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al-Sharifs killer Elor Azraya
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Abdel Fattah al-Sharif 21
Ramsey Qasrawi 21 March 24 2016 |
4 nov 2018
A horde of Jewish settlers on Saturday evening physically assaulted Palestinian human rights activist Imad Abu Shamsia and his son in Tel Rumeida neighborhood in al-Khalil city, south of the occupied West Bank.
Abu Shamsia said that dozens of settlers attacked his house in Tel Rumeida neighborhood in the Old City of al-Khalil and violently assaulted him and his son, Salah, adding that he and his son suffered injuries during the attack.
He also said that Israeli soldiers prevented him and his son from leaving their home or to go to hospital to receive medical assistance.
The attack was the third of its kind carried out by Jewish settlers in the past 24 hours in the Old City of al-Khalil. At least 10 Palestinians suffered injuries in similar assaults in the neighborhoods of Ghaith, as-Salayma, and Tel Rumeida and near the Ibrahimi Mosque.
Abu Shamsia said that dozens of settlers attacked his house in Tel Rumeida neighborhood in the Old City of al-Khalil and violently assaulted him and his son, Salah, adding that he and his son suffered injuries during the attack.
He also said that Israeli soldiers prevented him and his son from leaving their home or to go to hospital to receive medical assistance.
The attack was the third of its kind carried out by Jewish settlers in the past 24 hours in the Old City of al-Khalil. At least 10 Palestinians suffered injuries in similar assaults in the neighborhoods of Ghaith, as-Salayma, and Tel Rumeida and near the Ibrahimi Mosque.
14 sept 2018
Imad Abu Shamsiya stands in front of an Israeli military barrier in occupied Hebron. Photo credit: Palestinian Center for Human Rights.
POSTED BY: CHRISTIAN PEACEMAKER TEAMS SEPTEMBER 13, 2018
Two years since filming Israeli soldier Elor Azaria execute Abed Fattah al-Sharif, Shamsieh worries that soon there will be no Palestinians left in occupied Hebron.
On March 24, 2015, Imad Abu Shamsieh, a Palestinian resident of Tel Rumeida, filmed the execution of 21-year-old Abdel Fattah al-Sharif by Israeli occupation soldier, Elor Azaria. The video, shared with the media by the human rights group, B’Tselem, provoked outrage from around the world, demanding justice on behalf of the murdered al-Sharif.
In August, nearly two and a half years after the murder, Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT) had the chance to sit down with Imad Abu Shamsieh to learn what, if anything, has changed in the besieged neighborhood of Tel Rumeida.
The outlook is bleak. “Settlements have expanded,” Shamsieh explains, “more settlers means more violence.” That violence is boldly displayed everywhere; it is not uncommon for settlers – some as young as 18 – to be seen with automatic weapons strapped to their backs or held against their chests as they march through the neighborhood.
Tension and fear, already thick in the air, is raised to a fevered pitch by this behavior. This, however, is not the only weapon used by settlers, there is one that is far more ubiquitous: their cars.
Often, settler cars are witnessed speeding around blind corners and down steep hills in the neighborhood, forcing children and the elderly to jump out of the way to avoid being smashed into. When asked if there are any legal repercussions for the settlers, Shamsieh states “soldiers and settlers are like one unit. They act together against Palestinians all across Palestine.”
“You cannot call this a life,” he continues “there is no freedom. Our homes are like a prison, where no one is safe, even inside.” There are frequent home invasions during the night and early hours of the morning; any soldier for any reason can invade a Palestinian’s home. They need no special permits, no permission and no warrant.
The situation is particularly bad for children. Soldiers and settlers regularly attack and harass children while they play in the streets, often breaking their toys. Shamsieh recounts an incident shortly after he bought his son a new bicycle; a settler child took it from his hands saying that it was his. The family lodged a complaint with the police, but the bike was never returned to its rightful owner.
