The use of any person as a human shield, especially a prisoner, is a serious war crime, but as B’Tselem reports, Israeli occupation forces have a long history of engaging in this barbaric practice.
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| Israeli soldiers use a Palestinian teenager as a human shield in the occupied West Bank village of Abu Dis on 19 April 2013. (Huthifa Jamous) |
Source/Credit: Electronic Intifada
By Ali Abunimah | April 19, 2012
Israeli soldiers used a handcuffed Palestinian teenager as a human shield as they fired at protestors in the occupied West Bank village of Abu Dis on Friday.
The incident was caught on video by independent journalist Huthifa Jamous who posted the footage on his Facebook page.
Jamous told The Electronic Intifada by telephone that the incident occurred during a protest in solidarity with hunger striking prisoner Samer Issawi in the village which is adjacent to occupied Jerusalem.
According to the Jerusalem Media Center, Israeli occupation forces opened fire on protestors using tear gas and rubber-coated steel bullets and youths responded with stones and empty bottles.
In the video, a group of Israeli soldiers can be seen taking a Palestinian youth, Muhammad R., age 17, out of the back of an armored vehicle and then frog-marching him down the street.
The youth appears to be handcuffed and his hands are held above his head by one of the occupation soldiers. As the soldiers force the teenager down the street, three of them raise their weapons and aim them, apparently at protestors who are outside the frame.
The soldiers then stop, and while deliberately exposing the youth, fire two shots toward the protestors.
Using human shields: a common Israeli war crime
The use of any person as a human shield, especially a prisoner, is a serious war crime, but as B’Tselem reports, Israeli occupation forces have a long history of engaging in this barbaric practice.
In February, Defence for Children International - Palestine Section reported another case where Israeli soldiers kidnapped and then used nine-year-old Mustafa Wahdan as a human shield during a protest near Ofer Prison, where many Palestinian political prisoners are detained.
Because of the near-total impunity Israeli soldiers enjoy for crimes against Palestinians, soldiers are rarely held to account.
In one of the very rare cases were action was taken, two soldiers were tried for using Majid Rabah, then aged nine, as a human shield during Israel’s 2008-2009 invasion of Gaza. The soldiers were found guilty but given a symbolic sentence.
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