 |
 |
 |
|
|
IDF soldiers confront a group of demonstrators at the security fence. (AP)
|
|
|
|
|
|
| By Ellis Shuman December 28, 2003 |
|
| |
The IDF launched an internal investigation into the incident on Friday in which left-wing activist Gil Na'amati was seriously injured and an American tourist sustained light wounds when Israeli troops fired live ammunition at protesters demonstrating near the security fence. "Nothing I did should have justified live fire, even if I was a Palestinian," Na'amati said. Left-wing politicians criticized the army; right-wing politicians criticized the demonstrators.
Na'amati, 22, from Kibbutz Re'im, suffered a gunshot wound to the leg; his condition was today reported as stable and moderate at Petach Tikva's Beilinson Hospital. The American woman, 25, was discharged from the hospital over the weekend.
IDF Spokesperson Brig.-Gen. Ruth Yaron this morning promised that the army would investigate why the IDF troops opened fire on a group of unarmed left-wing protesters who were not endangering the soldier's lives.
"All of the details, until the last of them, including the soldier's version and the demonstrators' story, are under the same investigation," Yaron told Army Radio. "We hope to complete the investigation and be able to give answers as soon as possible."
Haaretz reported that Attorney General Elyakim Rubinstein and IDF Chief Attorney Brig.-Gen. Menachem Finkelstein agreed that the military prosecution would consider ordering a criminal investigation into the incident in addition to the IDF's internal military investigation.
IDF: Soldiers fired warning shots
The incident occurred on Friday when Israelis, Palestinians, and foreigners gathered at the fence near the village of Meskha, east of Rosh Ha'ayin, to protest against the failure of the army to allow local farmers to reach their land. The demonstrators reportedly included members of the Anarchists Against the Wall and the International Solidarity Movement (ISM) groups.
Video footage of the incident showed that a number of the demonstrators attempted to cut through the security fence with wire cutters, while others climbed it and shook it in order to damage it.
"The soldiers fired warning shots in an attempt to warn off the civilians, and when they were ignored, they fired shots at the feet of one of the protesters considered to be the leader; his face was covered in a mask," the IDF Spokesperson's Office said.
"An IDF jeep was on the other side, and then a second jeep arrived. The soldiers did not call out to us but immediately took up firing positions, aiming at us," protester Uri Ayalon told the Jerusalem Post. "We called out to them that we are Israelis, their brothers, and that its possible we will meet up in the same supermarket buying food," he said.
In the video footage, the demonstrators could be heard calling out in Hebrew, "Don't shoot, we're Israelis," but it is unclear if the soldiers heard these calls.
"Then they started shooting, we didn't realize it was with live bullets," Ayalon said. "All of a sudden Gil, who was standing next to me, collapsed on the ground in a pool of blood,"
"Nothing I did justified opening fire on me," Na'amati told Army Radio on Sunday. "I was in the army and know the orders of when it is permissible to open fire. Even if I would have been a Palestinian there was no right to open fire on me, it is just unacceptable and I don't know what people were thinking to themselves."
Na'amati served for three years in an IDF combat unit and completed his mandatory military service last month. He said he joined Friday's demonstration because he was outraged at how the security barrier was disrupting Palestinians' lives, media sources reported.
"Fire only when lives are in danger"
According to the rules of engagement, soldiers are permitted to open fire only if their lives are deemed to be in danger, the Jerusalem Post reported.
An IDF officer from the Golani Brigade, identified by Yediot Aharonot as Shai, gave the soldiers under his command the issue to open fire. "The demonstrators were carrying signs in Arabic, and from the distance the soldiers could not tell if they were Israeli demonstrators, especially since they covered their faces," he said, quoted in the newspaper.
According to the paper, Shai issued the order to first fire warning shots, and then to fire at the demonstrators' feet. "From the soldier's standing, opening fire was the only solution," military officials said. "What should they have done, wait until the demonstrators burst through the fence?"
Left criticizes army, right criticizes demonstrators
MK Yossi Sarid (Meretz) said that orders like the ones issued to soldiers who shot at the demonstrators will only encourage refusal to serve in the territories among Israeli reservists.
"Left-wingers and Palestinians are easy prey for [Defense Minister Shaul] Mofaz and [IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Moshe] Yaalon," Sarid said. "No shots have ever been fired at settlers despite the fact that they have endangered the lives of soldiers on numerous occasions," he added.
Former justice minister Yossi Beilin said the soldier who shot Na'amati should have refused his commander's order to open fire. He warned that if the incident was not properly dealt with, it would send a signal that peace activists are the enemy, and this could lead to another political assassination.
"An order to fire on people that do not fire on you is a completely illegal order," said former Shin Bet security service head Ami Ayalon.
Minister without portfolio Uzi Landau (Likud) defended the shooting, saying that people who try to harm the fence are "collaborators with terrorism, and therefore the IDF was protecting the people of Israel... The fence is intended to save the lives of citizens of the state of Israel, and whoever harms it contributes to terrorism, and paves the path for suicide terrorists to strike among us. There are legitimate and legal ways to express opposing opinions, but this is not one of them," he said.
Deputy Defense Ministry Ze'ev Boim (Likud) said that he hopes an investigation will make clear that the IDF soldiers involved in the shooting were following military regulations. He added that when he recovers from the wounds sustained in the shooting incident, Na'amati would be tried for sabotaging the fence, Haaretz reported
|
|
 
|
|
|
|
Click on the blue headline to read a Talkback comment and respond to it. Click on the  icon to send a private email to the talkback writer. The icon appears only if the writer has decided to be contacted. If no popup window appears, please make sure your popup blocker allows israelinsider.com.
|
|
| |
|
|
