It was unclear if the verdicts would assuage fury over a perceived double standard in Israel’s treatment of Jewish and Muslim suspects. The reason? A last-minute mental health assessment – in English.
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Two young Israeli men have been convicted of kidnapping and burning to death a Palestinian teenager in an incident that played a large role in the outbreak of war a year ago in Gaza between Israel and Hamas.
The trial, which has seen frequent delays and stretched out over the course of a year, however, is not over. The two Israeli youths were found guilty of murder while their 31-year-old ringleader, Yosef Haim Ben David, has turned in a claim of insanity. But the court has delayed a formal verdict in the case of Ben-David after his lawyers filed a motion arguing he is not mentally competent. The report itself, and its provenance, have been kept firmly under wraps. “They already confessed to everything during a videotaped interview”.
Mohammed Abu Khdeir, 16, was kidnapped, assaulted, and burned to death in July 2014.
The judge determined that Ben David drove the vehicle while his two accomplices beat Abu Khdeir unconscious in the back seat.
In Jerusalem, the family of Fadi Alloun launched court proceedings over the killing of the 19-year-old, who was shot dead on October 4.
The initial police response to and investigation of the murder was tainted by incompetence and institutionalized racism.
A lawyer for the Abu Khdeir family, Mohannad Jabara, said the presentation of a psychiatric evaluation was a delaying tactic.
They’ll be sentenced in mid-January.
The murder provoked violent demonstrations in East Jerusalem. Though he is an American citizen, Israel failed to notify United States authorities of the arrest and the USA has accused Israel of apparently singling out Khdeir family members for arrest. The officer, who was not named, was found liable and sentenced to six weeks of community service. Abu Khdeir’s killing led to the worst riots in Jerusalem in a decade, spreading to Palestinian cities in Israel and the West Bank.
There is, as Anam Abu Khdeir knows only too well, no justice in a situation like this, where Israel and its settlers appear to flout worldwide law with impunity, and Palestinians, living under occupation, are stripped, not only of their right to their land, but of their human, civil and legal rights as well.
“They said “we were playing karate” Aisha Abu Khdeir, 55, Mohammed’s Aunt said who saw the footage in court.
Mr Corb said: “When we try to claim that we are better than our enemies – and I think that we are better than them – we should look at this event as a mirror”. Then Ben David lit the match, in accordance to Mr. …
There is no schedule for Ben David pending the court’s review of the psychiatric opinion of his insanity plea.
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Hussein Abu Khdeir, speaking after Monday’s verdict, said: “It’s all a lie. I’m afraid that the court will eventually get them off the hook”, he was quoted as saying by the Israeli newspaper Haaretz. In August, Prime Minister Netanyahu announced that so-called administrative detention, long an Israeli tactic to jail Palestinian suspects without trial or access to evidence, would be used on Israeli terror suspects, as well.
