right-wing Im Tirzu movement Matan Peleg, whose organizations accompanied the Choose Life Forum, said, "The State of Israel is under a permanent terror attack and only the wondrous abilities of security forces stopped hundreds of attacks from succeeding in the past year. The only way to stop the industry of terror is by creating a real deterrence package, with death penalty as its crowning jewel.
When the package also includes deporting their families to Gaza, demolishing their homes and revoking their prison benefits, then the murder industry may be stopped."
Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit is opposed to the death penalty bill for terrorists, as he opposed a previous bill floated by Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked to sentence child murderers to death.
Mandelblit's stance mirrors those of all previous attorneys general, who have opposed the death penalty since Israel's inception despite its existence in both civil and military law.
The attorney general's original opinion, submitted to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and members of the Ministerial Committee for Legislation over a year ago following then-MK Lieberman's proposal, determined the death penalty was not a deterrent when it came to terrorists.
The judicial system maintains a clear and present trend among the countries in the developed world is to abolish the death penalty.
"More than two thirds of the world's countries have abolished capital punishment. In the European Union, for instance, it's completely banned," judiciary sources said.
The only Western country to still carry out death sentence is the United States. "But even there, states have begun abolishing it, with only 31 states having capital punishment on their books today. Seven states abolished it in the past decade alone," the source said.
Defense Minister Lieberman's bill seeking capital punishment for convicted terrorists may be put to the Knesset vote this week having garnered coalition support; backing the bill, families of terror victims push for 'deterrence package' that includes prison condition degradation, but AG opposes bill, claims penalty does not deter terrorists.
The bill calling to sentence terrorists to death, a flagship piece of legislation for the Yisrael Beytenu party and also enshrined in coalition agreements, was approved last week in a forum of coalition party leaders, paving the way for its expected vote at the Knesset plenum vote this week.
The bill may reach the Knesset as early as this Wednesday if enough time remains after the vote on the Recommendations Law.
While no coalition dissent is expected, the opposition has criticized the possible law, reminding its proponents that a military tribunal can already sentence to death anyone convicted of terrorism if the judges decide unanimously on the verdict, thereby rendering the law moot.
Yisrael Beytenu countered the claim, however, by saying the bill allowed tribunals to sentence terrorists to death with a simple majority vote, while also allowing civilian courts to do the same.
Two people who may be affected by the bill's passage are Khaled Abu Jaudah and his half-brother Zahi Abu Jaudah, two Bedouin from Kuseife who were indicted Sunday morning for the murder of IDF soldier Ron Kokia in Arad a month ago.
The Jaudah family disavowed the two suspects and was not present at their court date. One of Zahi's relatives said, "He wasn't in on it. He was forced to help his brother."
"It's hard for us. We're friends with Jews and were completely blindsided by their arrest. Khaled is an educated young man, it's really not clear what happened. Their father is in complete shock," said another relative.
Boaz, the father of the slain soldier, was present at the hearing and let loose on the defendants following the court's ruling with a verbal onslaught.
"If you were in my hands I'd slaughter you. We want to know who murdered our son. I'll look them in the eye and make sure they die," Boaz said.
"I call on the court to deal with the murderers and their families, which contributed to the act by their criminal conduct, harshly. It's important, both because we—as the victim's family—deserve justice and to deter other potential murderers. Beyond the death sentence I think the murderers deserve, or at least a prolonged prison term, punishment should also be financial, such as revocation of rights or reimbursing the state for the expenses and damages done to it because of the murder," the grieving father said.
Other families who have lost loved ones to terrorism joined Boaz Kokia's call. Hadas Mizrachi, the widow of Commander Baruch Mizrahi who was murdered in an attack that took place on Passover eve in Kiryat Arba three years ago, told Ynet, "Ron Kokia's father's cry must be heard at the offices of decision makers.
"The time has come for the death of innocents to be answered in kind. We call on the government's ministers to support the bill authorizing the execution of those who have murdered our loved ones. The State of Israel must create a real, significant deterrence against terrorism raging in the streets."
Michal Salomon, who lost three family members in a Halamish terror attack several months ago, said, "A despicable murderer who took a life must forfeit his. That is the only way of reducing the chance of them murdering again to zero. This punishment is only part of the deterrence package. Conditions in jails should also be changed for the worse for those killers."
'Put a stop to the murder industry'
The bereaved families' "Choose Life" forum was created two years ago and counts more than 100 families as members, mostly, though not exclusively, from the last wave of terror.
Among the families belonging to the forum are also non-Jewish bereaved families, such as the family of Yosef Othman, who was murdered in the Har Adar terrorist attack this past September.
