IDF soldier who shot British peace activist to be released from jail
IDF committee cuts sentence of former soldier Taysir Heib who was found guilty of manslaughter in the 2003 death of British peace activist Thomas Hurndall in the Gaza Strip.
By Anshel Pfeffer Tags: Israel news IDF GazaA former IDF soldier who was found guilty of manslaughter in the 2003 shooting death of British peace activist Thomas Hurndall in the Gaza Strip will be released early from prison next month.
Taysir Heib was sentenced in 2005 to eight years in prison for manslaughter as well as obstruction of justice and giving false testimony. The decision to shorten his sentence was made by an army committee, against the advice of Military Advocate General Brig. Gen. Avichai Mendelblit.
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British peace activist Thomas Hurndall who was killed by the IDF in the Gaza Strip in April 2003. |
| Photo by: AP |
Hurndall, a 22-year-old student, was shot in the head in April 2003 as he was photographing the work of International Solidarity Movement activists. Witnesses said Hurndall had been helping Palestinian children avoid IDF tanks.
In his investigation, Heib initially claimed he had fired on an armed Palestinian, enlisting supporting testimony from another soldier in his unit. A few months later, however, the second soldier told Military Police investigators that he had not witnessed the incident.
In the verdict, the judges upheld all the arguments of the military prosecution, outlining and emphasizing the series of false and contradictory versions of the incident provided by Heib throughout the investigation.
The judges found that Heib had shot Hurndall with a sniper's rifle, using a telescopic sight, and that Heib had given a "confused and pathetic" version of events to the court.
The court also referred to a confession by the defendant in which he said he had wanted to teach Hurndall a lesson for entering a forbidden zone. Heib admitted to aiming 10 centimeters to the left of Hurndall's head to frighten him and inadvertently shooting the activist.
ISM members often place themselves between IDF troops and Palestinians in an effort to prevent military operations.
Sophie Hurndall, Tom's older sister, said the family had not been informed by Israeli authorities about the early release, but rather found out about it when someone from the British foreign office called with the news.
“We have not had time to regroup or work out what is going on. We have barely had time to process the news and we all feel angry and shocked,” she said, adding that they had long feared such a thing would happen. “We have had to deal with cover ups and lies and a total lack of accountability throughout - and this is in line with that. It's symptomatic.”
Hurndall said the family’s anger is not focused on Heib himself, but rather on the IDF and Israel as a whole.
“To be honest, it’s about the system. Not the man himself. This man who shot Tom was the same age as him. He is both the victim and the killer. He is part of a system that proactively encouraged soldier to target civilian," she said.
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As Hunrdall sees it, the early release sends a message from Israeli to its young soldiers, "telling them 'do what you want. We have your back.’”
Israel, she concluded, simply does not care what people think of it in the international community: “So many innocent [people] killed in so many horrific ways. They just don’t seem to care about anyone.”
Hurndall also criticized her own government, which, under the leadership of then-prime minister Tony Blair, did not come out, she claims, strongly against the killing and now has had a muted response as well.
“It's incredibly sad. One of the things that happened to me since my brother was killed is that I have lost faith in humanity. I cannot believe that people can do such things, and that my own government can sit by and keep quiet," she said.
The British Foreign Office issued an official statement in response, saying "we note the court's decision today to release Taysir Heib and recognize the grief this decision will cause to the Hurndall family. We have the deepest of sympathies for the Hurndall family. Tom's death was a tragedy."
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So called Israeli Justice. There is no anything for non jewishs in Israel. I start to believe Israel is a racist state...
Barak should give him a medal too. It seems that murder of non-Jewish is praised in this country.
Firstly,Thomas Hurndall should not have been killed and secondly Taysir heib should never have gone to prison. The above would never have happened if these so called peace activists had not treated peace activity as if it were a football match. A real activist talks and works on both sides of the fence,and does not go into a military zone and play the hero.
... for the poor British fellow. He was so young, and lived in a beautiful country. Why not to get married, have children, enjoy life in full ? He decided to travel to a zone of a fierce ongoing military conflict instead. Why should we presume that the outcome was totally unexpected ?
Why do ISM activists, Hamas agents, and the parents of Arab children allow their children to be present at demonstrations where they are in harms way. Gaza is a "hot zone", there are many Hamas terrorist whom attack Israeli civilians and the IDF. Why does ISM wait till shooting to start to clear children out of the way? If Tom was there to help, he could have done better by running a day care center in Gaza to keep the kids from attacking Israeli soldiers and attending pro-Hamas demonstrations/riots.
