Illegal Israeli settlers shoot Palestinians right in front of 'idle' Israeli troops

File photo shows an armed Jewish settler in the occupied West Bank 

with Israeli soldiers. Photo credit: Press TV 

Jewish settlers shoot Palestinians as Israeli soldiers stand idle
Press TV
May 21, 2012

In the latest scandal involving the Israeli military, soldiers stand by and refuse to intervene as extremist Jewish settlers open fire on Palestinians in the occupied West Bank.

A video clip released by the Israeli human rights group B'Tselem shows armed settlers from Yitzhar settlements, near Nablus, attacked the nearby village of Asira al-Qibliya over the weekend and threw rocks at Palestinian homes, sparking clashes in the area.







The footage also shows the settlers, who were armed with two M-16 assault rifles and a pistol, shooting Palestinians in the presence of at least three soldiers. The Israeli soldiers only watched the violence and did nothing to stop the settlers. One soldier is also seen running away from the unrest.

A 24-year-old Palestinian man was injured in the shooting and five others were wounded by settlers who were throwing stones.

B'Tselem has filed a complaint with the police, urging an investigation into the incident, saying that the soldiers "did not adhere to their obligation to protect Palestinians from settler violence."

It has also called for the prosecution of the settlers involved in the violence.

Rights groups have repeatedly accused Israeli troops of refusing to protect Palestinians against the Jewish settlers. Former West Bank Division Commander Brigadier General Nitzan Alon has also said that Israeli soldiers have not been working enough to stop settler attacks on Palestinians.

Israeli settlers, mostly armed, regularly attack Palestinian villages and farms and set fire to their mosques, olive groves and other properties in the occupied West Bank in what they believe to be the "price tag" for every outpost or West Bank settlement that is demolished.

Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank are illegal under the international law.

HM/JR/AZ



Video(s) bublished on May 20, 2012 by btselem
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The Obama Administration obstructing justice in Israeli-occupied Palestine on Human-Rights Commission probe into illegal settlements...`aint that a surprise

U.S. pressing UN Human Rights Commissioner to put off West Bank settlements probe
Israeli Foreign Ministry officials believe the aim of Obama administration pressure is to postpone the probe until at least after the presidential elections in November.

By Barak Ravid
Haaretz
May 2, 2012

The Obama administration is trying to delay the establishment of a panel appointed by the United Nations Human Rights Council to investigate the issue of Israeli settlements in the West Bank.

U.S. Middle East envoy David Hale met in Bern last week with UN Human Rights Commissioner Navi Pillay and asked her not to advance the matter in the near future.

An Israeli settlement near the West Bank city of Nablus. 

Photo credit: AP

According to the text of the decision to establish the panel, it is meant "to investigate the implications of the Israeli settlements on the civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights of the Palestinian people throughout the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem." However, the UN Human Rights Commissioner has yet to formulate a clear mandate for the panel and has not appointed a chairman or members.

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Foreign Ministry officials noted that the U.S. wants to postpone the establishment of the panel to the latest possible date, hoping this will lead to the unofficial burial of the matter. However, the assessment is that it will not be possible to prevent the establishment of the panel, so the aim is therefore to delay it until at least after the U.S. presidential elections in November.

On March 30, a week after the decision by the UN Human Rights Council, Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon traveled secretly to Washington to meet with his U.S. counterpart Bill Burns. Ayalon asked for help in thwarting the establishment of the panel and even suggested that the U.S. publicly threaten to quit the UN Human Rights Council if the panel is established.

The Americans did not respond to that threat, as they view membership in the UN Human Rights Council as a central issue in the foreign policy of the Obama administration. However, the Americans agreed to pressure the UN Human Rights Commissioner on the date of the establishment of the panel and the mandate that it will receive.

Following the UN Human Rights Council's decision to establish the panel to investigate the settlements, Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman decided to halt cooperation with the UN Human Rights Commissioner and her staff and to boycott the proceedings of the UN Human Rights Council.

A Foreign Ministry official told Haaretz that one of the people who tried to change Lieberman's mind from taking that step was none other than Israel's ambassador to UN institutions in Geneva, Roni Leshno-Yaar.

Leshno-Yaar came to Israel several weeks ago for policy consultations, met personally with Lieberman, and tried to convince him to go back on the decision. Leshno-Yaar said that the damage of the decision would outweigh the benefits.

Lieberman listened to Leshno-Yaar, but did not accept his view. Leshno-Yaar returned to Geneva and received written instructions to cut all ties with the UN Human Rights Commissioner and to not appear at UN Human Rights Council discussions. Consequently, much of the work of Israel's envoy to UN institutions in Geneva was frozen in place.

Incidentally, Leshno-Yaar will finish his role in Geneva in a few months and return to Israel to serve at the Foreign Ministry headquarters in Jerusalem as the deputy director-general of ties between Israel and the UN.