Yesterday, I was the first media outlet outside the Arab world to report the true story (and video) of the Israeli police murder of Khairuddin Hamdan in the Galilee town of Cana. Since then, the news has crossed the world like wildfire. There is now a general strike in the Palestinian sector (in Israel). The town’s residents have protested with burning tires and tremendous anger against the cold-blooded execution of one of their own. Video I offered shows clearly that while Hamdan did assault the outside of a police vehicle, he was clearly retreating from a policeman who opened fire at close range and murdered him with multiple gun shots. The first police statement falsely claimed Hamdan had tried to stab them with a knife (the only thing Hamdan stabbed–and it’s not even clear what implement he held in his hands–was the vehicle itself). At no point did Hamdan pose a danger to any police officer.
It’s worth quoting here an insightful op-ed in Maariv by Amir Zohar on the absolute cluelessness of the Israelis police in this instance (please know that when I translate an article and use the term “Arab” it’s not my choice, but the author’s, which is why I put it in quotation marks below):
You don’t have to be an “Arab” to write angrily here about the police of the Northern District [Galilee]. You don’t have to be a legal scholar or left-wing journalist, God forbid, in order to determine that a police officer killed Arab civilian, Khir Hamdan, in cold blood and with the connivance of his masked poisonous colleagues who tainted the physical evidence both at the scene [of the crime] and the corpse itself, which they dragged on the ground like a sack of potatoes into their well-appointed, armored van. It was a real deluxe operation by officers lacking any communal awareness or basic knowledge of the regulations concerning evidence and workplace behavior of the police.
All this was whitewashed by their commanders and police spokespersons who, throughout the night, published mendacious statements about the Arab youth who ran at the police with a knife pointed directly at them. And that just before he stabbed them they fired in the air as required, before opening fire causing the mortal wounding and death of Hamdan…
All this, which continued being aired even into the morning, was a lie. The police hadn’t taken into account technology and social media, which even “primitive” Arabs know how to use.
For the information of the regional spokesperson, the policeman didn’t fire in the air. Rather, he fired into the back of the fleeing suspect. This is documented by the same video cameras which Security Minister Yitzhak Aharonovitch threatens to use against the residents of East Jerusalem. This is the video camera which exposed the lies of the police. Technological justice works both ways it appears, as opposed to political justice [which only works one way]…
For no less than this, when white policemen killed a Black thief, entire cities in the U.S. burned for weeks. Israel has its own [unrest known as] Intifadas, and it appears the police are begging for a new one. The behavior of police in Kafr Cana points to the fact that their commanders haven’t learned anything about how to deal with civilian unrest, as was shown in the events of October 2000 [when 13 Palestinian protesters were killed by this same unit of Israeli police]…
The calls by Aharonovitch and other rightist Knesset members to shoot to kill terrorists in Jerusalem, may lead to their political burial in the Galilee, if the riots of Kafr Cana spread throughout the Arab communities in Israel and the PA.
A few days ago, after settlers stormed the Temple Mount and Israeli police desecrated the Al Aqsa mosque, spurring retaliatory terror attacks against Israeli Jews, Bibi Netanyahu mouthed some platitudes calling on his own ultra-nationalist MKs not to fan the fires of incitement. But those MKs mostly paid no heed. Deputy Knesset speaker Feiglin was at the forefront. Minister Uri Ariel moved himself into nice ex-Palestinian digs in East Jerusalem. The settler pyromaniacs had a field day in their bid to provoke religious war. Cartoonist Amos Biderman seems almost to be channeling this tweet I published in his latest cartoon.
What truly astounded me about the aftermath of the Cana killing is that instead offering the usual mealy-mouthed platitudes and half-hearted consolation, Bibi Netanyahu has thrown the murder in the faces of the victims. His statement today reminded me of the sort of cold, heartless response you’d hear from an Egyptian Pharaoh or a dictator like Hitler hoping to provoke a conflagration:
Israel is a nation of law. We will not tolerate disturbances and rioting. We will act against those who throw stones, block roads and call for the establishment of a Palestinian state in place of the State of Israel. Whoever does not honor Israeli law will be punished with utmost severity. I will instruct the Interior Minister to evaluate revoking the citizenship of those who call for the destruction of the State of Israel.
