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Yassin Omar al-Saradeeh, feb 22 2018 |
24 feb 2018
Preliminary autopsy results have showed that the Palestinian martyr Yasin al-Saradih was killed by a bullet down the abdomen shot from zero distance, Palestinian Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs Commission said in a statement on Friday.
Al-Saradih, 33, died on Thursday only hours after he was arrested by the Israeli occupation forces (IOF) from his house in Jericho east of the West Bank.
The autopsy results revealed that al-Saradih also suffered fractures in the pelvis and different bruises in the head, chest, neck and shoulders as a result of being brutally beaten by the IOF soldiers, according to the statement.
Head of the Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs Commission Isa Qaraqe' said that the autopsy results refute the Israeli narrative that the martyr died of gas inhalation.
Qaraqe' stressed that al-Saradih was premeditatedly executed, adding that such heinous crimes have been increasingly witnessed since 2015.
The Palestinian official called for prosecuting Israel for these extra-judicial executions at the International Criminal Court.
Autopsy indicates Jericho terrorist killed by gunfire
Contrary to a suspicion of the CID, which launched probe into possibility al-Saradih died of gas inhalation during riot dispersal, autopsy of his body shows he succumbed to a gun wound.
A preliminary autopsy report Friday showed that Yassin Omar al-Saradih, a Palestinian who was killed early Thursday after charging at an IDF force in the West Bank city of Jericho, died as a result of a bullet to the abdomen.
The report also noted that relatively minor signs of beating were present on al-Saradih's body, but ruled them out as a cause of his death.
The Palestinian agency for prisoners said al-Saradih "was killed by a bullet fired from point-blank range that struck him in the lower abdomen, causing internal bleeding, and that the bullet exited through his back."
It quoted Palestinian physician Rayyan Al-Ali, who observed the Israeli autopsy, carried out by the Institute of Forensic Medicine.
Palestinians say he was severely beaten in custody. Issa Qaraqea, head of the prisoners' agency, described the death as "an ugly war crime."
The incident, which took place during IDF operational activity in Jericho, was captured on CCTV and showed several soldiers kicking and beating the al-Saradih with rifles while he is on the ground.
The soldiers who were involved in the incident are expected to be questioned on Sunday.
Earlier that day, the military Criminal Investigation Division (CID) launched a probe into the possibility that al-Saradih's death was caused by accidental inhalation of gas during a riot.
According to the initial investigation, while troops were operating in Jericho, some 50 Palestinians began rioting by throwing rocks, rolling burning tires and hurling Molotov cocktails at the soldiers.
During the violence, al-Saradih ran toward the soldiers brandishing an iron rod, leading them to open fire on him.
The IDF said that "in response to the threat, soldiers fired toward him but he was most likely not hit." Soldiers then "used force in order to subdue the suspect," the statement added.
It said the man had a knife on him and had tried to grab a soldier's weapon. The statement added that a medic examined the detainee at the time and assessed his condition to be "normal."
The army statement added that the Palestinian's condition deteriorated when he was later exposed to tear gas fired by soldiers trying to disperse Palestinian protesters. The man was later identified as a 33-year-old Jericho man who, according to relatives, did not suffer from health problems.
Al-Saradih, 33, died on Thursday only hours after he was arrested by the Israeli occupation forces (IOF) from his house in Jericho east of the West Bank.
The autopsy results revealed that al-Saradih also suffered fractures in the pelvis and different bruises in the head, chest, neck and shoulders as a result of being brutally beaten by the IOF soldiers, according to the statement.
Head of the Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs Commission Isa Qaraqe' said that the autopsy results refute the Israeli narrative that the martyr died of gas inhalation.
Qaraqe' stressed that al-Saradih was premeditatedly executed, adding that such heinous crimes have been increasingly witnessed since 2015.
The Palestinian official called for prosecuting Israel for these extra-judicial executions at the International Criminal Court.
Autopsy indicates Jericho terrorist killed by gunfire
Contrary to a suspicion of the CID, which launched probe into possibility al-Saradih died of gas inhalation during riot dispersal, autopsy of his body shows he succumbed to a gun wound.
A preliminary autopsy report Friday showed that Yassin Omar al-Saradih, a Palestinian who was killed early Thursday after charging at an IDF force in the West Bank city of Jericho, died as a result of a bullet to the abdomen.
The report also noted that relatively minor signs of beating were present on al-Saradih's body, but ruled them out as a cause of his death.
The Palestinian agency for prisoners said al-Saradih "was killed by a bullet fired from point-blank range that struck him in the lower abdomen, causing internal bleeding, and that the bullet exited through his back."
It quoted Palestinian physician Rayyan Al-Ali, who observed the Israeli autopsy, carried out by the Institute of Forensic Medicine.
Palestinians say he was severely beaten in custody. Issa Qaraqea, head of the prisoners' agency, described the death as "an ugly war crime."
The incident, which took place during IDF operational activity in Jericho, was captured on CCTV and showed several soldiers kicking and beating the al-Saradih with rifles while he is on the ground.
The soldiers who were involved in the incident are expected to be questioned on Sunday.
Earlier that day, the military Criminal Investigation Division (CID) launched a probe into the possibility that al-Saradih's death was caused by accidental inhalation of gas during a riot.
