Israeli forces shot three Palestinian American youngsters within the occupied West Financial institution on Sunday ― killing one among them in what’s the newest incident of the navy focusing on U.S. residents, often with out consequence.
A gaggle of youngsters had been protesting an Israeli raid on the village of Turmus Ayya when Israeli troopers opened fireplace on them, hitting three teenage boys who’re U.S. residents, in response to native media and the Palestinian Ministry of Health.
Two 15-year-old Palestinian American boys, Ayoub Jabara and Abdulrahman Shihada, had been rushed to a hospital to get therapy for his or her wounds, in response to the village’s mayor Adeeb Lafi. However Israeli troopers detained the third, 14-year-old Amer Mohammad Saada Rabee, earlier than paramedics may get him assist.
Israeli troops shot Rabee 11 instances, in response to the Palestinian American Neighborhood Heart (PACC). The New Jersey teen was pronounced useless in custody.
Video on the bottom reveals Rabee’s mom kissing her son’s lifeless physique throughout his funeral in Ramallah on Monday. PACC, based mostly in New Jersey, held a prayer service in honor of the boy, whose demise the group mentioned was “entirely preventable and horrifically unjust.”
“Amer was killed for speaking out at a time when the U.S. and Israel are doing everything they can to crush dissent, but we will not be silenced,” Illinois state Rep. Abdelnasser Rashid, a fellow Palestinian American whose household can be from Turmus Ayya, advised HuffPost on Tuesday. The Democrat mentioned he’s spoken to a few of Rabee’s family in Chicago, who’re “understandably heartbroken.”
John Wessels/AFP by way of Getty Photographs
The Israel Protection Drive has confirmed the assault, justifying the taking pictures by saying the teenagers ― solely known as “terrorists” ― had been “endangering civilians” by throwing rocks on the freeway.
“By labeling children who throw stones as ‘terrorists,’ Israel entrenches a fabricated system above international law, violating its fundamental rules and principles, fabricating pretexts for killing, and entrenching its policy of institutionalised, systematic and unlawful violence and persecution against Palestinians,” Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor posted on X.
“The killing of children is not self-defense. Stone-throwing is not terrorism,” the Geneva-based rights group continued. “What Israel is committing is fully-fledged apartheid violence and relentless settler-colonial violence – ongoing, and met with impunity.”
Rabee is the newest American to be killed by Israeli forces, an all-too-frequent prevalence that nearly by no means resulted in penalties beneath the Biden administration.
Regardless of repeated requires accountability from each Israel and the U.S., the Justice Division has by no means pursued prosecution in these circumstances. The White Home, no matter who occupies it, has almost at all times deferred to the Israeli navy’s self-investigations, which when introduced have not often led to penalties.
The IDF didn’t reply HuffPost’s repeated questions as as to if there could be an impartial investigation in Rabee’s demise, nor if there have been any penalties that got here out of the investigation into Eygi’s demise.
Lindsey Wasson by way of Related Press
“We know the frustration of hearing Israel scrambling to falsely justify the targeting and killing of a loved one, as if anything justifies the killing of this child,” Eygi’s household mentioned in a press release on Monday. “We remember our rage seeing the unwillingness of our government to seek justice for the killing of one of its own citizens, despite our repeated calls for accountability.”
“If Ayşenur’s killing had been investigated and those responsible had been held accountable, maybe [Amer] would be alive today,” the household continued. “The impunity afforded to Israel by the United States, as well as its allowance on billions of dollars in weapons sales to Israel, allows Israel to continue its killing of American citizens.”
The Trump administration is now going through calls to reinstate sanctions on violent settlers and to analyze Rabee’s killing, together with by each New Jersey senators and the Council on American-Islamic Relations. On Tuesday, State Division spokesperson Tammy Bruce wouldn’t reply reporters’ questions on a potential investigation, solely sending condolences to the youngsters’ households.
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John Wessels/AFP. by way of Getty Photographs
“We are not calling for special treatment – only equal protection under the law for all Americans, regardless of their ethnic or religious identity,” CAIR mentioned in a letter to Lawyer Common Pam Bondi. “When Americans are murdered abroad, especially by actors from a U.S.-funded foreign military like Israel, our government has an obligation to respond with the full force of U.S. law. Failure to do so perpetuates injustice and undermines the principle that every American life matters.”
The Sunday taking pictures is additionally a part of a spike in violence towards Palestinians by Israeli troopers and settlers within the occupied West Financial institution, together with a bigger offensive within the northern area that has killed no less than 99 folks and displaced tens of hundreds, in response to the United Nations. Whereas Palestinians within the West Financial institution proceed to face such threats, Israeli forces have saved up their 18-month destruction of Gaza, the place UN officers say kids have bore the brunt of the violence and displacement.
“We know that [Amer’s] killing, like Ayşenur’s, has only garnered attention in America because he was a US citizen, and we also know there are thousands of other [Amer’s] and Ayşenur’s killed by Israel whose stories have not been told, simply because of where they were born,” Eygi’s household mentioned. “Israel must not only be held accountable for the killing of [Amer] and Ayşenur, but also for its continued genocide of the Palestinian people.”