Who is he kidding? A ‘nation of law?’ For whom? Jews perhaps, if you’re the right kind. He ponderously won’t tolerate “disturbances” by Palestinians, but will tolerate, even praise, murder by his own police. He condemns stone-throwing and blocking roads, while omitting the incident that spurred the rioting: murder. As for “not honoring Israeli law,” it is the police who’ve done so. Unless Israeli law says police officers may murder Israeli citizens in cold blood, then it isn’t the residents of Cana who are lawless, but officers of the state.
As for revoking citizenship of Israeli Palestinians who condemn Israel, what self-respecting one would not condemn this regime as hateful to Palestinians. What self-respecting Palestinian wouldn’t see this regime as lawless?
Bibi is baring his fangs. The bloody fangs he inherited from his father, Jabotinsky’s right-hand henchman. He’s reverting to a primitive Revisionist-Zionist life form, one that sees enemies everywhere and destruction at every corner. When this “Zio-type” is cornered it becomes particularly virulent, particularly enraged, and capable of even more extreme violence than normal.
This statement by Bibi marks true desperation. He is so frightened of the looming Jerusalem Intifada and recent terror attacks there by East Jerusalem Palestinians, that he sees the Cana developments as a claw reaching out to the heart of Israeli society. Instead of Jerusalemites who aren’t Israelis citizens, those in Cana are. Once Israeli Palestinians begin rejecting the existence of the state of which they’re citizens, it could be only a matter of time before the ‘affliction’ sweeps the Palestinian communities.
Though I’m not a fan of the game of chicken, nor do I especially enjoy the prospect of apocalypse, the more extreme the Israeli leadership becomes, the more false-steps it makes, the more blood it spills, the closer it comes to the end of the line. I don’t mean the end of the line for Israel. But rather for the current iteration, a state based on corruption, ethnic and religious hatred, repression, and authoritarian rule.
Bibi wants to revoke MK Haneen Zoabi’s citizenship? Go right ahead. He wants to expel Palestinians en masse (as he said publicly he wanted to do in 1988)? You want to kill Palestinians in cold blood? The more you do the less chance you have of survival. So go right ahead. Mount those corpses on the ritual bonfire of Likudist vanity. Stack them so high they blot out the sun. Then when the EU comes to visit and wonders why all is dark, the answer will be self-evident. Then the American’s and Europeans will have no choice but to acknowledge the worst and take action, no matter how late.
Genocide? Religious holy war? Bring it on. Not that I want it personally. But it appears to be coming. Bibi’s statement above is the equivalent of “bring it!” So it might as well happen sooner than later. The sooner it does, the less will die. Oh, don’t get me wrong. Many will die anyway (alas probably most Palestinian). But it’s all a matter of degrees.
I await that fateful day, when Bibi or his successor gives the order to his IDF chief of staff to fire on thousands of Palestinians. The question is what will the troops do? Will they follow orders as they’re told and commit mass murder for all the world to see. Or will there be some fundamental break. Will some soldiers throw down their weapons either before or during the encounter? Will they say: we’ve had enough of this; our leaders don’t speak for us; this is not our war, let them fight it?
I realize this is my invented version of a scenario. It may not, probably will not happen precisely this way. But Israel’s future depends on whether there are those who awaken from their moral stupor and act in some way to signal their opposition. I don’t expect (though I’d like to see) any White Rose society of dissident resisters. But I would like to see the Israeli F.W. deKlerks turn their backs on their birthright and go over to the other side. It would be the beginning of the end. Or as Churchill once said: “not the beginning of the end, but perhaps the end of the beginning.” Because this promises to be a long process. Latter-day Israel and all the corrupt,unjust premises on which it’s based will not be transformed overnight. There is still a great deal of fight left in this Judean regime.
From the article – “I await that fateful day, when Bibi or his successor gives the order … to fire on thousands of Palestinians.”
You and Hamas both await for this day to create negative PR and act all humanitarian and just. This is why arabs keep provoking policeman hoping to create enough heat on the street. Interesting enough, this video is not from the security camera itself but another camera filming the screen. Either there system cannot record and someone sits there 24/7 or Khairuddin told his friend to film him provoking the police.
