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13 year old girl assassinated by israeli soldier Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/world/10372699.htmhttp://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/world/10372699.htm
Posted on Thu, Dec. 09, 2004
THE MIDDLE EAST
Israelis are soul-searching after fatal army shootings
Recent incidents, including the shooting death of a 13-year-old girl in Gaza, set off debate over whether the Israeli army is acting inhumanely in its dealings with Palestinians.
BY DION NISSENBAUM
Knight Ridder News Service
JERUSALEM - The Israel Defense Forces, with a motto of ''win and remain a human being,'' likes to see itself as setting a moral standard for militaries around the world. But that self-image has been tarnished by recent incidents that have the country debating whether Israeli soldiers have behaved inhumanely.
First came the fatal shooting of a 13-year-old Gaza schoolgirl, who was cut down by wary soldiers when she ventured too close to a military outpost. Then came broadcast images, faintly reminiscent of America's Abu Ghraib prison scandal in Iraq, showing smiling Israeli soldiers standing next to slain Palestinians.
That was soon followed by a video that reminded some Israelis a little too much of the Holocaust: a Palestinian musician playing his violin for soldiers at a West Bank checkpoint.
Then on Friday, soldiers killed a Palestinian extremist on the West Bank in what human rights advocates say was an execution after the man had been captured.
Israeli newspapers have been filled with articles, letters and editorials deploring the incidents. Ha'aretz declared a ''death of innocence.'' A Jerusalem Post editorial said the soldiers were ``in a real sense, handing the terrorists a victory.''
In a time of relative calm after four years of a Palestinian uprising, the incidents have renewed soul-searching for the Jewish nation: Is this who we are? Is this what we've become?
''It's touched a nerve,'' said Jessica Montell, the executive director of B'Tselem, a leading Israeli human rights group. ``What's surprising is that whereas usually these kinds of things are treated as one bad seed, the case of the girl in Gaza has opened a Pandora's box and unleashed a range of issues we have been dealing with for four years.''
TAPES SHOWN
The shooting of the Gazan teenager, Iman al Hams, has sparked the greatest outrage. Last month, an Israeli captain was charged with emptying his weapon into the schoolgirl to ensure that she was dead.
After initially being cleared of any wrongdoing, the captain came in for criticism by his fellow soldiers, who accused him of stepping over the line. Then a top Israeli news program aired tapes of the incident which showed that the soldiers knew that the suspicious figure was a girl who was ``dying of fear.''
In an audiotape of radio transmissions, jittery soldiers can be heard describing the figure as a little girl running for cover after they fired warning shots. Four minutes later, the soldiers opened fire on the girl. The captain then can be heard saying, ``Confirm the kill.''
''Anyone who moves in the area, even if he's 3 years old, must be killed,'' the captain told soldiers over his radio.
The captain went to check on the girl, fired two shots from his M-16 into her head, then emptied his weapon, according to the indictment.
The impact of the girl's death grew with the broadcast of photos showing Israeli soldiers appearing to gloat over slain Palestinians. That was followed by the videotape of a Palestinian musician playing his violin so he could pass through a West Bank checkpoint.
The musician said a soldier told him to play something sad, but an internal investigation concluded that the soldier had acted properly by asking the musician to open his violin case so that he could check for explosives and that the musician started to play on his own.
The most recent case came Friday during a raid on a suspected Islamic Jihad safe house near Jenin. According to B'Tselem, soldiers executed a member of the violent group Islamic Jihad after he had been wounded and captured. The Israel Defense Forces originally said the member had been shot while running away but announced Tuesday that it would conduct an investigation. An initial investigation had determined that mistakes had been made, but the IDF denied that the extremist had been executed.
The ''Shayetet 13'' naval commando unit involved in the incident has been suspended from active duty in the territories pending the conclusion of the investigation, the IDF said.
ISRAELI VALUES
Widespread public dismay at the incidents shows the incidents don't reflect Israeli values, said Michel Bar Zohar, a former member of Knesset, Israel's parliament, and author of Facing a Cruel Mirror: Israel's Moment of Truth.
''I don't know any other society that has such moral principles and is so keen on preserving them,'' he said.
Montell, however, said questions ought to go beyond the incidents themselves. ''What are the implications for our society,'' she said. ``Can you expect soldiers to remain humane doing that job?''
Knight Ridder correspondents Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson in Gaza and Cliff Churgin in Jerusalem contributed to this report.
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