Even trying to enter the neighborhood via one of the four checkpoints surrounding the neighborhood is a herculean task.
In 2015 the neighborhood was declared a closed military zone, where only residents – who must be checked against a list – may enter. Despite the list, many residents are denied passage through the checkpoints, often with no official reason for the denial of some and the allowance of others.
Ten names on this list are harassed more than others, subject to going through metal detectors multiple times despite whether they sound. The reason why these ten have been singled out? Shamsieh proposes that it is because they are activists who speak with foreigners and the media about what is happening in the small neighborhood.
Shamsieh, himself, suffers under restrictions and harassment; he is not allowed to stand on the rooftops of his own home, he is subject to constant harassment due to his frequent contact with the media and has even had his home’s water tanks poisoned by settlers.
Prompted about what the future holds he states that he believes that the situation will worsen, that settlements will continue to expand, and settlers will continue their campaign of harassment and violence. He believes that in five to ten years’ time there will be no Palestinians left in Tel Rumeida. When asked why – given all the violence, harassment and threats – he stays, his answer is simple and courageous: “It’s my home. All humans want a home.”
This essay was published by Christian Peacemaker Teams – Palestine and edited for aicnews.org.
POSTED BY: CHRISTIAN PEACEMAKER TEAMS SEPTEMBER 13, 2018
Two years since filming Israeli soldier Elor Azaria execute Abed Fattah al-Sharif, Shamsieh worries that soon there will be no Palestinians left in occupied Hebron.
On March 24, 2015, Imad Abu Shamsieh, a Palestinian resident of Tel Rumeida, filmed the execution of 21-year-old Abdel Fattah al-Sharif by Israeli occupation soldier, Elor Azaria. The video, shared with the media by the human rights group, B’Tselem, provoked outrage from around the world, demanding justice on behalf of the murdered al-Sharif.
In August, nearly two and a half years after the murder, Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT) had the chance to sit down with Imad Abu Shamsieh to learn what, if anything, has changed in the besieged neighborhood of Tel Rumeida.
The outlook is bleak. “Settlements have expanded,” Shamsieh explains, “more settlers means more violence.” That violence is boldly displayed everywhere; it is not uncommon for settlers – some as young as 18 – to be seen with automatic weapons strapped to their backs or held against their chests as they march through the neighborhood.
Tension and fear, already thick in the air, is raised to a fevered pitch by this behavior. This, however, is not the only weapon used by settlers, there is one that is far more ubiquitous: their cars.
Often, settler cars are witnessed speeding around blind corners and down steep hills in the neighborhood, forcing children and the elderly to jump out of the way to avoid being smashed into. When asked if there are any legal repercussions for the settlers, Shamsieh states “soldiers and settlers are like one unit. They act together against Palestinians all across Palestine.”
“You cannot call this a life,” he continues “there is no freedom. Our homes are like a prison, where no one is safe, even inside.” There are frequent home invasions during the night and early hours of the morning; any soldier for any reason can invade a Palestinian’s home. They need no special permits, no permission and no warrant.
The situation is particularly bad for children. Soldiers and settlers regularly attack and harass children while they play in the streets, often breaking their toys. Shamsieh recounts an incident shortly after he bought his son a new bicycle; a settler child took it from his hands saying that it was his. The family lodged a complaint with the police, but the bike was never returned to its rightful owner.
Even trying to enter the neighborhood via one of the four checkpoints surrounding the neighborhood is a herculean task.
In 2015 the neighborhood was declared a closed military zone, where only residents – who must be checked against a list – may enter. Despite the list, many residents are denied passage through the checkpoints, often with no official reason for the denial of some and the allowance of others.
Ten names on this list are harassed more than others, subject to going through metal detectors multiple times despite whether they sound. The reason why these ten have been singled out? Shamsieh proposes that it is because they are activists who speak with foreigners and the media about what is happening in the small neighborhood.
