Tonight, Israeli police in the village of Cana in lower Nazareth attempted to arrest (Hebrew) a Palestinian resident of the town on suspicion that he’s tossed a stun grenade as part of a family conflict. When they arrived, this video shows Khairuddin Hamdan, age 20, attacking the vehicle with what appears to be a bar, though police claim it was a knife. He appears to be striking the vehicle, possibly to protest the arrest of the original suspect.
The video then shows a police officer exiting the vehicle and immediately pumping several bullets into Hamdan from close range (perhaps 4-6 feet away). Hamdan immediately crumples to the ground. This was little more than a cold-blooded execution. In western nations, when someone attacks a police car they usually aren’t murdered for it.
The police, perhaps believing there was no video of the killing, provided Ynet with a patently false account of what occurred. They claimed both that Hamdan drew a knife and that he attempted to stab them. The video clearly indicates there was no attempt to stab them as they were inside their vehicle and never in danger.
Now that the police have been caught red-handed in outright murder, their story will undoubtedly change to account for the new evidence. The new story will undoubtedly be just as lame as the first one.
They will angrily search out the source of the video. They’ll arrest the owner of the surveillance camera and confiscate the footage. They’ll claim the footage was doctored or that it omits some preceding incident that led to the killing. They’ll try their damndest to get themselves off the hook. But they’ll fail in the end.
I’m afraid it won’t matter much because Israeli Jews don’t care whether their police officers murder Palestinians. It’s a minor offense. No one will be held accountable for this. An investigation will find that the officers “feared for their lives” and the use of firearms was justified. It will be business as usual because Palestinian lives are cheap.
Cana, where the killing took place, is often identified with the Galilean village of the same name in the story of Jesus. There he attended a wedding and, when the wine ran out, he transformed water into wine. Israeli police are having much less success at transforming the facts of this case into the fraud they’ve concocted. They should’ve let Jesus perform the miracles and done their own jobs right, instead of acting as hired killers for the State.
Palestinian witnesses to the murder said that the confrontation could’ve been resolved without a resort to gunfire and that the police are little more than criminals themselves. Residents made clear that they don’t want the police in their midst at all as they don’t trust them to do anything but what happened last night. The video clearly indicates why.
The false police account is a feeble attempt to link this murder to the string of terror attacks by Jerusalem Palestinians against Israeli Jews. But this incident appears not to be a terror attack at all, unless you count the police murder as a terror attack.
After the killing, young residents of the town rioted, lit fires and closed access to the community.
If Israeli police wish to light a fire not just in Jerusalem, but in all Palestinian communities in Israel, they couldn’t do better than what they did tonight. Instead of a Jerusalem Intifada, we might have an Israel-wide Intifada. Undoubtedly, Pres. Reuven Rivlin will be visiting the village and there will be touching pictures of him embracing the local imam or mukhtar. He will speak soothing words and talk about historic injustices done to Palestinians. All of which will mean precious little as nothing will change inside Israeli society.
I can’t tell what instrument the guy is holding, but from the way he’s holding it @0.13, it looks like he’s holding a knife.
I don’t see the police ‘pumping bullets’. I see bald cop firing once, the suspect going down, and bald cop training the gun on him. I could be wrong on that. I don’t see the suspect making any attempt to surrender. He appears set to flee.
Justified? A very difficult call based solely on the video.
If the police didn’t shoot, the suspect might have ran off and stabbed somebody else. Not a probability, but a possibility.
@ Vita: You’re now eligible for the hasbara rule governing comments. In order not to mobilize the threads, you are limited to no more than 3 comments in any 24 hour period. Respect this request.
@ Vita: when the police murdered Hamdan he shot him in the back. He was fleeing. The officer was in NO danger & had no right to use lethal force. None. This, I repeat is murder. Not a difficult call at all unless you’re a hasbaroid, as you are.
Hamdan would’ve stabbed someone else? Like whom? Another resident of the town? When he was only attacking the Israeli Jewish police, who were the only such officers in the town? PLease. Your hasbara is beyond feeble.
Try Vita to hit with a knife a police car’s bullet proof window especially with the blade part in the front. It is a certain way to get bad cuts in your own hand and will only scratch the car’s window. Even Palestinian boys, especially Israeli citizens, know enough physics that a normal small knife is not a good weapon against bullet proof windows, steel or concrete. Make a own knife test with a car Vita, if you are a real man and a heroic Israeli soldier and report the results to us.