ISM is a racist hate organization bent on assisting in murdering Jews and destroying Israel. This solder (who, by the way is Bedouin and not Jewish) may have made a mistake, but such "peace activists" intentionally endanger people's lives every day, in the hope of assisting in murder of Israelis.
Sophie Hurndall: "He is part of a system that proactively encouraged soldier to target civilian" Amen!
...is an insult to all our intellgences. Just call him what he was: a pro-Palestinian activist
The real tragedy is the simple truth that when you give young men big guns they like to shoot "stuff", even civilians. A previous generation used to hope soldiers could eventually be "civilized", but it will never happen. Arab soldiers do it, Israeli soldiers do it, even American soldiers enjoy the "sport" of soft targets, as plenty of videos prove. Heib will probably be his own jailer.
Now that he is out of jail and is publicly known.
Now that he's out, it's time to promote him for performance beyond the call. Then its time to promote major R to Light Colonel. Afterall, he did get that 13 year-old girl and confirmed it when he discovered she was totally helpless and unarmed. That's gotta be worth more than one grade advancement, isn't it?
British sensibiliies, my arse. The Limeys released he Libyan murderer of Pan Am 103 passengers and thier own nationals. Jsut point that out if they complain about Taysir. The mamzer he shot was a human shield for Saddam Hussein beofre going to Gaza with the ISM...
This is extremely sad. This criminal killed an innocent human being (one that was trying to save small children no less) and gets a few years in prison. "Civilized" Israel is acting like the countries it criticizes in this case. Extremely disappointed in the only "democracy" in the Middle East. What a joke!!
This is a sad day as another murder was justified by the IDF. Thomas paid a high price to defend innocent people. My sympathy goes to his family and may God bless his soul. The UK is partnering with Israel to justify this crime which is unfortunate. Unfortunately UK and USA lack of good men/women in their government to do what’s right. ‘The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men/women to do nothing.’
I Will Make you into a great nation. A light unto the nations.....
That is the reason why we need the International Criminal Court, Courts in Britain, Courts in Spain and Courts in Belgim. Killing or shooting a foreigner in Israel is like eating a slice of Pizza.
Thomas Hurndall was killed by a sniper rifle, thats murder. As a sniper you have time enough to look whats happen, you can look easy for a target.
The soldier is a Bedouin, this why he got 8 years in jail, Jewish soldiers never got so 'many' years for killing Palestinian civilians or other civilians.
What an oxymoron!
The judiciary is present in order to punish and deter offenders, this provides the green light for the IDF to commit further crimes without the fear of criminal prosecution. Incidents of this nature only inflict further damage upon reputation of Isreal. This is the precise reason why the international community does not have faith with the judiciary in isreal and acts in a belligerent manner to this state.
A former IDF soldier who was found guilty of manslaughter in the 2003 shooting death of British peace activist Thomas Hurndall in the Gaza Strip will be released early from prison next month.? it is really shameful!
So that he will get a real trial and a real prison sentence.
The Jewish strict adherence to law as written, has a long and honorable history. But in recent times, in Israel, the content of some laws have been obscured by the form and simplistic interpretations made in order to achieve whatever those in positions of power have decided is convenient and comfortable for themselves.
The Jewish State claims it is a "country of laws". If so the overriding law is "Jews can get away with murder, land theft, torture and brutality, as long as the victim is a non-Jew." The second most important law is "Any criticism, no matter how mild, is an anti-semitic blood libel".
That he wasn't convicted in the first degree is disgusting in itself - so why be surprised over this? What's surprising is that he was convicted of ANYTHING in the first place. Of course, the only reason he was is because he's Bedouin! A Jewish Israeli would've been reprimanded for misuse of a firearm...
That's the guy I'd like to know the whereabouts of, the American Jew, convicted of killing one Afredo Teijo, and that spelling is all wrong, so fled to Israel, his well-heeled and -connected father had it arranged (and what are HIS whereabouts?) , the Israelis refused to turn him over (Jews? Get a fair trial in America?) and of course our government did and said squat.
escaping justice.
Justice is labsided in Israel, only Jews get Justice,m others get a bullet in the Head, every persons supprts this so called Israel should read and re-evaluate there thinking about Jews and lies for thousands years
Taysir Is a Bedoin not a jew, so you comment about only jews getting justice is off base. Why was tom in a forbiden zone? He put him self in danger and while sad the result was not hard to forsee
The British film maker provoked.