Shamsieh, himself, suffers under restrictions and harassment; he is not allowed to stand on the rooftops of his own home, he is subject to constant harassment due to his frequent contact with the media and has even had his home’s water tanks poisoned by settlers.
Prompted about what the future holds he states that he believes that the situation will worsen, that settlements will continue to expand, and settlers will continue their campaign of harassment and violence. He believes that in five to ten years’ time there will be no Palestinians left in Tel Rumeida. When asked why – given all the violence, harassment and threats – he stays, his answer is simple and courageous: “It’s my home. All humans want a home.”
This essay was published by Christian Peacemaker Teams – Palestine and edited for aicnews.org.
31 aug 2018
One of the most notorious Israeli criminals of recent times has to be Elor Azaria. In 2016, the Israeli soldier murdered a wounded Palestinian youth as the young man lay badly wounded and bleeding on the ground in Hebron. Abd Al-Fattah Yusri Al-Sharif had already been shot after being accused of trying to attack another soldier manning a checkpoint.
Hebron is a Palestinian city in the West Bank, occupied illegally by Israel. A large section of the city has a heavier Israeli military presence than the rest, due to its takeover by a group of the most extreme Zionist settlers.
These religious fanatics frequently abuse, spit on and attack Palestinians simply for being Arabs in what they claim is a “Jewish city”. The Hebron settlers are in the process of attempting to take it over completely, home by home. What’s more, they are guarded and aided by the Israeli army.
Palestinian families are usually evicted unceremoniously. If they attempt to resist in even the most peaceful way, Israeli soldiers put them down and often kill them with total impunity.
In such an intolerable situation, it is no wonder that some individual Palestinian youths have taken it upon themselves to fight back against the brutal, racist military occupation. The right to armed resistance to occupation and colonialism is enshrined in international law, UN resolutions and simple morality. Fighting back, therefore, is totally legitimate.
That said, Israeli allegations of “knife attacks” on their soldiers are sometimes fabricated. There is at least one well-documented case of soldiers planting a knife on the body of a Palestinian whom they have already shot dead.
In the video of Abd Al-Fattah Al-Sharif’s murder by Azaria, religious fascist Baruch Marzel can be seen shaking hands with the killer. The film was shot by a Palestinian volunteer for a human rights organisation. It shows clearly that neither Azaria nor any of his fellow soldiers were in any danger whatsoever at the time of the killing. Azaria is seen calmly asking his superior officer for orders before very deliberately taking aim and shooting Al-Sharif in the head.
The video went viral on social media, and the world was shocked to see the callous and brutal reality of Israel’s occupation. In Israel itself, though, Azaria was hailed as a national hero.
Nevertheless, under international pressure, he was tried, found guilty of — unbelievably — “manslaughter” and jailed for just 18 months, of which he served a token nine. Tellingly, this was pretty much the same term that unarmed hero of Palestinian resistance Ahed Tamimi served for slapping an Israeli soldier who had been trespassing in her home on the day that her relative had been shot in the head by another member of the Israeli armed forces. In apartheid Israel, Palestinian lives are worth nothing.
Azaria was freed from prison early in May, and has recently been boasting brazenly to the Israeli media that he would do the same thing all over again. He has, he insists, “no remorse” about what he did. The grim truth is that what happened in Hebron on that fateful day was nothing out of the ordinary. Indeed, a leader of one of the settler militias testified during Azaria’s trial that it is standard procedure. Many similar murders of Palestinians in the West Bank – often youths – have been documented and there is never any accountability. The only unusual aspect of Azaria’s case is that it was caught on camera by a brave Palestinian fieldworker for B’Tselem, the Israeli human rights group.
For this, the volunteer has received serious and credible death threats from Israeli settlers. And now, rather than hold its murderous soldiers accountable, the so-called “only democracy in the Middle East” is planning to avoid a repeat of the embarrassment caused by their crimes being exposed; Israel is going to ban everyone from filming its soldiers.