If four fat German policemen had done the same we all see in the video to a skinny fleeing Jewish boy, only a total idiot would try to portray the bunch of those four fat cops as the victims fearing for their lifes. This your “tribe’s” famous eagerness to portray yourself as victims in all possible circumstances is simply disgusting, although in many cases hilarious with the claims unintended comical features.
These “police” are thugs, even Gestapo. Shameful. Totally shameful.
Dorothy. Where do you live that the police are so professional?
Don’t tell me Ferguson, MO.
Seattle Cop fires six shots and kills suspect armed with knife.
http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2014/04/04/the-man-seattle-police-killed-yesterday-26-year-old-chef-cody-spafford
The new Hasbara-envoy is working overtime. Here s/he’s using the first rule in the Hasbara Manual: try to find a ‘similar’ case somewhere else in the world, preferably in the Arab world, or as here in Seattle where Richard happens to live.
Still, we’ve all seen the images from Kafr Kana, and it’s cold-blooded murder, not to speak about how they dump Hamdan in the police van afterwards, like he was a bag of potatoes, they simply wouldn’t do that to a Jew, and we all know that.
They dumped in the van and took him straight to hospital in order that he could be revived. Unfortunately he succumbed to his injuries.
@ Vita: They spent a lot of time talking after shooting him. We don’t know how quickly they brought him to the hospital. I doubt they rushed. They preferred that he die & he did. Stop with the “unfortunately.” You don’t give a crap about him or his death. Nor did your pals, the cops.
” Here s/he’s using the first rule in the Hasbara Manual: try to find a ‘similar’ case somewhere else in the world”
It’s called putting the event into it’s proper context.
@ Vita: You mean putting an event into a pro-Israel context.
@ Vita: Don’t toy with me hasbaroid. The man killed was high on drugs, had just robbed a bank & was menacing the officer with a knife. Were circumstances similar in Cana?
Since you’re an ignoramus, I’ll do you one better. Our police here also murdered a mentally ill Native American wood carver armed with a knife. That crime (by the police) was so heinous the federal government took over our police department here. Will the same thing happen with the local Israeli police dept??
An Hasbara notice: each year 400 civilians are killed by local police in the USA.
There are 350 million ppl in the US. 400 out of 350-million, while a disturbing number is pretty small. If we compare how many Israeli Palestinians are arrested for national security reasons or killed by police (including Border Police), I’m sure the numbers will reflect Israel’s racism & official brutality.
In Ferguson, MO a white policeman killed a Black man and there are been protests for months that have riveted the nation’s attention. If the officer isn’t indicted, the federal govt will likely intervene. The police chief is about to lose his job. And this is in a community whose police are out & out white & racist. And there was no video of the actual killing. If there had been action would’ve been even swifter. Unlike Israel…
But, Richard, what about shared values? Could it be that the values are not shared at all? Israel is an ugly racist state determined to get rid of Palestinians in the long run.
Richard, is this the right video? After he is shot, it seems he is moving with pain, putting constantly his right hand over his head. He even tries to crawl, around 30s.
2nd notice: In Israel 2013 45% from the people killed in car accidents were Arabs !!
Are the Arabs are killed in car accidents?
Also 95% of the pedestrain deaths are of jewish people is Israel, so what?
I was wondering how Richard would be able to downscale and miniaturize the actions of this guy in order to justify his usual claim, and indeed I wasn’t disappointed. Maybe he should have picked a different video though, this one clearly shows (sec 8) that when the cops try to exit the car, the attacker focuses his stabs at the door. If he had tried to escape at that point maybe it would have ended differently.
Moreover – on their second attempt to exit the car, he only took a few steps back while looking over his shoulder, as if trying to asses the situation – still not running away, and still capable of turning around and stabbing from close range within seconds.
I don’t know what rules of engagement are used by your local police, but I would be very surprised if any policeman across the globe would behave differently under such circumstances. That’s not to say that the Israeli police is always right, but if you insist on twisting even the most justifiable events, no one is going to take you seriously.
@ Leeor: So everyone watching this video but you understands it was cold-blooded murder. In any other police department in the democratic world the police officers would be tried for murder & the police chief sacked. In Israel, they’ll get medals for bravery and become national police chief. Real giborim!
OK, Leeor, why did the cops even have to exit that van?
They were in no danger as long as they stayed inside the vehicle, so why not stay inside the vehicle and call for backup.
Indeed, why not drive out of that garage, get out of the van, and THEN return to the scene?
And if they did feel that their manhood required them to deal with the situation then and there why – exactly – was there any need for that cop to exit through that door? He could have sat tight and told his fellow officer to exit on the other side of that van.
