On Monday, two Israeli teens were convicted of killing the Palestinian youth.
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“The court is not honest, they are sympathetic to the criminals”, said Hussein Abu Khdeir, Muhammad’s father.
The war killed more than 2,200 people, making 2014 the bloodiest year of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, according to the United Nations.
“I was in shock when the verdict was announced in court, I am still in shock now – I can’t really express it”.
“Every time the trial is happening we feel it coming all at once again”, said Ansam who tearfully explained the 22 court sessions in the past year were a constant reminder of the gruesome way in which Mohammed was killed. Prosecutors had presented evidence they said showed he was.
The judge determined that Ben David drove the auto while his two accomplices beat Abu Khdeir unconscious in the back seat.
A third Israeli, an adult named Yosef Haim Ben-David, was also found responsible, but his judgment was temporarily suspended.
Nonetheless, six Jewish Israeli suspects were arrested a few days later in connection with Abu Khdeir’s murder, three of whom were eventually put on trial.
Before this year, arsonists considered to be Jewish radicals torched a house in the West Bank in the Palestinian village of Duma, killing a toddler and his parents. Hamas responded with rocket attacks.
The departures were part of domino effect violence that resulted in a almost two-month war in the Gaza Strip. The court viewed a surveillance videotape of Ben David and the two minors preparing to carry out the murder, by practicing punches and strikes.
While adult murder convicts generally get lengthy jail terms in Israel, comparable sentences are not mandatory for minors.
Adnan Damiri, the Palestinian commissioner of the Palestinian security apparatuses and its spokesman, said the Israeli court’s decision in the case of Abu Khudeir “enables the murderers, by the help of the Israeli government, to escape from punishment”.
The two men, who were minors at the time and whose names can not be reported, were found guilty of murder yesterday (Monday) in a relatively rare instance of Israelis being convicted for killing a Palestinian. They will be sentenced in mid-January.
Drawn up over three years by the European Commission, the guidelines mean Israeli producers must explicitly label farm goods and other products that come from settlements built on land occupied by Israel if they are sold in the European Union.
Khdeir’s death prompted riots by Palestinians in Jerusalem.
Israel says the violence stems from Palestinian incitement and incendiary videos on social media. “When we try to claim we are better than our enemies… we will always have this incident as a mirror”, Corb said.
Violence since October 1 has left 101 dead on the Palestinian side, including an Arab Israeli, as well as 17 Israelis, an American and an Eritrean. The libel was ravenously seized on by large swathes of an Israeli public unwilling to face up to one of “us” so brutally killing one of “them”.
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Outside the court a group of Abu Khdeir family members were holding posters with Mohammed’s image on them as the verdict was delivered.