As detailed in a new policy brief by Palestinian internet freedoms centre 7amleh (Hamleh –Arabic for “campaign”), a bill currently working its way through the Knesset “would criminalise the filming and photographing of the Israeli army in the course of their duties and prohibit the dissemination of photo or video content that is critical of the Israeli army on social media networks and mainstream media.”
Israel’s Minister of Defence, far-right Avigdor Lieberman, is promoting the bill. The anti-Arab racist has called the filming of his soldiers a “worrying phenomenon” that Israel has been witnessing for many years.
What this really means is that Israel wants the freedom to torture, maim, imprison and murder Palestinians with total impunity and in complete silence, without even the merest whisper of toothless “condemnation” by its allies in the EU and the USA. What the rest of the world can’t see, it can’t condemn.
The bill is part of a wave of similar Israeli legislation condemned by 7amleh which it says will diminish internet freedoms. This includes a proposal to establish a new “National Cyber Directorate” which will give Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu the power — without any judicial oversight — to order the hacking of computers and phones belonging to anyone he deems to be a “threat to Israeli cybersecurity.”
Considering that Israel currently claims that non-violent popular activism for Palestinian rights around the world constitutes “a strategic threat of the highest degree,” it’s time for Western governments to stop indulging the fantasy that the state is any kind of democracy. They must face up to the threat that Israel poses, not only to the Palestinians, but also to every single individual and institution in the world, governments included.
- Asa Winstanley is an investigative journalist living in London who writes about Palestine and the Middle East. He has been visiting Palestine since 2004 and is originally from south Wales. He writes for the award-winning Palestinian news site The Electronic Intifada where he is an associate editor and also a weekly column for the Middle East Monitor.
Hebron is a Palestinian city in the West Bank, occupied illegally by Israel. A large section of the city has a heavier Israeli military presence than the rest, due to its takeover by a group of the most extreme Zionist settlers.
These religious fanatics frequently abuse, spit on and attack Palestinians simply for being Arabs in what they claim is a “Jewish city”. The Hebron settlers are in the process of attempting to take it over completely, home by home. What’s more, they are guarded and aided by the Israeli army.
Palestinian families are usually evicted unceremoniously. If they attempt to resist in even the most peaceful way, Israeli soldiers put them down and often kill them with total impunity.
In such an intolerable situation, it is no wonder that some individual Palestinian youths have taken it upon themselves to fight back against the brutal, racist military occupation. The right to armed resistance to occupation and colonialism is enshrined in international law, UN resolutions and simple morality. Fighting back, therefore, is totally legitimate.
That said, Israeli allegations of “knife attacks” on their soldiers are sometimes fabricated. There is at least one well-documented case of soldiers planting a knife on the body of a Palestinian whom they have already shot dead.
In the video of Abd Al-Fattah Al-Sharif’s murder by Azaria, religious fascist Baruch Marzel can be seen shaking hands with the killer. The film was shot by a Palestinian volunteer for a human rights organisation. It shows clearly that neither Azaria nor any of his fellow soldiers were in any danger whatsoever at the time of the killing. Azaria is seen calmly asking his superior officer for orders before very deliberately taking aim and shooting Al-Sharif in the head.
The video went viral on social media, and the world was shocked to see the callous and brutal reality of Israel’s occupation. In Israel itself, though, Azaria was hailed as a national hero.
Nevertheless, under international pressure, he was tried, found guilty of — unbelievably — “manslaughter” and jailed for just 18 months, of which he served a token nine. Tellingly, this was pretty much the same term that unarmed hero of Palestinian resistance Ahed Tamimi served for slapping an Israeli soldier who had been trespassing in her home on the day that her relative had been shot in the head by another member of the Israeli armed forces. In apartheid Israel, Palestinian lives are worth nothing.