According to the initial investigation, while troops were operating in Jericho, some 50 Palestinians began rioting by throwing rocks, rolling burning tires and hurling Molotov cocktails at the soldiers.
During the violence, al-Saradih ran toward the soldiers brandishing an iron rod, leading them to open fire on him.
The IDF said that "in response to the threat, soldiers fired toward him but he was most likely not hit." Soldiers then "used force in order to subdue the suspect," the statement added.
It said the man had a knife on him and had tried to grab a soldier's weapon. The statement added that a medic examined the detainee at the time and assessed his condition to be "normal."
The army statement added that the Palestinian's condition deteriorated when he was later exposed to tear gas fired by soldiers trying to disperse Palestinian protesters. The man was later identified as a 33-year-old Jericho man who, according to relatives, did not suffer from health problems.
23 feb 2018
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As a top aide agrees to cooperate against Benjamin Netanyahu, Phyllis Bennis warns that the Israeli Prime Minister’s domestic corruption case could lead him to ramp up threats to Iran and other rivals.
Phyllis Bennis is a Fellow and the Director of the New Internationalism Project at the Institute for Policy Studies in Washington D.C. She is the author of Understanding the Palestinian-Israeli Conflict: A Primer, Before and After: US Foreign Policy and the September 11 Crisis, Ending the US War in Afghanistan: A Primer and Understanding the US-Iran Crisis: A Primer. Her most recent book is Understanding ISIS and the New Global War on Terror: A Primer. TRNN video & transcript: |
AARON MATE: It’s The Real News. I’m Aaron Maté. When Israeli police recommended bribery and fraud charges against him earlier this month, Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, dismissed their allegations.
BENJAMIN NETANYAHU: (Translator): After I read the recommendation report, I can say it is biased, extreme, full of holes like Swiss cheese.
AARON MATÉ: Just days later Netanyahu’s corruption scandal is growing. One of Netanyahu’s closest and longest serving aides has agreed to become a government witness in a whole new case. The aide, Shlomo Filber, is reportedly prepared to testify about allegations Netanyahu provided favors to Israeli telecommunications company, Bezeq, in exchange for positive coverage on its news website. This follows allegations in separate cases that accuse Netanyahu of plotting with a media tycoon to ensure he would receive positive coverage in a different outlet, as well as taking bribes in exchange for helping wealthy donors.
Now, all of this threatens Netanyahu’s political future, but it continues to overshadow the illegal occupation he oversees.Just today, video was released online of Israeli police beating a Palestinian man in the West Bank city of Jericho. The victim, Yasin al-Saradih, has since died apparently from wounds he sustained during the attack.Phyllis Bennis is director of the New Internationalism Project at the Institute for Policy Studies. Welcome, Phyllis. Let’s start with Netanyahu, the news breaking this week of an aide flipping, testifying against him in a whole separate case from what we’ve heard about before. Your thoughts on the scandal, the growing scandal that Netanyahu is facing.
PHYLLIS BENNIS: Well, the details of the scandal, you mentioned most of them. There’s four separate cases underway that have to do with bribery, fraud and breach of trust, as you said. The police have recommended that he be indicted. It’s now in the hands of the Attorney General and it’s really very similar to the situation here in the United States. There are claims, actually that Netanyahu sent private investigators to investigate the police that were investigating him and is attacking the police forces, very much as we’re seeing here with Trump attacking the FBI who is investigating him. So, there’s a lot of similarities. I do think that the overview is more important in terms of how this really threatens the Palestinians, it threatens the region, it threatens Iran.
There’s a great deal of threat involved in this that has nothing to do with the details of these cases, but like in the United States when Netanyahu is threatened with the possibility of being held accountable for potential crimes, he is responding by making greater military threats, even then he has in the past, including just in the last couple of days at the big annual Security Summit in Munich, in Germany, where he said that, he threatened Iran that he would go to war directly with Iran, not against its proxies, if Iran continued its activities. So, it’s really escalating. It’s an escalation of the rhetoric. It’s an escalation of the threat level and it’s in situations like this that the possibility rises of an Israeli attack on Gaza, of an escalation in Syria.
We’ve already seen an escalation in the last week or so when there was an apparently unarmed drone found in Israeli airspace. It was shot down. No one was hurt, but the Israelis responded with a number of F16 bomber strikes into Syria, attacking both Syria and Iranian targets in Syria. That was a very serious escalation of the Israeli role in the Syrian war. And it’s now making more even direct threats against Iran. So, the moment is a very dicey one, whether or not these cases prove out, whether the Attorney General has enough political strength to go ahead with them. We’re not sure of that. The Attorney General has already said it would take several months of investigation to make the decision, but we’re in a very dicey moment as a result of the threatened indictment of Netanyahu.
AARON MATÉ: Let me ask you about one aspect of Israel’s role in Syria that hasn’t gotten very much attention, but there was just a new news report about it this week with the Israeli newspaper, Haaretz, reporting that Israel is stepping up its support to militant groups inside Syria. What’s going on there?
