Hadash and the Communist Party of Israel (CPI) condemned on Monday, April 9, a video showing Israeli soldiers cheering as one of them, a sniper, shot and brought down a Palestinian who approached the Gaza security fence.
All Israeli television channels broadcast the clip at the start of their primetime evening news bulletins – with one host describing the spectacle of the cheering soldiers as “disturbing” – after it circulated widely on social networks.
All Israeli television channels broadcast the clip at the start of their primetime evening news bulletins – with one host describing the spectacle of the cheering soldiers as “disturbing” – after it circulated widely on social networks.
MK Ayman Odeh, (Hadash) head of the Joint List, denounced the incident and called for the sharpshooter and the soldier who filmed it to stand trial.
[This is] “a video that horrifies the mind. Calls of joy at taking a life and what appears to be the execution of someone who did not threaten anyone,” Odeh wrote on Twitter. Odeh’s party colleague Hadash MK Aida Touma-Sliman (Joint List) mocked the branding of the Israeli military as the “most moral army in the world” and wrote on Twitter: “This is another murder by Israeli soldiers of an unarmed Gazan,” she added, calling the footage “horrifying” and calling for an investigation.
Israeli human rights organizations that have frequently been critical of the actions of the military said that the video depicted the rule for the Israeli army, not the exception. B’Tselem, which recently led a campaign urging soldiers to refuse to shoot unarmed Palestinian protesters in Gaza, said that the Israeli army issues “illegal orders telling soldiers to shoot people who endanger nobody.” The organization said incidents such as the one documented in the video have occurred “hundreds of times” over the last few weeks, and dismissed the promise to investigate the shooting as a “meaningless” stunt that would “cover up the truth.”
At least 32 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces since March 30, when peaceful Palestinian demonstrations began along the Gaza Strip’s eastern border with Israel, the Palestinian Health Ministry has stated.
The rallies are part of a six-week-long demonstration that will culminate on May 15. That day will mark the 70thanniversary of Israel’s establishment – an event Palestinians refer to as the “Nakba” or “Catastrophe.”
The CPI and Hadash have condemned the military actions. MK Odeh emphasized on Sunday the peaceful nature of the protests, and added ““Even such a model of non-violent popular struggle is met with armed soldiers who don’t hesitate to fire at unarmed demonstrators. Israel must immediately stop the shooting and allow the residents of Gaza to carry out their just and legitimate protest.” Palestinian organizations also promised that they will not be cowed by the violence. Nafiz Ghuniam, a member of the Politburo of the Palestinian People’s Party, emphasized that the Palestinian people will continue protesting peacefully against the Israeli occupation.
Source: maki.org.il.