Azaria was freed from prison early in May, and has recently been boasting brazenly to the Israeli media that he would do the same thing all over again. He has, he insists, “no remorse” about what he did. The grim truth is that what happened in Hebron on that fateful day was nothing out of the ordinary. Indeed, a leader of one of the settler militias testified during Azaria’s trial that it is standard procedure. Many similar murders of Palestinians in the West Bank – often youths – have been documented and there is never any accountability. The only unusual aspect of Azaria’s case is that it was caught on camera by a brave Palestinian fieldworker for B’Tselem, the Israeli human rights group.
For this, the volunteer has received serious and credible death threats from Israeli settlers. And now, rather than hold its murderous soldiers accountable, the so-called “only democracy in the Middle East” is planning to avoid a repeat of the embarrassment caused by their crimes being exposed; Israel is going to ban everyone from filming its soldiers.
As detailed in a new policy brief by Palestinian internet freedoms centre 7amleh (Hamleh –Arabic for “campaign”), a bill currently working its way through the Knesset “would criminalise the filming and photographing of the Israeli army in the course of their duties and prohibit the dissemination of photo or video content that is critical of the Israeli army on social media networks and mainstream media.”
Israel’s Minister of Defence, far-right Avigdor Lieberman, is promoting the bill. The anti-Arab racist has called the filming of his soldiers a “worrying phenomenon” that Israel has been witnessing for many years.
What this really means is that Israel wants the freedom to torture, maim, imprison and murder Palestinians with total impunity and in complete silence, without even the merest whisper of toothless “condemnation” by its allies in the EU and the USA. What the rest of the world can’t see, it can’t condemn.
The bill is part of a wave of similar Israeli legislation condemned by 7amleh which it says will diminish internet freedoms. This includes a proposal to establish a new “National Cyber Directorate” which will give Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu the power — without any judicial oversight — to order the hacking of computers and phones belonging to anyone he deems to be a “threat to Israeli cybersecurity.”
Considering that Israel currently claims that non-violent popular activism for Palestinian rights around the world constitutes “a strategic threat of the highest degree,” it’s time for Western governments to stop indulging the fantasy that the state is any kind of democracy. They must face up to the threat that Israel poses, not only to the Palestinians, but also to every single individual and institution in the world, governments included.
- Asa Winstanley is an investigative journalist living in London who writes about Palestine and the Middle East. He has been visiting Palestine since 2004 and is originally from south Wales. He writes for the award-winning Palestinian news site The Electronic Intifada where he is an associate editor and also a weekly column for the Middle East Monitor.
30 aug 2018
An Israeli soldier convicted of killing a wounded Palestinian youth said that he had no regrets in his first interview since leaving prison three months ago.
Elor Azaria shot the Palestinian youth Abdul-Fattah al-Sharif in the head at point-blank range as he was lying on the ground in the West Bank city of al-Khalil in 2016.
Azaria told the Hebrew-language daily newspaper Israel Hayom if he could relive the shooting, "I would act exactly the same because that's how I needed to act."
Azaria said that he behaved in accordance with the training he had received in the army, adding that he continued to do his job, carrying his gun, for a couple of hours after the shooting.
Following his release, the Israeli soldier returned to the crime scene in al-Khalil where he was received by dozens of Israeli settlers celebrating his release and chanting slogans supporting him.
Azaria was filmed shooting al-Sharif, who was injured, in the head while he was lying on the ground in al-Khalil city in March 2016. The same videotape showed Israeli medical crews refraining from providing first aid to the wounded Palestinian.
He was initially sentenced to 18 months in prison after being convicted of "manslaughter", but Israel's military chief, Gadi Eisenkot, later reduced the sentence by four months.
Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and many right-wing Israeli officials supported Azaria and called for executing all Palestinians who carry out attacks against Israeli settlers or soldiers even when they are injured.
Elor Azaria shot the Palestinian youth Abdul-Fattah al-Sharif in the head at point-blank range as he was lying on the ground in the West Bank city of al-Khalil in 2016.
Azaria told the Hebrew-language daily newspaper Israel Hayom if he could relive the shooting, "I would act exactly the same because that's how I needed to act."