@ Ariel: You misunderstand. I don’t mean I await it with joy or pleasure–but rather like the a terminally ill patient awaits death. You know it’s going to come and you’d rather it come sooner than later to get the worst over with. I await it with certainty that the vengeful murderous Israeli leaders & followers like you will bring the day upon yourselves & Israel.
You also make a mistake in blaming me for “creating negative PR.” It isn’t I who kills Palestinians & promises to kill many, many more. It’s your pals in the IDF and PMO. They create their own “negative PR.”
I laugh derisively at that crack about “Arabs” who commit suicide by protest like Hamdan did. Damn that boy for being angry at Israeli police for arresting one of his family member, for storming Al Aqsa and desecrating it, for stealing Palestinian homes in the Holy City. What did he have to go and commit suicide by police like that??
As for the conspiracy theories about the video, I knew that would happen. That’s why I pre-empted you by predicting the police would question its authenticity. Good luck to you in proving it’s fake. Your attempts are entertaining though.
[comment deleted–when you ask me to do something once & I tell you I won’t & explain why, that doesn’t mean you make the request three more times. If you do, your comment won’t be published. No more comments in this thread for you.]
[Next comment rule offense and you are banned.]
BTW, the AP story is all about a knife, attempting stabbing of police etc. …direct from police, no investigation. Good ole AP.
Ariel,
Do you view this young man’s death as “negative PR”? It is murder. Pure and simple. A young man is dead. His family grieving their loss. The lawless perpetrators are being protected by a leader claiming to be lawful.
The paranoia expressed by this sentence ” Either there system cannot record and someone sits there 24/7 or Khairuddin told his friend to film him provoking the police” illustrates RS’s description of “a primitive Revisionist-Zionist life form, one that sees enemies everywhere and destruction at every corner.” Do you think there could there have a been a citizen witness to this heinous crime? There certainly was in Ferguson, MO!
Ariel, it seems to me I’d worry less about how the filming occurred and more about how a state can condone the murder of a retreating man by the its police force.
By the way, Ariel, it was a security camera video that filmed the Israeli officer shooting a retreating 22 year old Israeli citizen in the back then dragging the possibly dead – possibly suffering – young man to the police van.
Does that ease the paranoia a bit?
Ann, you put way too much emphasis on my comment about the camera. In no way I suggested it was fake.
As for the dead young man, he is a criminal and a potential murderer. There is no way around it!!! Maybe he could have dealt with in a way that won’t end up in his death and probably the policeman made an error in his judgement but looking at a person who 3 seconds earlier attacked the policemen with rage and backed up for a second (he did NOT flee) as an innocent pedestrian or calling the policeman whose life are threatened (anyone you turn it, there was a guy with a knife 5 feet away from him) a murderer is hypocrisy.
@ Ariel:
Nonsense, as you said, he’s dead. You can’t be a criminal or murderer when you’re dead. Since even in the looming police state known as Israel, a suspect is innocent till proven guilty. But Israel likes to kill its suspects before arrest or even trial. That’s what happened to Hamdan. Thanks to the police executioner Hamdan never even got to be an official criminal or attempted murderer.
As for that phrase “potential murderer,” that’s rich. A man with an implement of some sort slashes at an armored car, which makes him a “potential murderer??” Really. In what universe?
I like that phrase the police made “an error in judgment.” Yup, in the hasbara dictionary that’s a euphemism for execution and cold-blooded murder.
There is no point at all in this video where the victim “attacked the policeman.” Never.
I’ve warned you that this is your last comment in the thread yet you published another one. Your next comment in this thread will be your last in the entire blog. Take this admonition seriously.
Ariel,
You dedicated two of the four sentences in your post to the camera…and offered misinformation.
“Interesting enough, this video is not from the security camera itself but another camera filming the screen. Either there system cannot record and someone sits there 24/7 or Khairuddin told his friend to film him provoking the police.”
The film was from a security camera. Your paranoia has run away with you.
Please clarify that you support extrajudicial slayings.
Ha’aretz kindly provided police protocol for the management of such a situation:
“”The police’s gun-firing regulations dictate that an officer must take several steps before he is permitted to open fire with an intent to kill. The officer must give prior warning to the subject before opening fire, shoot into the air, and then shoot toward the subject’s feet. Only after these three stages have been taken may the officer take aim at the subject’s upper body.