PHYLLIS BENNIS: There’s not a lot of information yet about what is different, but it’s not a new phenomenon that Israel is providing, at the very least, medical support treating wounded militants who are fighting against the Assad regime. It doesn’t seem to matter to the Israelis very much whether they are part of, for example, Al-Nusra, the Al-Nusra front in Syria, which is linked to Al-Qaeda, or other anti-Assad militants. They seem to be willing to take them over the border, treat their injuries and send them back to fight some more. I think this has been an ongoing reality. The Israeli role has been relatively low key. It has focused primarily on, its bombing rates have focused on going after arms conveys that Israel alleges are going to Hezbollah inside Syria.They have not had a situation where Hezbollah or others have responded directly against them.
There have been some clashes, but they’ve been quite small scale. The question now is whether those clashes, whether Israeli support for some or all of these anti-Assad forces that are fighting in Syria escalates even further as a way of Israel escalating against Iran, or again, whether there’s a danger of a direct attack of some sort on Iranian positions, as we saw last week. The Iranians did not respond militarily to that attack on their positions in Syria. They were clearly not interested in further escalation, but how long that will remain the case, we don’t know.
If the Israelis continue to escalate their direct assault on Iranian positions inside Syria, and of course, Iran is there at the request of the Syrian government, which despite its lack of legitimacy in many quarters because of its massive human rights violations, it remains the recognized government in Syria. The other foreign forces that are fighting in Syria, the US, Turkey, and others, as well as Israeli, obviously, do not have an invitation or permission from the Syrian government, so there’s a big legal gap between which forces are there legally, however one judges the legitimacy, and which ones are there illegally, as well as illegitimate.
AARON MATÉ: Well speaking of which, just today the Trump administration asserted that it already has the legal authority not just to keep troops in Iraq, which it’s said before, but also to keep troops in Syria indefinitely, which was a recent announcement that it made saying that it’s, even though ISIS has been defeated, it will stay in Syria. On this front, let’s go to a clip. Actually, it’s something you referenced before, which is Netanyahu speaking a few days ago at the Security Conference in Munich.
BENJAMIN NETANYAHU: Through its proxies, Shiite militias in Iraq, the Houthis in Yemen, Hezbollah in Lebanon, Hamas in Gaza, Iran is devouring huge swaths of the Middle East. Now, there has been one positive consequence of Iran’s growing aggression in the region. It’s brought Arabs and Israelis closer together as never before. In a paradoxical way, this may pave the way for broader peace and ultimately also for Palestinian-Israeli peace.
AARON MATÉ: That’s Benjamin Netanyahu speaking at the Munich Security Conference. Phyllis, so he’s talking about how actually a united front between Israel and Gulf states against Iran, could lead to a broader regional peace, and even directly Israeli-Palestinian peace. What is he saying there?
PHYLLIS BENNIS: Well, what he’s saying, he’s referring to the fact that there is in fact a far more public level of alliance right now between Israel and the Gulf-Arab states. Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Kuwait, Qatar may or may not be involved. They’ve been a little cagey about it. This is a very grave situation. There really is a buildup against Iran designed to isolate Iran. This very much has the Trump administration’s involvement all over it and what we’re seeing is a very significant danger when Netanyahu starts talking about “the Arabs” as sort of uniting with “the Israelis” as if this is all somehow a popular movement among people.
This is a direct lie.This is a governmental and military-to-military alliance that has been underway for many, many years, but it remained quiet and in many cases secret for the Saudis in particular, who are leading this alliance with Israel, particularly under the leadership of the new Crown Prince, the young Mohammed bin Salman, who has been appointed less than a year and has been orchestrating all of Saudi military and strategic policy, including its leadership of the horrific war in Yemen that has led to the deaths of thousands of Yemenis, the near starvation of several million people, hundreds of thousands that are now facing cholera without access to the drugs they need to treat it.
It’s a disastrous humanitarian crisis in Yemen and very much because of the Saudi attack, the Saudi bombing campaigns that continue with direct U.S. involvement.US planes are flying alongside the UAE and Saudi bombers to provide in air refueling of those bombers so they can bomb Yemeni targets for efficiently. It’s a humanitarian disaster, but one of the things that’s different now is that the Israelis and the Saudi regimes are prepared to acknowledge to the world that they are collaborating, that they are wishing each other nothing but good wishes, that they are eager for normalization. Something that has been underway for a long time, but never acknowledged. The Saudis have decided that it’s worth taking whatever public opposition there may be, and there may or may not be public opposition that we ever hear about inside Saudi Arabia.
The same for the Israelis. Netanyahu is betting that the anti-Iran fever that he has helped to whip up in recent years will be sufficient to cover any unease among some Israelis, particularly among his own right wing supporters about rebuilding a public alliance between Israel and Saudi Arabia. It’s a very dangerous moment because if they start to feel too cocky, and that they, to feel that the United States will back an Israeli-Saudi initiative against Iran regardless of how reckless it might be, it could become almost as dangerous as the threat of war in North Korea. This is a very, very dangerous moment.
AARON MATÉ: Phyllis finally, I want to go back to Netanyahu’s comments at the Munich Security Conference. It happened just after there was a plane crash in Iran, which killed dozens of people, and Netanyahu said something curious. This is what he said.
BENJAMIN NETANYAHU: I’ve explained we have no quarrel with the people of Iran, only with the regime that torments them. I take this opportunity to send our condolences to the families of the 66 Iranian civilians shot down, or that lost their lives in the plane accident today. We have no quarrel with the people of Iran.
