He's already been exonerated by one Israeli military court. Want to bet that this indictment will never yield a conviction?? Read the statement from the orignal trial below. It's appalling.



Israeli officer indicted in girl's shooting


Monday 22 November 2004, 13:40 GMT


Many Palestinian children have been killed by Israeli fire


An Israeli military court has indicted an army officer accused by his own soldiers of emptying his weapon into a Palestinian schoolgirl who was already dead.


At the hearing on Monday, the officer was charged with two counts of illegal use of a weapon, two counts of inappropriate behaviour and exceeding his authority and one count of obstruction of justice, Israeli military sources said.

The indictments followed a military police investigation into an
incident on 5 October in which 13-year-old Iman al-Hams was shot dead by soldiers in the southern Gaza town of Rafah on suspicion she was carrying explosives in her school satchel.

According to a fellow soldier, the commander then fired into the girl's body several times. The doctor who examined the body said it was riddled with 20 bullets, including five in the head.

The indictments were issued just five weeks after the soldier was cleared of any wrongdoing in another parallel army investigation.

"The investigation did not find that the company or the company commander had acted unethically during the incident," the army said on 15 October following the conclusion of an internal investigation.

The soldier was arrested shortly afterwards by the military police after they discovered contradictions in his testimony, public radio said.

The officer denies all the charges against him, the radio said, adding that tapes of the radio communications on the day are to be played at the trial.

Army chief of staff Moshe Yaalon said soldiers had justified firing at the girl because they suspected she wanted to distract their attention and lead them away from their watch tower so Palestinian snipers could shoot them.


AFP



E Tan, E Epi Tas!

Is it this sentence you find objectionable?

"The investigation did not find that the company or the company commander had acted unethically during the incident," the army said on 15 October following the conclusion of an internal investigation.

If this guy was merely a platoon commander (a company has three platoons) then there is nothing wrong with the statement.  Of course if this guy was the company commander then that's a different story.

BTW, it would be nice if you could place a link to this and other news articles in the future.

He fired numerous times into the dead girls body and you find the statement that he did nothing unethical acceptable? I find it hard to believe that any thinking person could come to that conclusion. I have to believe you misread the article. Please read it again before you think to post such an absurd comment.

E Tan, E Epi Tas!

Like I said, was this guy just a platoon commander or company commander?  Because if the company was generally acting properly, then this guy is just one bad apple.  You have to make the difference.

OK, I have found a better article that says this guy was the company commander.  So yes, I agree this is a disturbing development.

http://www.haaretzdaily.com/hasen/spages/504926.html

Givati commander indicted for shooting 13-year-old girl
By Amos Harel, Haaretz Corresponden

An indictment was handed down in the Southern Command's Military Court Monday against Captain R., a Givati company commander accused of illegally using his weapon to kill 13-year-old Imam al Hamas, a Palestinian girl who was on her way to school near the Girit outpost in southern Gaza.

Military prosecutors issued a five-count indictment against the officer, including two counts of illegally using his weapon, and one count each of obstruction of justice, conduct unbecoming an officer, and improper use of authority. The officer, who has been suspended, was not identified.

Channel Two's documentary show Fact broadcast last night the army communications network tape recording of the real-time events, including videotape, in which R. is heard explicitly stating he "verified the kill." The tape showed that the soldiers at the outpost kept firing at the girl even after she had been identified by soldiers as "about 10 years old."

The October 5 event took place around 7 in the morning, when a soldier on duty at the outpost spotted a "suspicious figure" about 100 meters from the outpost. Soldiers immediately began firing at the figure while R., the outpost commander, together with some officers and soldiers, left the outpost and took up a position behind a sand rampart next to the outpost.

The soldiers said they thought she was planting a bomb. The girl's family said she was on her way to school when she was shot. According to the indictment, R. charged the girl after she was shot and fired two rounds at her from close range. He began walking away, then turned around and shot her again.

"The accused stood similarly to the way he stood when he shot her twice - pointed his weapon downward and shot, this time on automatic, approximately 10 bullets until he emptied his magazine," the indictment says. It is not known whether the girl was already dead when he shot her. At the time, Palestinian hospital officials said the girl was shot at least 15 times, mostly in the upper body.

The accused officer initially said he came under fire from Palestinian gunmen at least 300 yards (meters) away as he approached the girl's body and shot at the ground to deter the fire, a military official said. The official could not explain why the officer shot into the ground rather than at the source of the fire.