However, if at any point during these stages the officer ascertains that the threat has turned into an immediate one and his life is in danger – of the type that can only be nullified by killing the subject – shooting with intent to kill is permitted. In general, use of live fire is permitted only when all other means available to the officer have been exhausted.”
This procedure certainly does not appear to have been followed and an Israeli citizen was killed….shot in the back….denied medical treatment in favor of being thrown in a police van.
Is Israel exempt from following its own protocols?
Might the Israeli citizen have lived if proper medical treatment had been provided on site?
Was it the Israeli police decision to silence yet another witness?
It appears to me that it was the shooter that is the criminal here. When police act outside their own protocol, they become vigilantes. Would you support vigilante justice against the shooter?
“You also make a mistake in blaming me for “creating negative PR.” It isn’t I who kills Palestinians & promises to kill many, many more. It’s your pals in the IDF and PMO. They create their own “negative PR.”
Yep… and the evangelical zionists I’m surrounded by, cluelessly join in and applaud the making of that “negative PR” all the while blaming everyone else but the real manufacturers of it (the Israeli gov and IDF) Like you I shudder at the coming reckoning and I weep at the self-inflicted stupidity of it (both sides to some extent but especially the zionists who should know better – if they paid heed to their own religious writings and history…)
Watch, read, learn.
http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2014/08/19/3473247/police-officers-involved-in-fatal-st-louis-shooting/
Experts say linked shooting (above) is justified.
http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2014/08/22/3474562/this-police-shooting-caught-on-tape-shocked-the-nation-but-experts-say-it-was-justified/
This is the second time I’ve followed Vita’s attempt to draw an equivalence between that St Louis shooting and this one. I do urge people to follow that link, because in it the experts discuss how much time an officer takes to draw his weapon when a knife-wielder lunges at them and, therefore, how few steps a knife-wielder has to take towards the police before they can justify drawing their guns and shooting.
The alert amongst you will instantly see the flaws in Vita’s argument: That Israeli policeman exits that van with his gun already drawn, he draws a bead on a stationary Hamdan, and the instant he has Hamdan in his sights he fires his pistol.
Therefore NOT ONE of the reasons given in that St Loius article was met. NOT. ONE.
Yet Vita seems to believe that the article exonerates this summary execution by that Israeli cop, even though NOT ONE of the reasons given in that article is applicable to this shooting.
Bizzare. Utterly bizarre.
@ Vita: Thanks for again showing us your sloppiness or duplicity. The circumstances of the Think Progress shooting is entirely different than the one in Kafr Cana. First, the Palestinian had an implement (we don’t even yet know whether it was a knife or something else) in his hands with which he was attacking an armored police vehicle. There was no reason they even needed to exit the vehicle. They could’ve driven away safely. Second, when the policeman opened his door the victim immediately retreated and was fleeing from the policeman. In other words, at no point was any policeman in danger. This is entirely different than the U.S. incident.
You too are done in this thread. Move on to another thread if you wish. This one is closed to you.
What is your point? In the US, there would be consequences of illegal killings by police. Not so, Israel. Do you get it?
What I get, is that there is rules of engagement that apply to the police when dealing with armed, violent subjects. I’m not sure, judging by this video alone, whether the police violated the rules.
For instance, did the police officer(s) issue a loud, audible order for the suspect to surrender? We don’t know because there is no accompanying audio.
You’ve already made up your mind. My mind remains open.
@ Richard,
The shooter is not seen in the video. It was the driver from the other side of the car, which later shows up in the video when the suspect was on the ground. He fired a single shot as the media reported in Israel. Hamdan suffered from a bullet who went through is arm and into is stomach. The policeman who took the shot (the driver) said that from his angle he though his comrades are in danger so he took the shot – whether that’s the case we’ll know as the investigation develops (or won’t as you would probably say).
In term of rules of engagement – in a B&W world they acted accordingly to what the rules permitted them (at least as I see it), but it would have been much wiser to shoot him in the leg – this would have neutralised the threat and end the incident.
http://www.mako.co.il/news-channel2/Weekend-Newscast-q4_2014/Article-a0bcbc4f9f09941004.htm
I can clearly see the killer was the first policeman who emerges from the vehicle guns blazing. Hamadan goes down as soon as the first cop shoots him & he remains motionless. You’re completely full of crap. But nice try.