The forum's goal is to help promote the aforementioned "deterrence package" against terrorists in an attempt to prevent further attacks. The families are supporting the death penalty bill while also seeking degradation in the conditions enjoyed by incarcerated terrorists.
Chairman of the right-wing Im Tirzu movement Matan Peleg, whose organizations accompanied the Choose Life Forum, said, "The State of Israel is under a permanent terror attack and only the wondrous abilities of security forces stopped hundreds of attacks from succeeding in the past year. The only way to stop the industry of terror is by creating a real deterrence package, with death penalty as its crowning jewel.
When the package also includes deporting their families to Gaza, demolishing their homes and revoking their prison benefits, then the murder industry may be stopped."
Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit is opposed to the death penalty bill for terrorists, as he opposed a previous bill floated by Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked to sentence child murderers to death.
Mandelblit's stance mirrors those of all previous attorneys general, who have opposed the death penalty since Israel's inception despite its existence in both civil and military law.
The attorney general's original opinion, submitted to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and members of the Ministerial Committee for Legislation over a year ago following then-MK Lieberman's proposal, determined the death penalty was not a deterrent when it came to terrorists.
The judicial system maintains a clear and present trend among the countries in the developed world is to abolish the death penalty.
"More than two thirds of the world's countries have abolished capital punishment. In the European Union, for instance, it's completely banned," judiciary sources said.
The only Western country to still carry out death sentence is the United States. "But even there, states have begun abolishing it, with only 31 states having capital punishment on their books today. Seven states abolished it in the past decade alone," the source said.
After a ten-year saga in which the Israeli Ministry of Justice refused to pursue charges against an Israeli police officer who admitted urinating in the face of a Palestinian prisoner, the Ministry finally indicted the officer.
The indictment came only after the victim, Mohammad Warani, took a lawsuit all the way to the Israeli High Court challenging the Israeli Justice Ministry’s decision to close the case.
The High Court ruled in favor of Warani, ordering the Justice Department to file charges against the police officer, Ya’akov Ben-Nissim Cohen.
In November 2007, Cohen took Mohammad Warani to a police station in the illegal Israeli settlement of Ma’ale Adumim, where he set the handcuffed, blindfolded man on a toilet and then climbed a shelf outside the stall and urinated in the man’s face.
According to prosecutors with the Police Investigations Department of the Justice Ministry, the officer “urinated on the face of the plaintiff, as the plaintiff screamed and shook his head from side to side”.
The indictment also stated, “In the above-described actions, the defendant psychologically abused a helpless victim”.
Even though the indictment was filed on November 1st, it was only made public on Sunday.
The incident took place ten years ago, and the officer involved has faced no repercussions during that time. This is despite the fact that he admitted to “an unusual incident” after his DNA was found in urine on the victim’s clothing.
The Justice Ministry decided to close the case against Cohen, but Warani challenged that decision in court. In February 2017, Warani received the very first ruling in his favor, at the Israeli High Court.
The indictment came only after the victim, Mohammad Warani, took a lawsuit all the way to the Israeli High Court challenging the Israeli Justice Ministry’s decision to close the case.
The High Court ruled in favor of Warani, ordering the Justice Department to file charges against the police officer, Ya’akov Ben-Nissim Cohen.
In November 2007, Cohen took Mohammad Warani to a police station in the illegal Israeli settlement of Ma’ale Adumim, where he set the handcuffed, blindfolded man on a toilet and then climbed a shelf outside the stall and urinated in the man’s face.
According to prosecutors with the Police Investigations Department of the Justice Ministry, the officer “urinated on the face of the plaintiff, as the plaintiff screamed and shook his head from side to side”.
The indictment also stated, “In the above-described actions, the defendant psychologically abused a helpless victim”.
Even though the indictment was filed on November 1st, it was only made public on Sunday.
The incident took place ten years ago, and the officer involved has faced no repercussions during that time. This is despite the fact that he admitted to “an unusual incident” after his DNA was found in urine on the victim’s clothing.
The Justice Ministry decided to close the case against Cohen, but Warani challenged that decision in court. In February 2017, Warani received the very first ruling in his favor, at the Israeli High Court.
24 dec 2017
Likud MK Amir Ohana
MK Ohana's bill heads to preliminary reading; draft stipulates interior minister will be able to revoke permanent residency status of people convicted of security offenses; bill follows High Court ruling striking down previous interior ministers' decision to revoke residency of Hamas operatives.
Likud MK Amir Ohana's bill giving the interior minister the power to revoke the permanent residency of people convicted of security offenses was approved for a preliminary reading Sunday by the Knesset's Ministerial Committee for Legislation.