Here is the major difference between the two cases: The convictions, as I've noted previously. The Pan Am convict was given multiple life sentences, but was released later on apparent compassionate grounds, whereas the Hurndall convict was given a manslaughter sentence. Therefore Britain could have reasonably argued -- during the previous government -- about the leniency of the latter conviction, which came about because of the charge.
Those are plain unemployable radical anarchists looking for long lost causes . In my younger years they were fighting in defense of bloody Communist dictators against the free West . They love the paid-by-somebody else adventures without taking any responsibility for their actions .
You jews always have something to support your fellow jews even if they are mass murderer. I really don't know why the world is listening to you anymore.
Israel Justice tends to be very linient, causing serious complains from society, and in particular from crime victims. I don't know how is the law in England or Europe, but I suspect that it is similar. I suspect that also in these Western developed countries you have felons run free with insignificant punishments. If so, it run pretty consistently with the fact that institutions here try their best to conform with "advanced European standards". (The U.S. is generally considered "uncivilized" in these matters.) Now, if one would look at typical trials in Israel, it is plain that this guy was treated as a common manslaughter felon. Yep, 8 years, reduced to 5, makes perfect sense in this atmosphere. What is remarkable is that some of the precise people the court wants to impress with "modern lenient approach", are precisely the ones that critics it.
Shooting bullet to women and children in Gaza and being treated as a hero is another example of leniency in your country
your point completely falls to nothing if one believes, as most objective watchers would, that the conviction on such a lesser charge of manslaughter was the original sin, as it were
What is the meaning of an alleged peace activist; which is constantly referred to in the media. Cannot a "peace activist" who is sympathetic to a terrorist organization be anothers persons terrorist? Cannot one's "moderate" be anothers extremist. Neville Chamberlain was a true peace activist unfortunately his declaration "peace in our time" was the result of dealing with the terrorist of his time; and the piece of paper he was waving was not and adequate defense to the carnage about to unfold.
Chamberlain was buying time for the British army to build up. The German army was much stronger than the British army at the time. The pathetic American army was even weaker than the British army at that time.
cannot a "terrorist" be another man's "freedom fighter"?
Israel is showing the world it is governed by the military. The military protects it's own. The Israeli people are the big losers. I must say, between the military and the Military Industrial Complex, Israel is nothing but a mirror of America, or is it the other way around? Can people change their ways? America's spending $700,000,000,000 on war materials just this year. Israel and America must have war or what with they do with it? It's a cycle to oblivion. I've spent 55 years in the sporting arms business. I've watched a sporting business transformed into a killing business. I've watched amorality replace morality. How long will God let people continue?
if you're waiting for god to intervene you'll be waiting a very long time
Britain leaned on Cyprus authorithies ,so after some years in prison they were released and are now free in Britain. Beware walking through the woods the way this poor Danish turist girld did.
Ask yourself, if a jewish person were the victim, would your headline be: Man who shot jewish person to be released from jail, or Man who KILLED JEW to be released from jail. He did not just "shoot" the Brit. He KILLED the brit! I undrstand it is hard at times to view gentiles, and especially peace activists as human, but they really are. This punk soldier in his "teaching him a lesson, KILLED him. This is not just a shooting, or manslaughter, but MURDER!
so your entire point (other than your hatred of Jews) is unclear
Sit down at the peace table
Initially the IDF covered up the affair, but due to the struggle of the family, and with the help of a British expert, the initial story was proven false. What happened? After all the lies, the soldier claimed that while he used a rifle with a telescopic aiming device, he actually aimed to the left of Hurndall's head. He just "misssed" and killed the man. Any civilian court would not have believed this version, given the earlier lies, and would have considered the killing an intentional homicide, not "manslaughter". Not for nothing do people widely believe that the IDF 's first goal is to whitewash the killing of any Arab.
Recently exchanged clemency for the man who blew Pan Am 103 out of the sky and wiped out a Scottish neighborhood at the same time. In exchange for, it seems, a favorable oil deal between Libya and BP. Brits have nothing to tell Israel about clemency for this IDF soldier.