The military prosecutor said the military law does not include "verification of the kill" as a crime, so they decided to charge R. with "illegal use of a weapon." He is not being charged with manslaughter since there is no evidence that R.'s bullets were those that killed the girl.

The decision not to charge the other soldiers at the outpost was because they acted on the assumption that the suspicious figure was a terrorist and not a young girl. R. however, is heard in the tape specifically saying he shot "the girl," and had heard on the communications radio that the figure was a young girl.

 

>>"Many Palestinian children have been killed by Israeli fire"<<- Many Israeli kids were killed by suicide bombers!!!

How would you react if a girl was approching you that was wearing a coat and carring a heavy school bag when the temperature out side is 32 degrees?

just for the reference: the area that she was walking in was forbitten for everyone.

How would I react? Well, if the Israeli troops GET OUT of Palestine, then they need have no fear of being attacked, right?

Israel is an unwanted occupying power on land that doesn't belong to them. When you steal someone else's property, they have a tendency to want to fight over it.

The IDF in the West Bank and Gaza are acting like rogue killers. What a great image for the rest of the world to see!

E Tan, E Epi Tas!

>>"How would I react? Well, if the Israeli troops GET OUT of Palestine, then they need have no fear of being attacked, right?

Israel is an unwanted occupying power on land that doesn't belong to them. When you steal someone else's property, they have a tendency to want to fight over it.

The IDF in the West Bank and Gaza are acting like rogue killers. What a great image for the rest of the world to see!"<< - First of all, you didn't answer my question. second of all, America is also an unwanted occupying power on land that doesn't belong to them.

America is torturing Iraqi prisoners in Iraq, What a great image for the rest of the world to see!

And these Iraqi prisoners are actually harmless civilians!!!
Israel treats its prisoners with respect!!!

""And these Iraqi prisoners are actually harmless civilians!!!
Israel treats its prisoners with respect!!!""


Ohh my god is that the crap zionist are teaching you in school. I really hope thats not what you truly believe.
I'll be honest there is some abuse going on in IRAQ but theres a war there!!!!!!
But you zionist have been mistreating the Palestinians since the 1940's oh **** I can't believe the brain washing that goes on there. Thank God my kid will never ever learn from RACISTS LIKE YOURSELVES.

>>"Ohh my god is that the crap zionist are teaching you in school. I really hope thats not what you truly believe.
I'll be honest there is some abuse going on in IRAQ but theres a war there!!!!!!
But you zionist have been mistreating the Palestinians since the 1940's oh **** I can't believe the brain washing that goes on there. Thank God my kid will never ever learn from RACISTS LIKE YOURSELVES.<<"

LOL, The palastinians are mistreating us since 1940s!!!

The palastinians are the once who miss treat Israeli prisoners!!!
The palastinians treat Israeli prisoners even worser than the USA in Iraq!!!


And no they don't teach how Israel treats prisoners in school, they show you on TV how Israel treats it's prisoners, and they even asked the prisoners how are they being treated, and the prisoners said that they are being treated very well!!!

Actually, I know some people my self that worked in this place were they talk to prisoners to find out as much info about the enemy as possible, and guess what, they don't beat up the prisoners and chop of their body parts like the arabs or the USA do, but they treat them with respect and they let them eat and drink. only when things get out of control (when a prisoner goes mad and starts fighting with the guard or something), then they give him a few punches and kickes to calm him down. In another country, like in the USA, if a prisoner went mad then they would probably shoot him.
So as you can see, in Israel we treat prisoners like people and not like animals!!!!

The Turkish newspaper Zaman says the girl was shot even though IDF troopers told their commander it was only a schoolgirl. He then went up to her and emptied his pistol into her:


Israeli Commander Killed Palestinian Girl on Purpose


A video has been broadcast showing an Israeli army officer killing a 13-year-old Palestinian girl, Iman Al-Hams, and then emptying his gun into the girl's body at a check point on Gaza Strip.

In the video broadcast by Israel Channel 2, the Israeli army officer ignored a colleague's warning that "the person approaching is a girl" and killed her on purpose, contrary to what had been claimed.

On the recording from the watchtower and operation room, the commander's voice can be heard describing Al-Hams as "a scared girl".

The record also showed that there was no mention of a bomb among the soldiers, contrary to what had been claimed previously.