Should the bill be voted into law, The interior minister will be able to revoke permanent residency, following the High Court's ruling from earlier this year that struck down an 11-year-old decision by former Interior Minister Roni Bar-On to revoke the residency permits of four east Jerusalem Arabs following their election to the Palestinian parliament as representatives of Hamas.
Khaled Abu-Arfa, Muhammad Abu-Tir, Muhammad Umran Tuttah and Ahmed Muhammad A-Tun were elected to the Palestinian parliament representing Hamas in January 2006.
MK Ohana commented on the bill's passage, saying, "I was of the opinion the law enabled the interior minister to (revoke residency permits) even before, and that the High Court should not have intervened in previous interior ministers' decisions, but since it has decided to do so anyway, I searched and found the solution allowing the State of Israel to impose the sanctions it so sorely needs vis-à-vis Hamas operatives."
"It is inconceivable for them to remain living here and enjoying the Israeli taxpayers' money," Ohana added, "when they're calling for their deaths. Jerusalem may have justices (referencing former Prime Minister Menachem Begin's famous quote—ed), but it also has legislators."
The High Court's original decision came in 2006, when Bar-On decided to revoke the four's status as residents on the grounds of "breach of trust."
The justices ruled he had no legal standing to do, but delayed the implementation of their decision to allow the Knesset to enact a law permitting the residency revocation.
MK Ohana's bill heads to preliminary reading; draft stipulates interior minister will be able to revoke permanent residency status of people convicted of security offenses; bill follows High Court ruling striking down previous interior ministers' decision to revoke residency of Hamas operatives.
Likud MK Amir Ohana's bill giving the interior minister the power to revoke the permanent residency of people convicted of security offenses was approved for a preliminary reading Sunday by the Knesset's Ministerial Committee for Legislation.
Should the bill be voted into law, The interior minister will be able to revoke permanent residency, following the High Court's ruling from earlier this year that struck down an 11-year-old decision by former Interior Minister Roni Bar-On to revoke the residency permits of four east Jerusalem Arabs following their election to the Palestinian parliament as representatives of Hamas.
Khaled Abu-Arfa, Muhammad Abu-Tir, Muhammad Umran Tuttah and Ahmed Muhammad A-Tun were elected to the Palestinian parliament representing Hamas in January 2006.
MK Ohana commented on the bill's passage, saying, "I was of the opinion the law enabled the interior minister to (revoke residency permits) even before, and that the High Court should not have intervened in previous interior ministers' decisions, but since it has decided to do so anyway, I searched and found the solution allowing the State of Israel to impose the sanctions it so sorely needs vis-à-vis Hamas operatives."
"It is inconceivable for them to remain living here and enjoying the Israeli taxpayers' money," Ohana added, "when they're calling for their deaths. Jerusalem may have justices (referencing former Prime Minister Menachem Begin's famous quote—ed), but it also has legislators."
The High Court's original decision came in 2006, when Bar-On decided to revoke the four's status as residents on the grounds of "breach of trust."
The justices ruled he had no legal standing to do, but delayed the implementation of their decision to allow the Knesset to enact a law permitting the residency revocation.
The Israeli Supreme Court has been accused of redefining torture so as to permit it after a major new ruling was greeted with dismay by local and international human rights groups.
Last week the court – sitting as the High Court of Justice – denied a petition brought by The Public Committee Against Torture in Israel (PCATI) on behalf of Palestinian prisoner Asad Abu Ghosh.
According to the petition, Abu Ghosh was tortured with “severe mental and physical violence” during a Shin Bet interrogation in 2007, including “beatings, being thrown against a wall, stress positions including the ‘banana’ position, sleep deprivation, and extreme mental duress”.
The High Court was presented with high-level and independent legal-medical opinions confirming the physical and mental damage caused to Abu Ghosh at the hands of his interrogators.
While allegations of torture by Shin Bet agents are commonplace, impunity is the norm; more than 1,000 complaints filed since 2001 did not produce a single criminal investigation. What made this case unusual, however, was that the state admitted “certain pressure methods” had been used.
Despite this, and the evidence presented by PCATI, the High Court still threw out the petition, accepting an earlier decision of the Attorney General not to open a criminal investigation against the interrogators, and thus granting the agents impunity for their actions.
For PCATI, how the court reached its decision is as disturbing as the verdict itself – and one paragraph in particular stands out. “The definition of certain interrogation methods as ‘torture’ is dependent on concrete circumstances,” wrote Judge Uri Shoham, “even when these are methods recognised explicitly in international law as ‘torture’ [my emphasis]”.