AARON MATÉ: That’s Netanyahu. If you listen closely, you heard his say the plane that was “shot down.” Then he corrected himself and said that it crashed and by all appearances it was not actually shot down, it was just an accident, but that to me, Phyllis, I don’t know. It just, it was an interesting slip and it … We’ve learned recently that Israel had discussed plans in the past going back to the 70s of shooting down passenger planes if they carried officials from the PLO onboard, especially Arafat, it’s former enemy. I’m just wondering, you’re talking about this moment being dangerous.I mean, what, how far do you think Israel might be prepared to go to achieve its goals in the region, whether it’s in the occupied territories with the horrible blockade ongoing in Gaza, or trying to confront Iran both in Syria, which we talked about, and also in Lebanon where Iran has a pretty strong ally in Hezbollah? What are your concerns for this current moment going forward in terms of just how dangerous Israel with its alliance with the U.S. and Saudi Arabia are?
PHYLLIS BENNIS: The danger is in Washington. The danger is that the absolute support of the Trump administration, the clarity with which the Trump administration, the Ambassador that he chose to serve in Israel, a long time settlement backer, the role of his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, who has built this kind of bromance with the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, the clarity with which the U.S. is making clear that it will back Israel regardless of what Israel does, is what makes it so dangerous. I think there’s absolutely zero evidence that Israel shot down a plane in Iran.I do not think it was an accident that Netanyahu made that slip and said that it was shot down. I think it was a signal to the Iranians, “This is what we could do if we chose.” It was a threat. It was a signal. I don’t think it has any basis of reality, but it gave him an astonishingly insulting [inaudible 00:14:39], given that 66 people did lose their lives and their families are still mourning, to say such a thing. I think this was less about blaming what Israel did and making clear what it might do. I think there are very few limits. We should be very, very weary of what this set of developments may lead to.
AARON MATÉ: We’ll leave it there. Phyllis Bennis, director of the New Internationalism Project at the Institute for Policy Studies. Thank you.
PHYLLIS BENNIS: Thank you.
AARON MATÉ: Thank you for joining us on The Real News.
BENJAMIN NETANYAHU: (Translator): After I read the recommendation report, I can say it is biased, extreme, full of holes like Swiss cheese.
AARON MATÉ: Just days later Netanyahu’s corruption scandal is growing. One of Netanyahu’s closest and longest serving aides has agreed to become a government witness in a whole new case. The aide, Shlomo Filber, is reportedly prepared to testify about allegations Netanyahu provided favors to Israeli telecommunications company, Bezeq, in exchange for positive coverage on its news website. This follows allegations in separate cases that accuse Netanyahu of plotting with a media tycoon to ensure he would receive positive coverage in a different outlet, as well as taking bribes in exchange for helping wealthy donors.
Now, all of this threatens Netanyahu’s political future, but it continues to overshadow the illegal occupation he oversees.Just today, video was released online of Israeli police beating a Palestinian man in the West Bank city of Jericho. The victim, Yasin al-Saradih, has since died apparently from wounds he sustained during the attack.Phyllis Bennis is director of the New Internationalism Project at the Institute for Policy Studies. Welcome, Phyllis. Let’s start with Netanyahu, the news breaking this week of an aide flipping, testifying against him in a whole separate case from what we’ve heard about before. Your thoughts on the scandal, the growing scandal that Netanyahu is facing.
PHYLLIS BENNIS: Well, the details of the scandal, you mentioned most of them. There’s four separate cases underway that have to do with bribery, fraud and breach of trust, as you said. The police have recommended that he be indicted. It’s now in the hands of the Attorney General and it’s really very similar to the situation here in the United States. There are claims, actually that Netanyahu sent private investigators to investigate the police that were investigating him and is attacking the police forces, very much as we’re seeing here with Trump attacking the FBI who is investigating him. So, there’s a lot of similarities. I do think that the overview is more important in terms of how this really threatens the Palestinians, it threatens the region, it threatens Iran.
There’s a great deal of threat involved in this that has nothing to do with the details of these cases, but like in the United States when Netanyahu is threatened with the possibility of being held accountable for potential crimes, he is responding by making greater military threats, even then he has in the past, including just in the last couple of days at the big annual Security Summit in Munich, in Germany, where he said that, he threatened Iran that he would go to war directly with Iran, not against its proxies, if Iran continued its activities. So, it’s really escalating. It’s an escalation of the rhetoric. It’s an escalation of the threat level and it’s in situations like this that the possibility rises of an Israeli attack on Gaza, of an escalation in Syria.
We’ve already seen an escalation in the last week or so when there was an apparently unarmed drone found in Israeli airspace. It was shot down. No one was hurt, but the Israelis responded with a number of F16 bomber strikes into Syria, attacking both Syria and Iranian targets in Syria. That was a very serious escalation of the Israeli role in the Syrian war. And it’s now making more even direct threats against Iran. So, the moment is a very dicey one, whether or not these cases prove out, whether the Attorney General has enough political strength to go ahead with them. We’re not sure of that. The Attorney General has already said it would take several months of investigation to make the decision, but we’re in a very dicey moment as a result of the threatened indictment of Netanyahu.