There is a difference. The Pan Am convict received multiple life sentences, whereas the above man received a conviction of manslaughter. The linitial length of the sentences were drastically different. The clemency you talk about came afterwards, for which Britain has apologized and accepted their mistake. The protest that Britain could have legitimately made, during the previous government, was towards the charge, not necessarily the length of the sentence.
Mark: The release arrangement for the so-called Lockerbie bomber aside, that trial was a travesty. I read about it. Suggest you do as well. That guy was convicted on nothing, nothing; with the evidence against him had it been any other trial, neither in America or UK (and that's saying something) would it have even gone to trial. Several Scottish judges thought the verdict was a disgrace.
So you have excuses for the British-released murderer of 270 people on Pan Am 103, and are SHOCKed at Israel for the early release of a person involved in the accidental death of a single British guy. Hmmm
The most celebrated hero of the Vietnam War was Lt. William Calley. So popular was he that Nixon pardoned him without his ever serving a minute in jail. Americans have nothing to tell israel about the clemency shown this IDF soldier.
I'm not critizing your analogy but doing that leaves open the door to bad by looking for someone worse to call your actions OK. The transcendent law (God's law) is what we better judge ourselves by because when we answer to Him, we can't imagine what punishment can be.
who feels ashame about it's country (which I would do) has any right to say his opinion about this
BP or it's comrades just did something to the Gulf of Mexico; the enormity of which still hasn't been made public. According to news reports, they burned off some of the oil trapping animals inside. They poured chemicals over and above the limits set by the EPA into the sea. There's a lot of nasty stuff. I can't go through it all. People may even suffer or die because of the mistakes. It's mentioned that Obama and CEO Tony Hayward were both out having fun while this all went down. Life isn't fair. So Hurndell died protecting children. Well that doesn't make me happy but neither does the rest of the news this week.
Now if only we could all stop bitching about the world and get off our ass and do something to fix it. Hey I am just as guilty.
These coward scumbags who are hoping to see the deaths of the israelis and the Jews I actually rank the Peace Activists worse then then the Arabs Ultimately the Activsts have the real blood on their hands and they are hoping to see Israelis killed I find it amazing that the Israelis are able to restrain themselves and not shoot them
Your heart, as the hearts of many of your fellow country men are dead, solid black. This is how you can utter words like this.
A man was murdered, the murderer lied and shot at his head hoping not to hit him- big risk! you are disgusting to just overlook that and also enquire why the Israelis don't kill more people. The problem with this whole conflict is that killing anyone who isn't an Israeli isn't deemed to be that bad- it's all in the pursuit of the state of Israel. It's absurd and dangerous and is writing Israel a very tragic path in the future- that only they will be responsible for. Turndall was protecting children from tanks, a noble, brave thing to do. What the IDF solider was cowardly and pathetic. He should stay in jail as should the others who lied to assist him.
Look how many positive rating has he taken from his fellow jews. This type of mentality has many supporters in Israel. It is a sick nation
People know nothing about this region, all these Westerners are basically appeasing the Arabs in the hopes the Arabs do not attack them in their lands The way I see it these Westerners are actually worse then the Arabs I could care less about this peace activist, I care about all the Israeli's who have to live in a constant state of hell by the Arabs who want to see them killed The way I see it, the Jews and Israel needs to stick up for themselves more People do not respect weak people There needs to be more people like this activist People do not respect Israel when they are weak and allow the Palestinians to fire rockets in Israel and blow them up in suicide bombings So what solution does Israel have?
Turndall was protecting children from tanks? What were those children doing out there Do you know the Palestinian fired on the Israelis first, and then the Palestinians like they do hid behind the children AH But who cares about the truth Just more Europeans who love to blame the Jews for their problems Like I said there needs to be more people like this activist Israel is in a no win situation, they will either die like dogs or die taking people out with them Better to die taking people out with them
Nothing worse than peace eh?
To some Israel's supporters, taking a sniper rile and and shot the unarmed person who was protecting children from tanks MUST have been legitimate target. After all, this case is NOT the only case whereby the civilians are targeted and killed by Israel soldiers. Since the killing Palestinians or their supporters are 'unofficially' sanctioned by IDF (as long as it was not caught on tape), the fact that this soldier must served in jail must be heartbroken. Peace activists has now become terrorist supporters and are NOW legitimate target.