The High Court’s decision is being described by some as the most important legal development for interrogations and torture in some two decades; as a report in The Jerusalem Post put it, “essentially, the court took the state’s side on all of the key issues before it”.
In 1999, the High Court ruled that Shin Bet agents could not use “physical means” in their interrogations. However, the justices also held that agents who used such methods could be immune from criminal responsibility in the case of a “ticking bomb” scenario.
Unsurprisingly, since then Palestinians have continued to be tortured by Shin Bet interrogators relying on the “ticking bomb” exception – but as Israeli NGO B’Tselem put it, such methods “were not limited to exceptional cases and quickly became standard interrogation policy”.
This state of affairs has been widely documented, including by the UN Committee Against Torture in May 2016, by interrogators themselves, and in studies like the one published by the ‘Reproductive Health Matters’ medical journal in 2015, which found that “Israeli authorities are systemically involved with torture and ill-treatment of a sexual nature”.
As Israeli legal affairs analyst Yonah Jeremy Bob noted recently, Israel’s Supreme Court was “unique” in having established “a category of ‘moderate physical pressure’ that could legally be used on [prisoners]”. He added: “No democratic country in the present era has defended the legality of such methods or established normative legal principles relating to them quite like Israel.”
Now, this latest High Court decision leaves Palestinian prisoners even more vulnerable to abuse. According to PCATI, the ruling “permits de facto use of torture methods”, including even those forbidden in the High Court’s 1999 judgement, and also “blocks the way for victims who have suffered from physical and psychological trauma to seek redress”.
For Amnesty International, whose 2016/17 annual report found that Israeli forces and Shin Bet agents “subjected Palestinian detainees, including children, to torture and other ill-treatment with impunity”, the Supreme Court decision is troubling.
“We have serious concerns that in taking this decision the Court dismisses, yet again, credible and relevant evidence of systematic torture of Palestinian detainees”, said Magdalena Mughrabi, Amnesty’s Deputy Director for the Middle East and North Africa.
In doing so, she added, the court is “sending another green light” to Shin Bet interrogators “that it is acceptable to use methods of coercion, including the combined use of stress positions, beatings and sleep deprivation that amount to torture against Palestinian detainees”.
For Dawoud Yusef, head of the Advocacy and Lobbying unit at Palestinian prisoners’ rights group Addameer, “there is very little surprise in regard to the ruling in the case of Abu Ghosh”.
“Not only did the original case in 1999 leave the definitions for ‘moderate physical pressure’ and a ‘ticking bomb’ situation open”, he said, “it also gave the authorities a license to torture”.
Nonetheless, Yusef continued, the new ruling “represents a key legal addition to the 1999 case”, by fleshing out some of the details of what had previously only been implicit definitions.
“From the [Abu Ghosh] case, a ticking bomb situation does not have to mean that an attack is imminent or that the person in question has the direct information to prevent such a situation. Secondly, the case categorises the banana position, pressure on his fingers, and a beating as simply being ‘moderate physical pressure’.”
Thus, Yusef asked, “the question now is: what will the Israeli state actually consider as torture, and how low can the bar go regarding a ‘ticking time bomb’ situation?”
The Supreme Court’s dismissal of PCATI’s petition joins a long list of examples where Israeli judges have declined to strike down legislation and policies which violate international law.
Addressing the Abu Ghosh ruling, a spokesperson for B’Tselem said that “vital to Israel’s ability to act with impunity is the Supreme Court routine of granting a veneer of legality to almost all violations of Palestinian human rights, and in this case, a particularly grave one”.
For PCATI, at the core of this new ruling is “a refusal… to admit that certain methods, which are recognised internationally as torture, are indeed torture in Israel as well”. While this may ultimately “put the court on a collision course with the International Criminal Court”, in the meantime, as PCATI noted, the “torturers” of Palestinian prisoners will continue to enjoy “absolute impunity”.
- Ben White is a British journalist and activist who primarily writes about the Israel-Palestine conflict. His article was published in MEMO.
Last week the court – sitting as the High Court of Justice – denied a petition brought by The Public Committee Against Torture in Israel (PCATI) on behalf of Palestinian prisoner Asad Abu Ghosh.
According to the petition, Abu Ghosh was tortured with “severe mental and physical violence” during a Shin Bet interrogation in 2007, including “beatings, being thrown against a wall, stress positions including the ‘banana’ position, sleep deprivation, and extreme mental duress”.
The High Court was presented with high-level and independent legal-medical opinions confirming the physical and mental damage caused to Abu Ghosh at the hands of his interrogators.
