So let me try and get this straight. According to an Israeli army spokesperson, the 14-year-old Palestinian-American boy—Orwah Hammad— was shot in the head when Israeli troops opened fire after seeing a man throwing a Molotov cocktail at them. The IDF says that the boy (who has lived in the West Bank since the age of six) had just lit the fuse and was preparing to hurl it when they shot him. The IDF also says that the firebombs were being thrown at traffic on a major highway. He was with a group of boys at the time, in a village 20 miles north of Jerusalem, and another 12 Palestinians were wounded in the clashes. A cousin of Hammad’s says that he and the boys were throwing rocks at Israeli soldiers. An uncle in New Orleans says: “I don’t call that a clash—little kids throwing rocks or pebbles against live ammunition. This all happens overseas, where kids throw rocks at military jeeps. And of course the Israeli army returned fire (and) we’re not talking rubber bullets.” Here are three thoughts: 1. The uncle seems to expect that Israeli soldiers should wait until they are hit in their heads before determining whether they are simply “pebbles” that likely wouldnt kill them. 2. Any Palestinian boy over the age of perhaps six—the age that Hammad came to live in the West Bank—should know (and be told sternly by parents and relatives) that they risk their lives if they throw anything at soldiers. Hammad was 14. 3. I invite any group of a dozen American teenagers to hurl rocks and/or Molotov cocktails at NYPD officers, and into a major avenue, and see what happens next. Finally, the U.S. State Dept has called for “a speedy and transparent investigation” by Israel. What’s with the second adjective? Is Washington suggesting that Israel has not conducted transparent probes in prior incidents? If so, which ones? Would such an adjective be used if a similar tragic incident happened in the streets of another major ally? Or just Israel? nola/military/index.ssf/2014/10/family_of_new_orleans_boy_kill.html
Posted on: Sat, 25 Oct 2014 15:51:43 +0000
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