Search begins for settler who allegedly killed Arab teen
By Avi Issacharoff, Anshel Pfeffer and Chaim LevinsonA Palestinian youth was shot and killed in the West Bank by an Israeli Thursday night, while Israeli soldiers shot dead a 75-year-old Palestinian near the border fence with the Gaza Strip Friday. One more Palestinian was injured in the shooting near the Strip.
The incident in which 15-year-old Aysar Zaban, from a village near Ramallah, was shot dead, occurred when youths pelted vehicles on Route 60 with stones. One driver stopped and fired on the stone throwers. They fled but Zaban was hit in the back.
Three hours later his body was found by family members. The youths did not immediately report the incident.
Israeli and Palestinian security forces carried out a joint investigation of the shooting.
Haaretz has learned that at around 7:30 P.M., two Israelis driving on the road reported to the Binyamin Regional Council's security hotline that a vehicle had stopped because of stone throwers and that three people came out, one armed with an M-16 rifle.
The Israel Defense Forces found stones on the road, but did not see anything unusual and left the area.
The security forces currently do not know the identities of the three Israelis, and are looking for them.
As part of the Israeli-Palestinian investigation, police found many shells from a light weapon at the scene where the youth's body was found. The evidence fit the testimonies of the stone throwers who had reported that a number of shots were fired.
The Palestinian police also recovered the bullet from the youth's body at the hospital and delivered it to the Israel Police for forensic analysis.
Israeli and Palestinian officers are scheduled to meet today to discuss the findings.
The fact that the Palestinians agreed to carry out an autopsy, which led to the recovery of the bullet, is in itself a rare event.
Several hours after the incident, shots were fired at Israeli vehicles; at least one woman suffered minor injuries from broken glass.
The incident occurred at around 6:45 P.M., near where the earlier shooting had taken place.
The driver and a passenger continued heading toward the settlement of Ofra after their vehicle was hit.
The IDF found shells and identified the position from which the shots were fired.
The head of the Civil Administration, Brig. Gen. Yoav Mordechai, called senior Palestinian officers and asked them to help keep the situation calm.
Part of Fatah's Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, the Imad Mughniyeh group, claimed responsibility for the attack. The group is believed to be receiving support from Hezbollah.
On Friday, Palestinian sources said that 75-year-old Fuad Abu Matar was shot by Israeli soldiers near the border fence with Gaza. The sources said a 22-year-old was wounded in the shooting.
Medical officials in Gaza said Abu Matar's body was found yesterday and that he had been shot several times. His family had reported him missing for two days, they said.
IDF sources said a man was spotted at around 11 P.M. on Friday night approaching the fence, and troops fired warning shots toward him.
The sources said the man continued moving toward the fence, and more shots were fired, including a mortar round that probably killed him.
The IDF said it was not clear why the elderly man approached the fence. They later discovered that he was unarmed, and there is no information linking him to a militant group.
The IDF has been enforcing a 300-meter no-entry zone near the fence on the Palestinian side. Any Palestinian crossing that zone, armed or not, is considered suspicious, and warning shots are fired toward them. At what is considered a "firing range" on the Palestinian side, the soldiers are ordered to shoot at the person.
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The funeral of 15-year-old Aysar Zaban near Ramallah on May 14, 2010. |
| Photo by: AP |
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This story is by:
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Avi Issacharoff
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Anshel Pfeffer
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Chaim Levinson
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How long can Israeli society last with this heartless attitude. Be nice to the Palestinians so they will be nice to you when your a minority in the one state
or life of his children? everybody who thinks so is a pogromshik and a nazi.
It's not defense once they turned and fled. It's murder, pure and simple. And many accounts say this kid wasn't throwing stones. That makes it murder with depraved indifference, too.
That is what law authorities are for. If they feel unsafe, let them take it with th authorities or move back to Israel.
Question: why a settler stops his car and kills a boy throwing stones with a war gun m-16? Answer: Because he knows that nobody in going to prosecute him in Israel. Settlers have absolute criminal impunity in Palestine. The facts show it,.Any doubts?
Has anyone said why?
When there is no defense for a crime, the usual way to get around what you have done is to shift the blame to the victim. It makes no difference why a person is close to a fence if the person has every right to be there. The onus is on the shooter to justify shooting the victim.
They are shot because they are Palestininas
Yes, he was looking for a stray sheep. Very sad.
every bullet (fired) is unique. and faik weapons are test fired, and their "bullet-profile" is registered. so, its either in some files, whose weapon this was, or it would be easy to create such a bullet-profile with all settler weapons in the area. every settler has to bring their weapon to some place, to have it tested.
The search is a sham. If they ever find the settler, then the settler will claim self-defence. The Israeli authorities will believe him, will ignore what the Arab witnesse say and that'll be the end of it. The only thing that may change that pattern is that Jewish witnesses reported the shooting. Their evidence mught be believed, and maybe that's why they're even bothering with thi search.
