Palestinians shot dead by Israeli troops near Nablus

[Donald Ian Rankin]

Palestinians shot dead by Israeli troops near Nablus

Guardian sees x-ray of bullet lodged in protester's skull contradicting claims by Israel that live rounds were not used

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/mar/21/palestinians-shot-dead-isreal-nablus#

Israeli troops shot dead two Palestinians in the occupied West Bank today amid a new descent into violence.

The two, who Palestinians claimed were detained while ploughing a field of olive trees near Nablus, were shot several times. Palestinian officials said both were 17. The Israeli military said they had tried to stab a soldier.

(snip)

Witnesses and doctors at the Nablus speciality hospital, where the boys were treated, said both were hit by what appeared to be live rounds that left small entry wounds.

The Israeli military said in a statement there had been a "violent and illegal riot" in the village and that soldiers "responded with riot dispersal means". It said troops fired tear gas and rubber bullets, but denied firing live rounds. "Live fire was not used," the military said.

However, a hospital x-ray of Osaid Qadus, seen by the Guardian, showed a bullet lodged in his brain.

Ahmed Hamad, a doctor at the hospital who treated the two, said the x-ray showed a "classic, pure metallic bullet". He said both boys had injuries with small entry wounds.


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[aquart]

1. Shit.

[MUAD_DIB]

2. Appropriate commentary.

The shit just never ends in the promised land.

Were those weapons manufactured and or sold to the Israelis by US corporations? Did the power to purchase these weapons come from the US in the form monetary aid?

[shira]

3. It's hard to take seriously anything written by Rory McCarthy

http://cgis.jpost.com/Blogs/point/entry/goodbye_rory_mccarthy_posted_by

[Donald Ian Rankin]

4. Least effective hatchet job I've read for a long time.

If this is the best someone setting out to trash McCarthy's journalism can do, it's a fair indication that he's pretty good at what he does. Certainly, he's more reliable than most of what's in a far-right-wing rag like the Jpost.

So, yeah, I think that this story is definately worth taking seriously; it's fairly clear that once again the IDF has been killing Palestinians and lying about it.

[Donald Ian Rankin]

5. Can anyone find me an early version of the Jpost article on this, before they changed it, please?

Right now, the Jpost is reporting this at http://www.jpost.com/Israel/Article.aspx?id=171462

IDF kills 2 attackers in W. Bank
By JPOST.COM STAFF
21/03/2010 13:25

Assailants shot after trying to stab soldiers securing Palestinian farmers near Itamar.


Two Palestinians who attempted to stab a soldier with a pitchfork and a broken glass bottle near the Hawara checkpoint in Samaria were killed by IDF fire on Sunday afternoon. The soldier was not hurt in the attack.

The incident occurred while a Nahshon Brigade force was securing Palestinians working their fields south of the settlement of Itamar.

Two men, one carrying a pitchfork and another holding a broken glass bottle, were spotted by a group of soldiers, and one of them asked to see their ID cards. The Palestinians seemed surprised and tried to stab the soldier with the pitchfork. The soldier's comrades shot the assailants, wounding them critically. A Magen David Adom team pronounced their deaths at the scene, after failing to resuscitate them.

(more at link)

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They report the soldiers version of the story unquestioningly, and make no mention whatsoever of the claim that they didn't use live ammunition. But I'm fairly sure that when I read the same article earlier today, it was even more onesided, with multiple uses of the word "terrorist" to describe the killed Palestinians. Can anyone with stronger internet-fu than me find and record that version, please?
T

[henank]

6. There were 2 separate incidents today of Palestinians being killed

One incident, where 2 were killed by ostensibly live fire during riots, the IDF says it did not use live rounds, only rubber bullets. link here

The second incident is as you quoted above - 2 Palestinians attacked soldiers and were shot. 2nd link here

[azurnoir]

7. some here about those rubber bullets

Other testimonies raise concerns as to the procedures of opening fire in the territories, particularly crowd control weapons. A female Border Guard detailed to protocol she called "dismantling rubber" – the dismantling of rubber bullets from clusters of three to single bullets, and peeling the rubber off of them. She also said that, despite the clear orders to fire in the air or at the demonstrators' feet, it was common procedure to fire at the abdomen.


A female Border Guard officer in Jenin spoke of an incident in which a nine-year-old Palestinian, who tried to climb the fence, failed, and fled – was shot to death: "They fired… when he was already in the territories and posed no danger. The hit was in the abdomen area, they claimed he was on a bicycle and so they were unable to hit him in the legs."

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3841480,00.html

[Donald Ian Rankin]

8. N.B. The bit I've cut includes the words "in a separate incident"

Thanks to Henank for pointing this out. I will now retire and practice my speed-reading comprehension skills...