AARON MATÉ: Let me ask you about one aspect of Israel’s role in Syria that hasn’t gotten very much attention, but there was just a new news report about it this week with the Israeli newspaper, Haaretz, reporting that Israel is stepping up its support to militant groups inside Syria. What’s going on there?
PHYLLIS BENNIS: There’s not a lot of information yet about what is different, but it’s not a new phenomenon that Israel is providing, at the very least, medical support treating wounded militants who are fighting against the Assad regime. It doesn’t seem to matter to the Israelis very much whether they are part of, for example, Al-Nusra, the Al-Nusra front in Syria, which is linked to Al-Qaeda, or other anti-Assad militants. They seem to be willing to take them over the border, treat their injuries and send them back to fight some more. I think this has been an ongoing reality. The Israeli role has been relatively low key. It has focused primarily on, its bombing rates have focused on going after arms conveys that Israel alleges are going to Hezbollah inside Syria.They have not had a situation where Hezbollah or others have responded directly against them.
There have been some clashes, but they’ve been quite small scale. The question now is whether those clashes, whether Israeli support for some or all of these anti-Assad forces that are fighting in Syria escalates even further as a way of Israel escalating against Iran, or again, whether there’s a danger of a direct attack of some sort on Iranian positions, as we saw last week. The Iranians did not respond militarily to that attack on their positions in Syria. They were clearly not interested in further escalation, but how long that will remain the case, we don’t know.
If the Israelis continue to escalate their direct assault on Iranian positions inside Syria, and of course, Iran is there at the request of the Syrian government, which despite its lack of legitimacy in many quarters because of its massive human rights violations, it remains the recognized government in Syria. The other foreign forces that are fighting in Syria, the US, Turkey, and others, as well as Israeli, obviously, do not have an invitation or permission from the Syrian government, so there’s a big legal gap between which forces are there legally, however one judges the legitimacy, and which ones are there illegally, as well as illegitimate.
AARON MATÉ: Well speaking of which, just today the Trump administration asserted that it already has the legal authority not just to keep troops in Iraq, which it’s said before, but also to keep troops in Syria indefinitely, which was a recent announcement that it made saying that it’s, even though ISIS has been defeated, it will stay in Syria. On this front, let’s go to a clip. Actually, it’s something you referenced before, which is Netanyahu speaking a few days ago at the Security Conference in Munich.
BENJAMIN NETANYAHU: Through its proxies, Shiite militias in Iraq, the Houthis in Yemen, Hezbollah in Lebanon, Hamas in Gaza, Iran is devouring huge swaths of the Middle East. Now, there has been one positive consequence of Iran’s growing aggression in the region. It’s brought Arabs and Israelis closer together as never before. In a paradoxical way, this may pave the way for broader peace and ultimately also for Palestinian-Israeli peace.
AARON MATÉ: That’s Benjamin Netanyahu speaking at the Munich Security Conference. Phyllis, so he’s talking about how actually a united front between Israel and Gulf states against Iran, could lead to a broader regional peace, and even directly Israeli-Palestinian peace. What is he saying there?
PHYLLIS BENNIS: Well, what he’s saying, he’s referring to the fact that there is in fact a far more public level of alliance right now between Israel and the Gulf-Arab states. Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Kuwait, Qatar may or may not be involved. They’ve been a little cagey about it. This is a very grave situation. There really is a buildup against Iran designed to isolate Iran. This very much has the Trump administration’s involvement all over it and what we’re seeing is a very significant danger when Netanyahu starts talking about “the Arabs” as sort of uniting with “the Israelis” as if this is all somehow a popular movement among people.
This is a direct lie.This is a governmental and military-to-military alliance that has been underway for many, many years, but it remained quiet and in many cases secret for the Saudis in particular, who are leading this alliance with Israel, particularly under the leadership of the new Crown Prince, the young Mohammed bin Salman, who has been appointed less than a year and has been orchestrating all of Saudi military and strategic policy, including its leadership of the horrific war in Yemen that has led to the deaths of thousands of Yemenis, the near starvation of several million people, hundreds of thousands that are now facing cholera without access to the drugs they need to treat it.
It’s a disastrous humanitarian crisis in Yemen and very much because of the Saudi attack, the Saudi bombing campaigns that continue with direct U.S. involvement.US planes are flying alongside the UAE and Saudi bombers to provide in air refueling of those bombers so they can bomb Yemeni targets for efficiently. It’s a humanitarian disaster, but one of the things that’s different now is that the Israelis and the Saudi regimes are prepared to acknowledge to the world that they are collaborating, that they are wishing each other nothing but good wishes, that they are eager for normalization. Something that has been underway for a long time, but never acknowledged. The Saudis have decided that it’s worth taking whatever public opposition there may be, and there may or may not be public opposition that we ever hear about inside Saudi Arabia.
The same for the Israelis. Netanyahu is betting that the anti-Iran fever that he has helped to whip up in recent years will be sufficient to cover any unease among some Israelis, particularly among his own right wing supporters about rebuilding a public alliance between Israel and Saudi Arabia. It’s a very dangerous moment because if they start to feel too cocky, and that they, to feel that the United States will back an Israeli-Saudi initiative against Iran regardless of how reckless it might be, it could become almost as dangerous as the threat of war in North Korea. This is a very, very dangerous moment.
