Report: 90% of Palestinian complaints to police 'unsolved'

[breakaleg]

It appears Israel is turning a blind eye to matters in the West Bank. It's interesting that Israel is up in arms when Palestinians resort to violence, but when they try to work within the law, they are ignored, which then drives them to violence. Who is really to blame?



http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/761022.html

A total of 90 percent of the complaints filed by Palestinians in the West Bank against Israeli citizens for violent attacks have been closed without charges being filed, according to a report prepared by the human rights organization Yesh Din, which will be made public Monday.

The organization is staffed by volunteers, who focus on the way law is enforced vis-a-vis Israelis in the West Bank, describes the police handling of the complaints as negligent, careless, unprofessional and disrespectful.
<snip>
Yesh Din says that Palestinians are sometimes prevented from filing complaints against settlers who damaged their property by the unwillingness of police officers to take down their testimony or because they are asked to present documents that they do not have.

According to a closer study of a sample of 42 cases, the following problems emerged in the police treatment of the plaintiffs: Their testimonies were not taken in Arabic; in few instances did the investigators agree to visit the site of the alleged crime; evidence from the crime scene was collected unprofessionally; testimonies of key witnesses were not taken; in almost all cases, no line-ups of Israeli suspects were held; in all 42 cases the police failed to check the suspects' alibis.

[Scurrilous]

1. One that didn't get away:

Jerusalem court convicts settler of 2005 murder of 4 Palestinians

<snip>

"The Jerusalem District Court Monday convicted Asher Weisgal, 30, of the West Bank settlement of Shvut Rachel, of the murder last year of four Palestinians, as well as one count of attempted murder, Army Radio reported.

On the day of the murders, Weisgal drove the four Palestinian workers from the factory where he worked in the settlement of Shilo.

Along the way, he took a gun from the guard of the settlement, shooting the four Palestinians at close range.

Following the incident, he returned to the factory, and tried to kill the fifth man."

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/761330.html

[Tom Joad]

2. Reports from friends near Hebron corroborate these findings.

They explain the difficulty in getting police to investigate the crimes of Settlers against Palestinians, basically next to impossible.
http://www.telrumeidaproject.org/

the police and the IDF basically believe their mission is to protect Jewish Settlers, not the rule of law. There are exceptions. But you would be likely to find soldiers participating in the violence against Palestinian residents as you would find those who would assist in enforcing the law.

[Englander]

3. West Bank rabbi, activist arrested

A rabbi from the West Bank settlement of Yitzhar was arrested early Tuesday morning on suspicion of incitement and seditious activity, Judea Samaria police reported.

According to the police, the arrest warrant was issued after repeated failures by the rabbi to answer police summons for interrogation.

In another arrest Tuesday, a resident of the West Bank settlement Achia was taken into custody for allegedly violating house arrest.

The suspect, who was one of 13 right-wing activists to be issued restraining orders in July barring them from the West Bank, was allowed to serve house arrest after he claimed that he was unable to find alternate accommodations outside the West Bank.

Both men were brought in for interrogation by the Judea Samaria police.

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1157913610011&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

[Scurrilous]

4. Yitzhar rabbi nabbed for sedition, incitement

Rabbi Yosef Paley, who teaches in West Bank settlement yeshiva, wrote article 3 years ago endorsing Arab genocide. ‘We must strive not to leave the conquered population under our rule... If they escape, all the better, but if they don’t escape kill every male,’ he wrote

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3302883,00.html

<snip>

"Samaria Police arrested Rabbi Yosef Paley of the settlement of Yitzhar early Tuesday on suspicion of incitement and sedition."

<snip>

"Police were investigating charges that Rabbi Paley committed incitement and sedition in an article he wrote of the Lehava journal in 2003.

Under the headline “Ways of war,” the rabbi wrote: “If so, the main mitzvah is not to leave the conquered population in the area we conquer. The fleeing should flee, and those that don’t should be killed. Every male over the age of 13 (and thus demolish the national existence)…"

"So we must strive not to leave under our rule the conquered population after it is defeated. If they escape, all the better. And if they don’t escape kill every male, or at least act towards their migration to other countries," he wrote.

Rabbi Paley has never been convicted for alleged disturbances of the peace or violence, but the allegations against him this time are for incitement to violence."

[Scurrilous]

5. Military Police to investigate 8 cases of alleged abuse in West Bank

<snip>

"The Military Police announced Wednesday that it would investigate eight allegations made by Palestinian civilians who claimed that Israel Defense Forces soldiers and Border Policemen abused them after they tried to bypass a West Bank checkpoint.

The decision to investigate the allegations was made after B'Tselem, The Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Territories, appealed to the IDF Central Command's Prosecution Office.

According to B'Tselem, the incidents occurred in July and August of this year in the northern West Bank, mainly between Nablus and Tul Karm. According to the the group, a marked rise in incidents occurred after the war broke out in Lebanon on July 12.

Witnesses said soldiers and Border Policemen beat, cursed and humiliated the Palestinians and destroyed their property. Some of the victims required hospitalization."

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/762325.html

[Scurrilous]

6. IDF soldiers suspected of beating Palestinian civilians

<snip>

"The Jaffa Military Court remanded Wednesday four Israel Defense Forces soldiers, suspected of severely beating two Palestinians at a check point on August 26.

Military investigators secretly recorded one of the suspects, who described the event as a lynch. "(The soldiers) had this thing, where every Arab should be killed," he said.

The soldiers are accused of abuse, aggravated assault, looting, and disruption of legal proceedings.

According to allegations, the check point commander, a sergeant, was involved in the attacks."

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/762943.html

[breakaleg]

7. I wonder if anything would have come of this if it weren't for the

recording where one suspect describes what they did. Makes you think how many other cases they get away with when it's a Palestinian's word against an IDF soldier.

[Englander]

8. 2 IDF soldiers charged with abusing civilians at checkpoint

By Amos Harel, Haaretz Correspondent and Haaretz Service

An Israel Defense Forces court on Thursday charged two IDF soldiers suspected of abusing two Palestinians last month at a checkpoint near Nablus.

The soldiers are accused of abuse, aggravated assault, looting, and disruption of legal proceedings.

The charges were brought to IDF Central Command's Prosecution Office by the human rights organization, B'Tselem, after Tha'ir Muhsen, a 27-year-old Palestinian man from a village near Nablus, lodged a complaint with the group saying the soldiers had beaten him and stolen his money.

As a result of numerous other complaints presented to B'Telem, the IDF's military investigative committee is currently probing eight different cases of abuse by soldiers against Palestinian civilians in the West Bank.

In the current case, Muhsen said the soldiers severely beat him, stole his money and tore his pants and identification card. Following the alleged assault, Muhsen required medical treatment.

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/766034.html