8 years for manslaughter and obstructing justice then early release while life time prison for PAL who stone israeli soldiers aiming their rifle at them!
you try to create a contrast that is absurd. Why would anyone throw stones at a soldier aiming a rifle at you? That's becasue the incident does not start out that way. First the palestinians feel free to stone Jewish soldiers, then the Jews defend themselves. Otherwise, the Arabs would not have thrown stones. Its wreckless behavior on their part hoping that they are not the particular individual to catch the bullet, but draw in unwitting crowd of children, handicapped, elderly and women who are used to being protected and preached to about Jews thinking they are immune from retaliation and military control. You paint a picture that is false.
"As enshrined in international law and UN resolutions , we recognize the Palestinian right to resist Israeli violence and occupation via legitimate armed struggle. However, we believe that nonviolence can be a powerful weapon in fighting oppression and we are committed to the principles of nonviolent resistance.”
Please crawl back into your dark dark world, where you can do no harm, your foul mouth is getting very boring, but always manage to spout such bs.
and you will get a sense of how unjust the Israeli justice system is.
Most actual Palestinian shooters never even make it to trial.
In every decent country you can argue that some verdicts are fair or not. In Israel, Justice is very lenient. We have rapists who serve 3 month if any. (this is Europe influence btw). For Pals. it is the state rule - you can kill Israelis without consequences.
You have just levelled a very serious charge at a gentleman who unfortunately is no longer here to defend himself - a horrible attack upon a murdered man, may be R.I.P. How you can be so callous and treat another human being's death with such contempt is beyond imagination. However Tim was no terrorist, nor did he belong to any terrorist organization and I challenge you to provide written proof immediately to back up your claims. I am used to reading your complete nonsense and incitement to hatred, boasting etc.,but you have crossed the line, so please show us the proof today, MR. KAHANE????? or you will lose what little credibility you have.
Perhaps the lack of comma made it unclear, but I was stating that Tim Hurndall was a militant who was pro-Hamas (a terrorist organization). One can choose to call him an activist, but ISM actions are militant and not peaceful. prove otherwise. Here is a photo of ISM militants holding guns and ISM has justified attacks on innocent Israelis in the past and presently. Perhaps the lack of comma made it unclear, but I was stating that Tim Hurndall was a militant who was pro-Hamas (a terrorist organization). One can choose to call him an activist, but ISM actions are militant and not peaceful. prove otherwise. Here is
has no proof. He is of a sort that holds all non-Jews with the utmost contempt. He is callous, arrogantand profoundly racist. he reprsent his ilk with great precision and the only response he deserves is to be dismissed as the deceiver he and his ilk represent. ben Kahane is certainly not his name. Even that is fake.
Didn't he belong to the ISM????
the real Kahane was an arch-terrorist, racist, and all around disgusting excuse for a Human being. This Kahane seems to be exhibiting all of the same "qualities." Makes me wonder if he is a Jewish terrorist, as well. Or maybe just a sympathizer of Jewish terrorism.
In any civilized state there's a reduction of sentence for good behavior and other parameters. That time for a manslaughter is consistent with other cases both in Israel and throughout the world. Naturally, since this is Israel, the conspiracy theorists and those with an agenda begin to open their mouths. Check how much a man can get for a manslaughter in your state + reduction and come back here to cry.
The reduction was only 1.5 years for good behavior, and the soldier was a druze, not a Jew, so your racist cries hold no water. As for Hamas terrorists? They'd get less as they'll be released in an exchange deal and get cables and university degree and either way the morons would call them 'political prisoners' and get your support either way. Disgusting
This man was convicted of manslaughter, which probably resulted in this man's laughter. Considering the type of firearm used -- which had a telescope -- and the location of the wound, the conviction is, to put it mildly, unbelievable. But... it is the only way he could have escaped the more serious conviction, which would have required a harsher sentence and crucially have put yet another blotch in the reputation of the IDF. The question is: What will the British do about this?
The IDF Taysir-al-Heib was a Bedouin Arab-Muslim. His sister is Amira al-Heib, the first Bedouin female to serve in the IDF.
and what,,, dose this mean he is not an Israeli citizen, or is he now just a Bedouin,and when he was in combat he wasn't???!! what a racist mentality , don't forget that all Mizrache Jews are Arabs, yes Arab Jews..
That was in response to the morons who say he's Jewish and thus Israel is somehow racist. But I like how you twisted his post, you get +2 for effort. Here, play with this shiny thing while we adults discuss the matter.
of their fight for justice, stated that Tamir-al-Heib was just as much a victim of Israel's policies in the occupied territories as was their son Tom.
are you seriously suggesting that Israel is not racist! It's the new South Africa.
for the iraqi boys raped and murdered by british troops.