AARON MATÉ: Phyllis finally, I want to go back to Netanyahu’s comments at the Munich Security Conference. It happened just after there was a plane crash in Iran, which killed dozens of people, and Netanyahu said something curious. This is what he said.
BENJAMIN NETANYAHU: I’ve explained we have no quarrel with the people of Iran, only with the regime that torments them. I take this opportunity to send our condolences to the families of the 66 Iranian civilians shot down, or that lost their lives in the plane accident today. We have no quarrel with the people of Iran.
AARON MATÉ: That’s Netanyahu. If you listen closely, you heard his say the plane that was “shot down.” Then he corrected himself and said that it crashed and by all appearances it was not actually shot down, it was just an accident, but that to me, Phyllis, I don’t know. It just, it was an interesting slip and it … We’ve learned recently that Israel had discussed plans in the past going back to the 70s of shooting down passenger planes if they carried officials from the PLO onboard, especially Arafat, it’s former enemy. I’m just wondering, you’re talking about this moment being dangerous.I mean, what, how far do you think Israel might be prepared to go to achieve its goals in the region, whether it’s in the occupied territories with the horrible blockade ongoing in Gaza, or trying to confront Iran both in Syria, which we talked about, and also in Lebanon where Iran has a pretty strong ally in Hezbollah? What are your concerns for this current moment going forward in terms of just how dangerous Israel with its alliance with the U.S. and Saudi Arabia are?
PHYLLIS BENNIS: The danger is in Washington. The danger is that the absolute support of the Trump administration, the clarity with which the Trump administration, the Ambassador that he chose to serve in Israel, a long time settlement backer, the role of his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, who has built this kind of bromance with the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, the clarity with which the U.S. is making clear that it will back Israel regardless of what Israel does, is what makes it so dangerous. I think there’s absolutely zero evidence that Israel shot down a plane in Iran.I do not think it was an accident that Netanyahu made that slip and said that it was shot down. I think it was a signal to the Iranians, “This is what we could do if we chose.” It was a threat. It was a signal. I don’t think it has any basis of reality, but it gave him an astonishingly insulting [inaudible 00:14:39], given that 66 people did lose their lives and their families are still mourning, to say such a thing. I think this was less about blaming what Israel did and making clear what it might do. I think there are very few limits. We should be very, very weary of what this set of developments may lead to.
AARON MATÉ: We’ll leave it there. Phyllis Bennis, director of the New Internationalism Project at the Institute for Policy Studies. Thank you.
PHYLLIS BENNIS: Thank you.
AARON MATÉ: Thank you for joining us on The Real News.
IDF's Criminal Investigation Division considers possibility that the knife, bar-wielding Palestinian terrorist who charged at group of soldiers in Jericho before being shot, beaten, may have in fact died as a result of inhalation of potentially lethal gas during riot dispersal operation; soldiers maintain he posed a life-threatening danger.
The military Criminal Investigation Division (CID) has launched an probe into the possibility that the death of a Palestinian terrorist who charged at an Israeli force before being shot Thursday was caused by accidental inhalation of gas during a riot.
The incident, which took place during an IDF operational activity in the West Bank city of Jericho, was captured on CCTV and showed a soldier beating Yassin Omar al-Saradih with his rifle before he succumbed to his wounds.
The soldiers who were involved in the incident are expected to be investigated on Sunday.
According to the initial investigation, during the IDF operations around 50 Palestinians began rioting by throwing rocks, rolling burning tires and hurling Molotov Cocktails at the soldiers.
During the violence, al-Saradih ran toward the soldiers brandishing a metal bar, prompting them to open fire on him.
"In response to the immediate threat, the troops fired towards the assailant and confronted him from close range and were able to stop him," the IDF said.
"A knife was also found in his possession. Troops evacuated him to a hospital to receive medical treatment. His death was later announced. The incident is being reviewed."
Before being evacuated, the soldiers used force when he tried to steal the weapon of one of the troops. After being arrested and checked by the medics, the Palestinian was said to be in fair condition.
It later emerged during the investigation that the soldiers continued to use riot-dispersal techniques against the protesters near the spot where al-Saradih was handcuffed, leading investigators to consider the possibility that he was exposed to potentially fatal gas.
Al-Saradih’s condition was said to have deteriorated and he was evacuated and treated by IDF soldiers who eventually pronounced his death.
After the incident and due to the fact that the terrorist was killed after being arrested by IDF soldiers, the CID launched an investigation which sought to ascertain through an autopsy the precise cause of his death.
Male and female soldiers belonging to the military unit responsible for the area claimed during the initial investigation that they believed that al-Saradih posed life-threatening danger, forcing them to use force after he attempted to snatch their weapon.
The family of the man, however, claimed that he was violently attacked by the soldiers who arrested him and that he was taken from his home.
According to Palestinian assessments, he died as a result of the blows that he received from one of the soldiers. His family also emphasized that he suffered from no medical issues.
The military Criminal Investigation Division (CID) has launched an probe into the possibility that the death of a Palestinian terrorist who charged at an Israeli force before being shot Thursday was caused by accidental inhalation of gas during a riot.
The incident, which took place during an IDF operational activity in the West Bank city of Jericho, was captured on CCTV and showed a soldier beating Yassin Omar al-Saradih with his rifle before he succumbed to his wounds.