Azaria said that he behaved in accordance with the training he had received in the army, adding that he continued to do his job, carrying his gun, for a couple of hours after the shooting.
Following his release, the Israeli soldier returned to the crime scene in al-Khalil where he was received by dozens of Israeli settlers celebrating his release and chanting slogans supporting him.
Azaria was filmed shooting al-Sharif, who was injured, in the head while he was lying on the ground in al-Khalil city in March 2016. The same videotape showed Israeli medical crews refraining from providing first aid to the wounded Palestinian.
He was initially sentenced to 18 months in prison after being convicted of "manslaughter", but Israel's military chief, Gadi Eisenkot, later reduced the sentence by four months.
Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and many right-wing Israeli officials supported Azaria and called for executing all Palestinians who carry out attacks against Israeli settlers or soldiers even when they are injured.
3 july 2018
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Two-and-a-half years after he killed an injured Palestinian youth shooting him in the head as he was lying on the ground in Hebron's Tel Rumeida, Israeli soldier Elor Azarya, 20, returns to the street as Israeli soldiers and settlers applause and cheer for him.
An Israeli politician and extremist settler, named Baruch Marzel, was among settlers welcoming Azarya into the Tel Rumeida street, the site where Azarya shot injured Palestinian, Abed al-Fattah al-Sharif, 21, who was lying on the ground bleeding, in the head after al-Sharif and another Palestinian, Ramiz Aziz al-Qasrawi, 21, allegedly carried out a stabbing attack against soldiers in the area. |
Al-Qasrawi was killed immediately, while al-Sharif was left severely wounded for several minutes without treatment, before Azarya stepped forward and put a bullet through his head, killing him.
Azarya was released two months ago as after being found guilty of manslaughter for the filmed, execution-style shooting of 21-year-old Abd al-Fattah al-Sharif, he was sentenced to 18 months in prison but received a four-month reduction of his sentence from Israeli army chief of staff, Gadi Eisenkot.
Shortly after the sentencing of Azaria, al-Sharif’s family noted that the soldier had received a more lenient sentence than a Palestinian child would receive for throwing stones.
Azarya was released two months ago as after being found guilty of manslaughter for the filmed, execution-style shooting of 21-year-old Abd al-Fattah al-Sharif, he was sentenced to 18 months in prison but received a four-month reduction of his sentence from Israeli army chief of staff, Gadi Eisenkot.
Shortly after the sentencing of Azaria, al-Sharif’s family noted that the soldier had received a more lenient sentence than a Palestinian child would receive for throwing stones.
7 may 2018
The Israeli soldier Elor Azria who killed the Palestinian anti-occupation protester Abdul Fatah al-Sharif is likely to be released from an Israeli military prison on Thursday.
According to the Hebrew-speaking Israel Hayom daily, the release decision has seen the day after Azaria served his sentence, which has been cut by a third by an Israeli military parole board.
Azaria is expected to be released ahead of his release date after he submitted an appeal to attend his brother’s wedding on Wednesday.
His family said hundreds are expected to attend a ceremony to be held in the next few days to celebrate Azaria’s release.
Azaria was convicted of manslaughter after he fatally shot the seriously wounded Palestinian youth Abdul Fattah al-Sharif as appears in live footages taken from the murder scene and circulated on social media networks.
According to the Hebrew-speaking Israel Hayom daily, the release decision has seen the day after Azaria served his sentence, which has been cut by a third by an Israeli military parole board.
Azaria is expected to be released ahead of his release date after he submitted an appeal to attend his brother’s wedding on Wednesday.
His family said hundreds are expected to attend a ceremony to be held in the next few days to celebrate Azaria’s release.
Azaria was convicted of manslaughter after he fatally shot the seriously wounded Palestinian youth Abdul Fattah al-Sharif as appears in live footages taken from the murder scene and circulated on social media networks.