@Richard,
No you don’t. You see a man with a gun pointed to the man. Watch how Hamdan flinches. He flinched to the side. His injuries are from a bullet that past from the elbow to the waste – which further support the claim he was shot from the side. You can see the shadow of the driver when the shooting happens.
Watch yesterday’s channel 2 evening news.
Why say I’m full of shit when I presented proof. Are you interested in how you want this story to be or how it really was?
@ shay: You haven’t presented “proof.” You’ve presented what your eyes see which is far different than proof. I know that I & every other reasonable observer (including Amir Zohar) see the first policeman to exit the vehicle, shoot him and he crumples motionless to the floor. To quote the old Yiddish saying: “you can’t piss on my back and make me think it’s rain.” Nice try.
No more comments in this thread. You’re done.
@ Richard,
I won’t comment anymore here just wanted to point out that in the first comment – which you only commented on (“You’re completely full of crap”) and didn’t publish there’s a link to the channel 2 video article about what I said – I didn’t made it up and I wouldn’t know this if otherwise.
The driver admitted he was the shooter in the investigation – it’s not a footage analysis! He admitted to fire at him.
I don’t care what the driver “admitted.” I don’t trust anything any Israeli policeman says unless it’s supported by independent, objective evidence or proof.
” At no point did Hamdan pose a danger to any police officer”
What about the point where Hamdan is trying to open the door of the van in order to stab the officers?
Danger or no danger?
Vita: “What about the point where Hamdan is trying to open the door of the van in order to stab the officers?
Danger or no danger?”
Oh, that’s an easy one to answer: Hamdan is unable to open the door, ergo, the door can not be opened from the outside. Which means the police were in no danger while they remained inside that car.
Note also that when the murderer does open his door Hamdan bangs on that window in an attempt to stop the killer from leaving the car.
Note also that when the cop continues getting out of that car Hamdan does NOT lunge into that car, even though at that moment that dumb-ass cop is – literally – a sitting duck.
No, Hamdam backs away. How odd.
*sigh* Shay is attempting the oldest trick in the hasbarah book.
It works like this:
1) BANG! and someone dies
2) Everyone points to **him**, and says: OMG! You just shot that person!
3) Hasbarah steps forward and says: Actually, that might have been **her**, and she’s very sorry.
4) The narrative then shifts to **her** because (apparently) harabah has just “admitted” it
5) New evidence is released proving that **she** couldn’t have done it, ergo, you are all anti-Semite rabble-rousing no-good lying bastards!
The IDF does this all the time e.g. initially “conceding” that maybe their artillery hit the wrong target, waiting until that becomes the headline story, and then “concluding” that, nope, there were no artillery shells fired that day.
And meanwhile, the F-16 that actually dropped the bomb streaks back to base…..
Shay will do the same thing: insist that it was the driver, and keep insisting that it was the driver until that becomes the “accepted” version of events.
Then – ABRACADABRAH!!!! – Shay will “unearth” irrefutable evidence that the driver never fired that shot, ergo, errr, nobody shot anyone. So it must have been pure Pallywood…. and, heck, who’s to say this lad is actually dead?
Would you be willing to write up a new “This I Believe” post? I would love to know what your current vision is for Peace in the Middle East. You had listed five basic points back in 2003 when you started the blog. I would be curious to know how things stand for you today in light of all that has happened since then. I am sure many of your other followers and admirers would appreciate such a post as well. You have become a very strong voice and champion for your views having been cited in numerous prestigious places, often scooping more tradition reporters. I think there could be great value in establishing a foundational post that succinctly articulates the steps needed to bring about an ideal solution, along the lines of your initial (now woefully outdated) “This I Believe” post from Day 1 of Tikkun Olam. Please excuse the off-topic nature of this post – I hope that you can take the request in the spirit that it is given. All the best to you.
“Revoking citizenship”. Now there’s a unique mark of a democracy, wouldn’t you say?
This same “Democracy” never destroys theb homes of Jews who kill Palestinians/Arabs, there is no “Certificate of Death” for Jews who kill or terrorize, nor is there ever a shoot-to-kill order for Jews who throw rocks at Sabbath-breakers.