The Brit. Before The U.S. citizen Corrie. After the 9 Turkish. Looks like that the IDF is fighting against the whole world. And any of this "would be" enemies deserve death. Doesn't it?
The soldier was in the Motor Pool. Whilst repairing a broken down lorry, an bedouin youth stole his tools and the soldier ended up in military prison for a week or two. On his release from prison he went to drove to the nearest bedouin encampment, shot the first arab youth his saw and drove off. This old soldier was laughing when he told me his story. Apparently all his mates knew of his actions. He did not end getting tried at the Old Bailey or Winchester Crown Court
Probably never saw action. A Walter Mitty.
ISM ia a pro Palestinian oraganisation, while not engaging in violence themselves, they support terrorism.
At least in the way you used right now, with a lack of arguments and of logical sense too.
Lovely distortion of the English language. And of course the soldier wasn't a Jew either, so you seem to know a lot about this issue!
The IDF Taysir-al-Heib was a Bedouin Arab-Muslim. His sister is Amira al-Heib, the first Bedouin female to serve in the IDF.
In the U.S. for instance in a 2001 Kennedy Commission report the average sentence for Federal manslaughter charges was 34.3 months. So this guy doing 5 years is not that unusual, is it? But of course this is Israel, so the conspiracy theorists have already come out. This is not to say this is a good guy. At a minimum he killed a guy that annoyed him, totally unacceptable. But it does not reflect one iota on Israel, he was just a common criminal.
Very good. Now the goverment have to release Yigal Amir.
Yigal Amir's killing of Yitzhak Rabin was a clear case of premeditated murder, Taysir Heib's killing of Thomas Hurndall was not. This is what differentiates the two cases and defines two different sentences. If you can't understand the difference, ask a lawyer.
It's not about religion. It's about the rule of law.
Not in your propoganda that one? Wonder why.
world's most moral IDF? haha.
He was convicted of manslaughter, not murder. But of course YOU who know nothing about any of the evidence know the real truth. "Human rights activist"! That ridiculous term applied to an ISM member says it all.
And then, we are surprised that the world turn against us? Israel is turning against the world by doing these acts!
travelling on a Polish passport to be tried in Israel for forging a German Passport. Forget it, you can go visit Uri in Berlin.
There was no investigation or negative consequences for his action This POW was clearly a Nazi but there was no evidence that he commited war crimes. Apparently such killings happened quite often.
She met him at a movie theater in the American South while he was still technically a prisoner (German pows were treated very leniently in the states). They opened a very successful car dealership and were happily married for 50 yrs before she died and he ramarried. He never spoke of his Hitler Youth/ Nazi past. He gives money to charity and has been honored by the Rotary Club on many occasions.
what are you saying, that a brutal nature is genetic?
An Israeli army soldier shoots an unarmed civilian in the head with a sniper rifle (a clear act of murder), gets off lightly with a conviction for manslaughter and doesn't even have to serve that sentence in full. And another surprise! Those desperate to defend Israel no matter what choose to slander the murder victim. The guy was protecting Palestinian school children, and suddenly he's aiding terrorists? Malicious lies attempting to justify an unjustifiable crime!
about intentions and premeditation and proof of the same. Obviously a jury thought otherwise. It would have been so easy for a Jewish jury or military tribunal to condemn an Druse Arab, but they did not. That his sister is a parlimentarian doesn't suggest lieniency, just the opposite, for the sake of image he could have been sacrificed, but for the lack of evidence of premeditation he was not. A photographer does not protect school children by physically interveining in a military action; he uses his camera w telephoto lens to expose abuse. He need only have made himself self-evidently photographing the incident to get the soldiers to back off, if that was what was going on.
Yeah. Taking pictures has done so much for Photographers in Israel. I have seen video of a tank firing on a Photographer with a 120mm tank shell. Taking pictures or pointing your camera just is not going to do it anymore.
In my experience, ISM activists frequently place themselves between IDF troops and Palestinian non-combatant civilians, in an effort to prevent human rights violations and war crimes, not military operations.
This was a poor excuse for manslaughter. ISM people deserve to be shot for interfering with IDF activity, just as much as Arabs are shot when they approach the security fence.