While allegations of torture by Shin Bet agents are commonplace, impunity is the norm; more than 1,000 complaints filed since 2001 did not produce a single criminal investigation. What made this case unusual, however, was that the state admitted “certain pressure methods” had been used.
Despite this, and the evidence presented by PCATI, the High Court still threw out the petition, accepting an earlier decision of the Attorney General not to open a criminal investigation against the interrogators, and thus granting the agents impunity for their actions.
For PCATI, how the court reached its decision is as disturbing as the verdict itself – and one paragraph in particular stands out. “The definition of certain interrogation methods as ‘torture’ is dependent on concrete circumstances,” wrote Judge Uri Shoham, “even when these are methods recognised explicitly in international law as ‘torture’ [my emphasis]”.
The High Court’s decision is being described by some as the most important legal development for interrogations and torture in some two decades; as a report in The Jerusalem Post put it, “essentially, the court took the state’s side on all of the key issues before it”.
In 1999, the High Court ruled that Shin Bet agents could not use “physical means” in their interrogations. However, the justices also held that agents who used such methods could be immune from criminal responsibility in the case of a “ticking bomb” scenario.
Unsurprisingly, since then Palestinians have continued to be tortured by Shin Bet interrogators relying on the “ticking bomb” exception – but as Israeli NGO B’Tselem put it, such methods “were not limited to exceptional cases and quickly became standard interrogation policy”.
This state of affairs has been widely documented, including by the UN Committee Against Torture in May 2016, by interrogators themselves, and in studies like the one published by the ‘Reproductive Health Matters’ medical journal in 2015, which found that “Israeli authorities are systemically involved with torture and ill-treatment of a sexual nature”.
As Israeli legal affairs analyst Yonah Jeremy Bob noted recently, Israel’s Supreme Court was “unique” in having established “a category of ‘moderate physical pressure’ that could legally be used on [prisoners]”. He added: “No democratic country in the present era has defended the legality of such methods or established normative legal principles relating to them quite like Israel.”
Now, this latest High Court decision leaves Palestinian prisoners even more vulnerable to abuse. According to PCATI, the ruling “permits de facto use of torture methods”, including even those forbidden in the High Court’s 1999 judgement, and also “blocks the way for victims who have suffered from physical and psychological trauma to seek redress”.
For Amnesty International, whose 2016/17 annual report found that Israeli forces and Shin Bet agents “subjected Palestinian detainees, including children, to torture and other ill-treatment with impunity”, the Supreme Court decision is troubling.
“We have serious concerns that in taking this decision the Court dismisses, yet again, credible and relevant evidence of systematic torture of Palestinian detainees”, said Magdalena Mughrabi, Amnesty’s Deputy Director for the Middle East and North Africa.
In doing so, she added, the court is “sending another green light” to Shin Bet interrogators “that it is acceptable to use methods of coercion, including the combined use of stress positions, beatings and sleep deprivation that amount to torture against Palestinian detainees”.
For Dawoud Yusef, head of the Advocacy and Lobbying unit at Palestinian prisoners’ rights group Addameer, “there is very little surprise in regard to the ruling in the case of Abu Ghosh”.
“Not only did the original case in 1999 leave the definitions for ‘moderate physical pressure’ and a ‘ticking bomb’ situation open”, he said, “it also gave the authorities a license to torture”.
Nonetheless, Yusef continued, the new ruling “represents a key legal addition to the 1999 case”, by fleshing out some of the details of what had previously only been implicit definitions.
“From the [Abu Ghosh] case, a ticking bomb situation does not have to mean that an attack is imminent or that the person in question has the direct information to prevent such a situation. Secondly, the case categorises the banana position, pressure on his fingers, and a beating as simply being ‘moderate physical pressure’.”
Thus, Yusef asked, “the question now is: what will the Israeli state actually consider as torture, and how low can the bar go regarding a ‘ticking time bomb’ situation?”
The Supreme Court’s dismissal of PCATI’s petition joins a long list of examples where Israeli judges have declined to strike down legislation and policies which violate international law.
Addressing the Abu Ghosh ruling, a spokesperson for B’Tselem said that “vital to Israel’s ability to act with impunity is the Supreme Court routine of granting a veneer of legality to almost all violations of Palestinian human rights, and in this case, a particularly grave one”.
For PCATI, at the core of this new ruling is “a refusal… to admit that certain methods, which are recognised internationally as torture, are indeed torture in Israel as well”. While this may ultimately “put the court on a collision course with the International Criminal Court”, in the meantime, as PCATI noted, the “torturers” of Palestinian prisoners will continue to enjoy “absolute impunity”.
- Ben White is a British journalist and activist who primarily writes about the Israel-Palestine conflict. His article was published in MEMO.