Richard, i am sorry to say that the secnario you painted, of Jewish Army lined up to shoot Palestinians and someone takes a stand against the action?
Fantasy.
Reality is that the Jews there are so brainwashed to fear and hate Palestinians, they are so imprinted on the belief that they are fighting an existential threa, that they will willingly kill as many Palestinians as it takes, to ensure there is absolutely no violence….from Palestinians. Jews ther and most of them in the Diaspora, truly believe in the existential threat fantasy and they truly believe that a complete genocide or (preferably)departure of all Palestinians from all lands the Jews want, is the only solution to a lasting Israel.
For this, they are willing to make every sacrifice necessary…of lives of Arabs.
I stilll believe there is possibliy a sliver of hope there will be peace, but as the two “sides”…Arab Christians and Muslims on one hand and Jews on the other…take greater and greater extreme positions. It IS starting to look like one of them has to be exterminated. At this point, it looks like the Jews have the weapons, but the Arabs have the time…
I am not a very devout man, but I pray there is a peaceful, lasting resolution where all three faiths can live together as equals on the same land.
Devout or not devout, where do Moslems or Arabs live in peace with anybody including themselves?
Devout or not devout, where do Israeli Jewish live in peace with anybody, including themselves? Two can play this game, you friggin Islamophobe.
Firstly I think you should reduce your ‘ad hominems” {and yes I know it is ‘your’ blog}.
Israeli Jews live in relative peace among themselves with diff of opinions between the secular & religious etc. but we don’t go around bombing others within our own sphere nor random stabbings of innocents like the last couple of days in Israel by the Arabs.
And it is not under the rubric of islamaphobia because in Kefar Kane they were Christian Arabs and take into account that a good deal of the police force are Arabs. As far as I know the policeman who shot in KK could have been Arab.
The policy now is shoot to kill, that is what is accepted by any system of law when dealing with a prospective murderer. Why should Israel tend to the wounded from Syria/Lebanon or a wounded terrorist?
Would they or have they ever acted towards an Israeli in this manner?
They prefer to lynch.
However the entire Arab/Moslem world is afire or about to explode most of the time.
This is not an Islamophobic statement it is a fact, just look at the news:Egypt, Syria, Iraq, across north Africa {may be not including Morroco}
@ noach: Israeli Jews live “in relative peace?” You mean except when settler goons attack leftist Israeli Jews with tire irons & chains? Except when they attack Israeli Jewish women and threaten them with rape? Except when they thrown grenades and murder Peace Now co founders? Except when they bomb Hebrew University professors and maim Christian missionaries. Except when they assassinate Israeli Jewish prime ministers. You mean except for all that? Ah now I understand.
As for never bombing Israeli Jews: see Jack Teitel & Zeev Sternhell. You musta missed that one.
Of course settlers mostly bomb & murder Palestinians. They own the levers of power in the country. Why do they need to bomb Israeli leftist Jews since they have no political power. To settlers it’s the Palestinians who threaten them. They pose a political threat that Israeli Jewish leftists don’t. Once Palestinians become Israeli citizens they will threaten the permanent right wing settler-nationalist majority. That’s why Palestinians are murdered en masse. If Israeli leftists threatened the power of the settlers the latter wouldn’t hesitate to bomb & murder them.
“As far as you know…” which means you don’t know anything. I’m not interested in what you think you might know. I only want to know what is accurate. Other than that, don’t bother posting your opinions, suspicions, guesses, etc.
You don’t know anything about how police forces work outside Israel, do you? Hamdan was NOT a suspected murderer. He hadn’t murdered anyone. He had damaged police property. In no police force in the western world is a policeman entitled to murder a suspect for attacking a police vehicle. And if one does, he almost always will face investigation, arrest & imprisonment. But not in Israel.
“Lynching?” That’s an Israeli tradition. It’s called summary execution. A very common police, military practice. Of course your comment is Islamophobic & Arabophobic & a major comment rule violation. You’ve already been moderated. If you violate another comment rule, you face the possibility of being banned. If you haven’t read the comment rules read them carefully & respect them. Consider yourself warned. If you aren’t sure whether your comment violates the rules because of ideologically clouded judgment, err on the side of caution. If not, you take your chances.