Not even soldiers have a right to shoot to kill if they are under no direct threat. And shielding schoolkids from sniper fire doesn't even cut it.
Remember the concentration camps? Read about them and learn, Never again means never again to anyone, not just Jews.
Never Again! What about Gaza
They interfere with the racist system and have to learn that saving Arab children from zionist brutality cannot go unpunished. A lesson must be made of them and they need to be taught a lesson to intimidate others who might act as Tom Hurndall did. We saw it from thier navy on the Mirva marmara where they murdered 9 Turks to set a precedent. Why is this surprising/ We have the flotilla example, we have the examples of colonists who have murdered or wounded Palestinians, we have Rachel Corrie, Miller and Hurndal all standing as examples of how the zionist hacks have to go into double time to try and justify.
This is a clear cut case of anti-saxonism. Message: the English are sub human and thus expendable. If he had killed one of his fellow countrymen, he would not be relased.
ISM is virtually a terror organization with strong ties to Hamas and the Muslim brotherhood, However, that is no excuse "to teach someone a lesson", by killing them and what this Arab policemen did was wrong. He was sentenced to eight years and did five, that is not unusual in any legal system if the inmate was well behaved.
These are very serious allegations you are accusing Tom Hurnball of been an international terrorist. Can I see the proof to back up your claims please?
I wrote that he was Pro-Hamas terrorist and a militant., meaning he supported Hamas terrorist and was active in doing so.
do some research, this guy wasn't on the straight n arrow, sry for your loss
Here are photos of ISM miltants with guns: http://markhumphrys.com/Bitmaps/ism.2.jpg
Zionist hacks who lack integrity and engage in slander and this one under the alias of ben Kahane is one of their best.
you seem like a frum yid w/ ur posted name.. we need you guys to rise above this crap
yes, and the loud pigeons outside my window waking me up in the morning are hamas-supporting terrorists.
But if Israel frees a prisoner in its own society its another crime against humanity!
.....is rather cheap in Israel nowadays. Is it fair to assume, that if this soldier would have killed intentionally a Jewish settler, he woud sit behind bars for another 5-10 years...??? If the answer is yes, then the whole thing has more than only a touch of racism......
The answer is NO! You rreally seem to be a Swiss-Dino, CH was quite a big European center for racism against Jews!?
How would you feel if you got shot??? For simply being???
He knowingly and willingly murdered a British citizen, and for what? Because the Brit was helping protect Palestinian children from a force that is known all over the globe for shooting Pal children on sight if they so much as have a single rock in their hand? Oh wait, he entered a "forbidden zone." That totally made his murder alright.
it's no big secret that there are 2 seperate judicial systems in Israel. Military court for Palestinians with harsh sentences and a liberal court for Israeli's which is comparable to most western countries. And in the latter case early release from jail is fairly common. Ofcourse in the first case it is almost unheard of
two years ago. The entire village protected the four responsible Arab murderers of a Jew. True, the off-duty soldier killed an Arab, but there was strong evidence he was a mental case. The villiage rioted, surrounded and entered the bus and shot the man while under military guard while he lay on the floor handcuffed. They got 7 years each or less. Clearly 1st degree murder as they had to overpower the guards. Two standards? I think not. To methods of judicial enforcement. but not two distinct standards.
calmly taking aim at a man's head through a sniper's scope, and killing him for the simple fact that he's there...THAT is murder in the first degree!
the only way justice was going to be served. he probably would have got a medal otherwise.
Forget about race or religion. Early release from prison is a worldwide phenomonon.
of hundreds of plane passengers but howl like wolves when a Brit idiot who willingly protects Hamas terrorists is harmed .
That's a rather strong accusation on British medical proffession,.. You have proof?? The "Brit idiot" had a conscience and was KiILLED because of it!!
Thurdalls conscience consisted of shielding Hamas goons during a shootout. Try to do the same during arrest of terror suspects in Britain ,will you ?
Standing next to kids, not terrorist, get the information correct.
Hurndall was sheilding Palestinian children as well as photoraphing events. So the Libyan has lived longer than expected - is that what's eating away at you?
Maybe he is suffering from "prostate cancer".This is a known reason for prisioner releasein Great Britain.
Is it where Israel does NOT protect the men and women that protect HER? Strange definition.
thats what seprates us from the savages. you don't become a savage. by the the way it was a activist not a hamas soldie rthat was killed.. we embarrass our grand parents by acting like nazi's
criminals get treated the same no matter their background or ethnicity. The joke of a sentance was bad enough and now he is to be relaesed early? Thats not a democracy, its a bunch of criminals looking after their thugs.
