Friday, August 05, 2005

Two Israel stories: (i) Israeli lynched (ii) Israeli jailed

Two stories about Israel attracted my attention. The more recent one about the Israeli who went beserk, shot up Israeli Arabs on a bus, then got lynched, is interesting for the immediate unambiguous condemnation from Sharon, which labelled the guy a "terrorist". What do people think about that?

The older story was interesting for the lack of coverage it got in the press (let me know if I'm wrong about that). If that is the case, I wonder if it's because the Israeli in question was an Israeli Arab...

Israeli lynched after bus killing
BBC NEWS
04/08/05

A teenaged Israeli gunman has been lynched after killing four people on a bus in an Israeli Arab town. The man, said to be wearing an army uniform and a Jewish skull cap, opened fire on pasengers as the bus was passing through Shfaram near Haifa.

Several people were injured, some seriously. A furious mob killed the gunman as police were leading him away. Prime Minister Ariel Sharon called the incident a reprehensible act by a "bloodthirsty terrorist". "This terror incident is a deliberate attempt to harm the relations between the citizens of Israel," he said through his office. "Terror between civilians is the most dangerous thing for the future of Israel and its democratic stability."



Israeli guilty of shooting Briton
BBC News
27 June, 2005

A former Israeli soldier has been found guilty of the manslaughter of British student Tom Hurndall in the Gaza Strip. Ex-sergeant Taysir Hayb was convicted at a military court in Ashkelon for the shooting of Mr Hurndall in April 2003. Hayb will be sentenced at a later date.

Mr Hurndall, 22, was involved in protests against the Israeli military in the Palestinian town of Rafah. He died nine months after the shooting. His father, Anthony, said the Israeli army acted with impunity too often. The defendant was led out of the court in handcuffs and tried to attack a number of photographers and cameramen filming him.

...

In addition to the manslaughter verdict, Hayb was found guilty of obstruction of justice, incitement to false testimony, false testimony and improper conduct. ... The Israeli army initially disputed this account, but under pressure from Mr Hurndall's family and the British government it ordered a full investigation. It later indicted Hayb, a member of Israel's Bedouin Arab minority.

1 comment:

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