The soldiers who were involved in the incident are expected to be investigated on Sunday.
According to the initial investigation, during the IDF operations around 50 Palestinians began rioting by throwing rocks, rolling burning tires and hurling Molotov Cocktails at the soldiers.
During the violence, al-Saradih ran toward the soldiers brandishing a metal bar, prompting them to open fire on him.
"In response to the immediate threat, the troops fired towards the assailant and confronted him from close range and were able to stop him," the IDF said.
"A knife was also found in his possession. Troops evacuated him to a hospital to receive medical treatment. His death was later announced. The incident is being reviewed."
Before being evacuated, the soldiers used force when he tried to steal the weapon of one of the troops. After being arrested and checked by the medics, the Palestinian was said to be in fair condition.
It later emerged during the investigation that the soldiers continued to use riot-dispersal techniques against the protesters near the spot where al-Saradih was handcuffed, leading investigators to consider the possibility that he was exposed to potentially fatal gas.
Al-Saradih’s condition was said to have deteriorated and he was evacuated and treated by IDF soldiers who eventually pronounced his death.
After the incident and due to the fact that the terrorist was killed after being arrested by IDF soldiers, the CID launched an investigation which sought to ascertain through an autopsy the precise cause of his death.
Male and female soldiers belonging to the military unit responsible for the area claimed during the initial investigation that they believed that al-Saradih posed life-threatening danger, forcing them to use force after he attempted to snatch their weapon.
The family of the man, however, claimed that he was violently attacked by the soldiers who arrested him and that he was taken from his home.
According to Palestinian assessments, he died as a result of the blows that he received from one of the soldiers. His family also emphasized that he suffered from no medical issues.
22 feb 2018
The suspect running with an object in his hand
Palestinian documentation shows Yassin Omar al-Saradih running with an object in his hand towards an Israeli force that arrived to arrest him, before being knocked down and beaten with a rifle by one of the soldiers; IDF says man was shot after trying to attack soldiers.
A Palestinian man was killed early Thursday during an IDF operational activity in the West Bank city of Jericho.
Footage from a security camera that captured the incident shows the man, Yassin Omar al-Saradih, running towards the Israeli force and being shot.
At the end of the video, a soldier is seen beating the Palestinian with his rifle before he succumbed to his wounds.
The IDF Spokesperson's Unit said in response: "A violent disturbance developed during an activity in search of wanted men in the city of Jericho, in which a terrorist armed with an iron rod ran towards an IDF force and tried to attack the soldiers.
Palestinian documentation shows Yassin Omar al-Saradih running with an object in his hand towards an Israeli force that arrived to arrest him, before being knocked down and beaten with a rifle by one of the soldiers; IDF says man was shot after trying to attack soldiers.
A Palestinian man was killed early Thursday during an IDF operational activity in the West Bank city of Jericho.
Footage from a security camera that captured the incident shows the man, Yassin Omar al-Saradih, running towards the Israeli force and being shot.
At the end of the video, a soldier is seen beating the Palestinian with his rifle before he succumbed to his wounds.
The IDF Spokesperson's Unit said in response: "A violent disturbance developed during an activity in search of wanted men in the city of Jericho, in which a terrorist armed with an iron rod ran towards an IDF force and tried to attack the soldiers.
Man being knocked down by the soldiers
"In response to the immediate threat, the troops fired towards the assailant and confronted him from close range and were able to stop him," the IDF said.
"A knife was also found in his possession. Troops evacuated him to a hospital to receive medical treatment. His death was later announced. The incident is being reviewed."
The Palestinian Information Ministry said about 20 soldiers had administered a "heavy beating" to al-Saradih, especially on his stomach and back.
"The Information Ministry views (his) martyrdom ... shortly after his arrest a cold-blooded execution," it said.
Al-Saradih's family members also claimed he was violently attacked by soldiers who arrived to arrest him and was taken away from his home. The family is seeking to have an autopsy performed.
"In response to the immediate threat, the troops fired towards the assailant and confronted him from close range and were able to stop him," the IDF said.
"A knife was also found in his possession. Troops evacuated him to a hospital to receive medical treatment. His death was later announced. The incident is being reviewed."
The Palestinian Information Ministry said about 20 soldiers had administered a "heavy beating" to al-Saradih, especially on his stomach and back.
"The Information Ministry views (his) martyrdom ... shortly after his arrest a cold-blooded execution," it said.
Al-Saradih's family members also claimed he was violently attacked by soldiers who arrived to arrest him and was taken away from his home. The family is seeking to have an autopsy performed.
Yassin Omar al-Saradeeh 33
A 33-year-old Palestinian young man breathed his last on Thursday morning shortly after he was kidnapped by the Israeli occupation forces from his family’s home in Jericho.
The Palestinian Prisoners’ Society said the Israeli occupation authorities announced the death of Yassin Omar al-Saradeeh, aged 33, after he was detained by Israeli soldiers at the crack of dawn.
The casualty’s family said that their son had been subjected to heavy beating by the occupation soldiers prior to his abduction and that he did not suffer from any diseases.
Al-Saradeeh was kidnapped in a mass abduction sweep launched by the Israeli military at predawn Thursday across the occupied West Bank.