Protecting Israel from the big mean protester. Good thing you stop him, he might have destroyed the entire country.
when a Pastinian murders a Israeli citizen , he will either be shot on the spot , or imprisoned for life with no chance of release.Embarassing !
Even for throwing stones, Palestinians get much longer jail terms than this guy.
THe palestinians?
...are they imprisoned? Or do they get streets named after them. Evidently YOU are the one with the double standard. Your logic fails you.
This guy got off too lightly, but that is a good point
Don't you DARE try to say that there aren't numerous examples of landmarks and streets named after Jewish terrorists, and traitors to their native countries. Hell, they even named a section by the PM's domicile the "Freedom for Jonathan Pollard Square." Pollard! An arch-traitor who, by all rights, should have long been executed. So please spare us the selective memory.
Here we have a soldier who wounded someone who came from a foreign country and inserted herself into the line of fire get sent to jail. Meanwhile British troops travel half way around the world to Afghanistan and kill innocent civilains on almost a daily basis. Where are the trials of British soldiers?
Just for being British he's not guilty of all the crimes committed by his country.
... between the Taysir-al-Heib and a group of children. He was shot with a high powered rifle that had a telescopic sight.
or Winchester Crown Court.
Don't forget Iraq, attacked twice over the last twenty years. And the Malvinas, in another continent, another hemisphere. They have no shame sending their professional soldiers and Gurka mercenaries (do they get paid by the amount of Argentinians and Muslims they kill?). British hypocrites. They even torture their own (Muslim) citizens at home.
Are still upset that those islands are still called the Falklands?
Didn't think so.
So you are justifying this thugs killng are you ? Israel is slowly losing it's moral compass sad day this
So you are justifying this thugs killng are you ? Israel is slowly losing it's moral compass sad day this
During the second World War may activists stood between civilians (including Jews) and the Nazi army. Also some of them were shot
You mean terrorist state vs terrorist state?
and legal action should be brought by the man's family
to make them go away. That is all done and dusted
He was in a sovereign country, partisipating in an illigal gathering, he got in the way and paid the consequences.
But there are local political pressures that influence how far those legal proceedings can go.
Just throw that term about as much as you can when trying to defend indefensable Israeli actions.
The coroner in the case of two Britons ruled that they were murdered, and as a result senior IDF soldiers were indicted and arrest warrants were about to be served. The Israeli government paid a considerable amount in compensation to make it all go away.
Murder a Jew - Life in Prison Murder a Pal - No penalty unless you are caught on tape, in which case you will get a slap on the wrist. Why is the IDF always picking on photographers? The two they beat up a couple days ago were photographers and there have been several other incidents. I guess the IDF does not like having their picture taken while they commit war crimes.
Those odds are not bad, look what happened in your democratic utopia of Iran. Oh, forgot no Jews there, cant touch our muslim bretheren, they can do no wrong
sure there are many Jews in Iran. AND they have equal rights!!!!!
Maybe they have "equal" rights. No one has rights in Muslim countries...
from a rogue state and you make up facts that you think might support your position. I am not Iranian, nor did you really think I was, but you decided to say it anyways. As Yuval points out, there are 25,000 Jew still living in Iran and their rights are protected by the Iranian constitution. But since you make up facts, you said there were none.. Too bad Pal rights are not protected by Israel's consitituion. In fact, no one's rights are protected by Israel's consitution, because there is none.
Recent reports indicate Jewish holy sites are being usurped as moslem facilities; Hebrew on the walls is being plastered over. The overwhelming majority of Iranian Jews have had their lands, accounts and citizenshpi stolen and they are in exlie the world over..
Equal rights! Only Jews have rights in Israel. The more orthodox the more rights. Arabs, no rights at all.
recent reports state that Israel offered to pay Iranian Jews large sums to make aliyah. They refused. Gee I wonder why.
Disgusting
Same in EU and USA, why because he is a Jew its disgusting?
hey he is'nt a jew so get your facts straight beforehand, not every soldier in Israel is a jew, he is a bedouin!!
These decisions elicit anger in every country. Only Jews (generalising, those without brains) have this massive persecution complex . "the world is against us" Yes, that's true. I wonder why! .
Protect the enemy, get shot in the face!
What comes around comes around.