In the first statement, it had been stated that Al Hams was killed as she might have been carrying a bomb.

Later, the army officer, referred to as 'R', walked towards the girl to make sure that she was dead.

"R" said: "We fired at and killed the girl. I was just confirming that she was killed, okay."

After R emptied his gun into the body of the girl, he declared: "This is your captain speaking. Any living thing even a three-year-old girl, intending to enter this region is supposed to be killed. Okay?"


E Tan, E Epi Tas!

Israeli officer: I was right to shoot 13-year-old child

Radio exchange contradicts army version of Gaza killing

Chris McGreal in Jerusalem
Wednesday November 24, 2004
The Guardian

An Israeli army officer who repeatedly shot a 13-year-old Palestinian girl in Gaza dismissed a warning from another soldier that she was a child by saying he would have killed her even if she was three years old.
The officer, identified by the army only as Captain R, was charged this week with illegal use of his weapon, conduct unbecoming an officer and other relatively minor infractions after emptying all 10 bullets from his gun's magazine into Iman al-Hams when she walked into a "security area" on the edge of Rafah refugee camp last month.

A tape recording of radio exchanges between soldiers involved in the incident, played on Israeli television, contradicts the army's account of the events and appears to show that the captain shot the girl in cold blood.

The official account claimed that Iman was shot as she walked towards an army post with her schoolbag because soldiers feared she was carrying a bomb.

But the tape recording of the radio conversation between soldiers at the scene reveals that, from the beginning, she was identified as a child and at no point was a bomb spoken about nor was she described as a threat. Iman was also at least 100 yards from any soldier.

Instead, the tape shows that the soldiers swiftly identified her as a "girl of about 10" who was "scared to death".

The tape also reveals that the soldiers said Iman was headed eastwards, away from the army post and back into the refugee camp, when she was shot.

At that point, Captain R took the unusual decision to leave the post in pursuit of the girl. He shot her dead and then "confirmed the kill" by emptying his magazine into her body.

The tape recording is of a three-way conversation between the army watchtower, the army post's operations room and the captain, who was a company commander.

The soldier in the watchtower radioed his colleagues after he saw Iman: "It's a little girl. She's running defensively eastward."

Operations room: "Are we talking about a girl under the age of 10?"

Watchtower: "A girl of about 10, she's behind the embankment, scared to death."

A few minutes later, Iman is shot in the leg from one of the army posts.

The watchtower: "I think that one of the positions took her out."

The company commander then moves in as Iman lies wounded and helpless.

Captain R: "I and another soldier ... are going in a little nearer, forward, to confirm the kill ... Receive a situation report. We fired and killed her ... I also confirmed the kill. Over."

Witnesses described how the captain shot Iman twice in the head, walked away, turned back and fired a stream of bullets into her body. Doctors at Rafah's hospital said she had been shot at least 17 times.

On the tape, the company commander then "clarifies" why he killed Iman: "This is commander. Anything that's mobile, that moves in the zone, even if it's a three-year-old, needs to be killed. Over."

The army's original account of the killing said that the soldiers only identified Iman as a child after she was first shot. But the tape shows that they were aware just how young the small, slight girl was before any shots were fired.

The case came to light after soldiers under the command of Captain R went to an Israeli newspaper to accuse the army of covering up the circumstances of the killing.

A subsequent investigation by the officer responsible for the Gaza strip, Major General Dan Harel, concluded that the captain had "not acted unethically".

However, the military police launched an investigation, which resulted in charges against the unit commander.

Iman's parents have accused the army of whitewashing the affair by filing minor charges against Captain R. They want him prosecuted for murder.





THE WORLD IS A BRIDGE, CROSS IT, BUT BUILD NO HOUSE UPON IT!

“IS THERE LIFE AFTER DEATH? ... TRESPASS HERE AND FIND OUT”






CIA agent Geoffrey Kemp talking about Saddam Hussein:

“WE KNEW HE WAS A SON OF A BITCH, BUT HE WAS OUR SON OF A BITCH”

If you ask an American why he keeps a gun, he'll say it's a dangerous world out there. If you ask the average Iranian why his country should have a nuclear weapon, he'll tell you the same thing. The difference between your average American and your average Iranian is that the former, while hardly crazy, is overreacting a bit, while the average Iranian is, as the Brits might say, spot on. If ever a country could use a nuclear arsenal, it is Iran.

Richard Cohen Washington Post