Cases of torture and heavy beating are routinely reported in Israeli raids throughout the occupied Palestinian territories. Sniffer dogs, rifle butts, combat boots, police matraques (batons), and thick metal truncheons are among the objects Israeli soldiers frequently use to nab Palestinians before dragging them to occupation dungeons.
Update: Man Violently Beaten by Israeli Soldiers Hours before His Death (VIDEO)
The Palestinian Prisoners Society, on Thursday morning, said that Israeli authorities informed the family of Yassim Al-Saradih (33) of his death, hours after he was taken form his home the same day.
The family assured that Yassin was violently beaten during the seizure, and that he did not suffer from any diseases. Later, CCTV cameras showed the violent beating of Saradih by Israeli soldiers during the arrest, adding that he inhaled teargas and suffered from cramps due to the pain.
Israeli occupation forces stormed Jericho at dawn today (2:30), where clashes broke out between the youths and soldiers.
PNN further reports that the Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR) called for immediate and impartial investigation into the circumstances of his death, expressing concerns that the Israeli forces might practice torture against him immediately upon his arrest and this would be the reason behind his death.
According to PCHR’s investigations and eyewitnesses’ accounts, at approximately 04:30 on Thursday, 22 February 2018, Israeli forces moved into Jericho. They raided and searched a house belonging to Khamis Hattab in the center of the city after breaking down the main house door in addition to damaging some of the house contents. His nephew, Yassin ‘Omer al-Saradih (33) headed to the house to figure out what was going on. However, immediately, a number of Israeli soldiers severely beat him up throughout his body and then fired a tear gas canister on the spot. They then pulled him on the ground to a military vehicle and later to an unknown destination.
At approximately 09:30 on the same day, the family received a phone call from the Palestinian Military Liaison telling then that the Israeli Liaison informed them of the death of their son due to suffering gas inhalation and seizures. A video captured by a surveillance camera showed 6 Israeli soldiers attacking the abovementioned civilian and brutally beating him up using their riffles’ butts and feet.
His family said to PCHR’s fieldworker that their son had not suffered from any disease before his arrest. It should be mentioned that the Israeli authorities detain the corpse and have not so far handed it to the family or the Palestinian competent authorities.
PCHR emphasizes that during their arrest, Palestinian civilians are subject to severe beating, physical and psychological torture, and inhuman and degrading treatment. Video
A 33-year-old Palestinian young man breathed his last on Thursday morning shortly after he was kidnapped by the Israeli occupation forces from his family’s home in Jericho.
The Palestinian Prisoners’ Society said the Israeli occupation authorities announced the death of Yassin Omar al-Saradeeh, aged 33, after he was detained by Israeli soldiers at the crack of dawn.
The casualty’s family said that their son had been subjected to heavy beating by the occupation soldiers prior to his abduction and that he did not suffer from any diseases.
Al-Saradeeh was kidnapped in a mass abduction sweep launched by the Israeli military at predawn Thursday across the occupied West Bank.
Cases of torture and heavy beating are routinely reported in Israeli raids throughout the occupied Palestinian territories. Sniffer dogs, rifle butts, combat boots, police matraques (batons), and thick metal truncheons are among the objects Israeli soldiers frequently use to nab Palestinians before dragging them to occupation dungeons.
Update: Man Violently Beaten by Israeli Soldiers Hours before His Death (VIDEO)
The Palestinian Prisoners Society, on Thursday morning, said that Israeli authorities informed the family of Yassim Al-Saradih (33) of his death, hours after he was taken form his home the same day.
The family assured that Yassin was violently beaten during the seizure, and that he did not suffer from any diseases. Later, CCTV cameras showed the violent beating of Saradih by Israeli soldiers during the arrest, adding that he inhaled teargas and suffered from cramps due to the pain.
Israeli occupation forces stormed Jericho at dawn today (2:30), where clashes broke out between the youths and soldiers.
PNN further reports that the Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR) called for immediate and impartial investigation into the circumstances of his death, expressing concerns that the Israeli forces might practice torture against him immediately upon his arrest and this would be the reason behind his death.
According to PCHR’s investigations and eyewitnesses’ accounts, at approximately 04:30 on Thursday, 22 February 2018, Israeli forces moved into Jericho. They raided and searched a house belonging to Khamis Hattab in the center of the city after breaking down the main house door in addition to damaging some of the house contents. His nephew, Yassin ‘Omer al-Saradih (33) headed to the house to figure out what was going on. However, immediately, a number of Israeli soldiers severely beat him up throughout his body and then fired a tear gas canister on the spot. They then pulled him on the ground to a military vehicle and later to an unknown destination.
At approximately 09:30 on the same day, the family received a phone call from the Palestinian Military Liaison telling then that the Israeli Liaison informed them of the death of their son due to suffering gas inhalation and seizures. A video captured by a surveillance camera showed 6 Israeli soldiers attacking the abovementioned civilian and brutally beating him up using their riffles’ butts and feet.
His family said to PCHR’s fieldworker that their son had not suffered from any disease before his arrest. It should be mentioned that the Israeli authorities detain the corpse and have not so far handed it to the family or the Palestinian competent authorities.
PCHR emphasizes that during their arrest, Palestinian civilians are subject to severe beating, physical and psychological torture, and inhuman and degrading treatment. Video
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