You might be right if it was 200 years ago, and parts were hand made and not perfectly interchangeable. Bullets and weapon parts are mass produced to virtually perfect likenesses to one another. The ballistics "identity" program has been declared a failure.
To give you an idea about these settlers. As tourists from Italy, we were driving in Jerusalem towards Ramallah. On the Ramat Eshkol junction, there were heavily armed settlers demonstrating. While I was waiting for the traffic green light, a settler with an M-16 came accross the street right to our car, my wife opened the window to see what he wanted. He started to point his weapon at my wife's face and started to shout " Sharmuta", which means prostitute in Arabic. Wy wife was terrified and cried at me to just drive away from the spot. This criminal thought we are Palestinian Arabs. That was 20 years ago. Since then, we hate Israel and swore never to go to this "unholy land" with so many criminal settlers around. This is a scum for Israel that has to be wiped out, should Israel survive. Sooner or later, they will be the main danger for Israel's existence at large.
Then have it on their own side of the border. In most civilized countries, it is necessary to have a provocative move with a weapon that leads to firing live rounds.How is it that Israel/Israeli Army cannot move towards being a civilized country/force?
The Israelis army should have mercy upon poor people and don't shoot them for no reason.
Once the rock throwers backs were turned, it became premeditated murder, not self defense. The IDF and PA Security need to lock down the entire area, each side its own. And then start a house to house for the murder and shooting at cars weapons. The settlers should be locked down just like the IDF used to do for weeks on end in Hebron. Counterinsurgency 101.
stone throwers should be arrested
When a boy throwing stones dies , it is not " shot and killed " . It's murder . Killing an unarmed 75 year old , because he was in Palestine , but within 300 meters of a fence ? I remember the Berlin wall . I remember when the IDF was respected .
Agh still shooting stone throwers, never gets old
He went back to Brooklyn...
Is there anyone who thinks that the settler who shot the kid will be punished? Why this sham? That Israel's government feels it necessary to go through the sham of 'searching' for the Settler shows that israel understands that the current situation is wrong. That nothing will come from this will show that Israel, though aware of it's moral turpitude, is unwilling to resolve it. The dissonance of signals sent by Israel to it's citizens and the world with the moral cognizance that both understand is damning. The Settler who shot the child is the poster child of Israel. He represents the REAL morals and morality of modern Israel. The faux search for the perpetrator - and if he is accidentally identified his subsequent exoneration - represents the TRUE morals of Israel today. Why the sham of seeking the culprit if it is certain he will be exonerated? Why pretend that Israel still adheres to the morality of it's founding instead of the morals of it's current citizens?
He didn't do anything wrong. He was defending himself from a murderous mob. Not sure? Come over here and try it out yourself.
The fact that both law enforcement agencies are working together in a professional manner to solve the crime is very encouraging.
Sure, it's nice that there is a joint investigation. And the murderer will most probably be identified. Problem is, the Palestinian law enforcement agencies CANT hand out the deserved punishment and the Israeli law enforcement agencies WONT.
And they have ballistics, so how hard can it be to find the settler licensed to own the gun that fired the bullets?
I am most certain the settler who did this will get 6 month in jail IF PROSECUTED!, Similar incidents in the past have resulted in lighter and commuted sentences by the Israeli occupation authorities. In the occupied territories settlers belligerent behavior and attitude toward the Arab population is tolerated if not supported by the Israeli government. Uprooting olive orchards, arsons, the poisoning of livestock, as well as harassing and intimidating the Palestinians is a normal occurrence. The settlers are motivated by a religious and Zionist ideology that they believe gives them the right to do as they pleased. Furthermore, hundred of shooting cases by the IDF and the settlers are often "investigated" only to be shuffled under the table or come up empty handed. God Help Israel for such actions not only hurt the Palestinian victims but also poison the soul and carma of this nation!
Well, why not? A few more and there will be no one left in the Territories who can remember a time when Palestinians lived free on their own lands without constant fear of tanks, rockets, missiles, bombs, bulldozers, walls, guard towers and barbed wire. A few more and there will be no Palestinians who have not lived their entire lives in captivity and occupation. And you wonder why they hate you!
Lets try to remember that It is the palestinian peoples own fault that the security fence is there in the first place. The fence was erected after years of suicide bombings claimed the lives of hundreds of innocent people, both Jewish and Arab. The wall will come down when The palestinians can show that they are willing and able to stop the terror and negotiate like civilized people.
They shot at some settlers in a car tonight, so it's all even-Steven now. Wanna bet the police catch the Arab shooters before they find the settler who killed the kid? He's probably on holiday to Brooklyn, or he's gone back to his unit. But he's gone. The Arabs have nowehere to go - just like in the Ghettos.
The man was shot at night with low visibility. The troops could not discern his age or whether he was armed. They do have to protect Israel with that fence as the border. The 16 year old child who throws stones can kill; as a threat to life, the Israeli is entitled and required to shoot in self defense. It was fortuitous that he turned his back at the moment of shooting. The shooter had less than perfect coordination and maybe even a moment of panic. Let them not throw stones to avoid these situations.