You know, so that the officer has A F**KING BIG VAN BETWEEN HIM AND THAT KNIFE when confronting the knife-wielder.
Be honest: that cop got out of that door at that point because he was determined to shoot that man cold-stone dead.
It wouldn’t have mattered if that man had stood his ground, or taken “a few steps back while looking over his shoulder”, or if he had turned and ran like a jack-rabbit.
That. Cop. Stepped. Out. Of. That. Van. Because. He. Had. Made. The. Decision. To. Kill. That. Man.
Nothing more.
No less.
Mr PM B. Netanyahu has just given his seal of approval for the murder. So folks let’s move on there’s nothing going in here.
I only hope upon hope that the cowardly european countries do as they reminded Mr. Obama that they are of a mind to follow suit with the Swedes and recognize Paliestine on short notice if status quo is double talk for signed sealed and delivered agreement according to Israel.
Obama/Kerry are on a mild plate (the hotness died long ago at the mouth of Yalon, Mr. Kerry messianing lost touch and please your take your nobel prize and go home and leave us alone) to try to do something anything before the european decide to copycat the swedes. However there’s a fly in this ointment, call it Merkel, she is of the same do nothing/risk nothing school of diplomacy that Obama graduated from. Merkel will never do anything against israel. it’s a second guaranteed veto at the security council, but then it would be delightful for her to be the odd man out if this threat happens to pan out. after all Netanyahu’s legacy will have been of avoiding any commitments at all costs. I wonder how he managed to get married. unless it was a contract without commitments from his part. wouldn’t put it past him. cowardice is mother’s milk for that family
Deir Yassin’s remark: “ Here s/he’s using the first rule in the Hasbara Manual: try to find a ‘similar’ case somewhere else in the world, preferably in the Arab world,” reminded me of the hilarious hasbara manual drawn up by ex-Israeli Gabriel Ash. I can’t resist quoting it in full:
“How to make the case for Israel and win
To the benefit of the many not-very-bright zionist wannabe apologists who read this blog assiduously, I decided to offer a clear and simple method of arguing the case for Israel. This clear and simple method has been distilled from a life spent listening to and reading Zionist propaganda. It is easy to follow and results are guaranteed or your money back.
So don’t hesitate! Take advantage NOW of this revolutionary rhetorical system that will make YOU a great apologist for Israel in less time than it takes to shoot a Palestinian toddler in the eye.
Ready? 1..2..3..GO!
You need to understand just one principle:
The case for Israel is made of four propositions that should always be presented in the correct escalating order.
1
2 We rock
3 They suck
4 You suck
5 Everything sucks
That’s it. Now you know everything that it took me a lifetime to learn. The rest is details; filling in the dotted lines.
You begin by saying how great Israel is. Israel want peace; Israel is the only democracy in the Middle East; the desert blooms; kibutz; Israelis invented antibiotics, the wheel, the E minor scale; thanks to the occupation Palestinians no longer live in caves; Israel liberates Arab women; Israel has the most moral army in the world, etc.
This will win over 50% of your listeners immediately. Don’t worry about the factual content. This is about brand identity, not writing a PhD. Do you really think BP is ‘beyond petroleum’?
Then you go into the second point: They suck. Here you talk about the legal system of Saudi Arabia, gay rights in Iran, slave trade in the Sudan, Mohammad Atta, the burqa, Palestinians dancing after 9/11, Arafat’s facial hair, etc.
There is only one additional principle you need to understand here. It will separate you from the amateurs. You need to know your audience. If you’ve got a crowd already disposed to racist logic, go for it with everything you have. But if you get a liberal crowd, you need to sugar coat the racism a bit. Focus on women rights, human rights, religious tolerance, “clash of civilizations”, terrorism, they teach their children to hate, etc. Deep down your audience WANTS to enjoy racism and feel superior. They just need the proper encouragement so they can keep their sophisticated self-image. Give them what they crave and they’ll adore you! But be careful not to ‘mix n match,’ because it will cost you credibility.
When you’re done, there will always be dead-enders insisting that abuse of gays in Iran does not justify ethnic cleansing in Palestine. Take a deep breath, and pull the doomsday weapon: You suck!
You’re a Jew-hater, Arab-lover, anti-Semite, you’re a pinko, a commie, a dreamer, a naive, a self-hater, you have issues, your mother worked for the Nazis, Prince Bandar buys you cookies, you forgot you were responsible for the holocaust, etc. The more the merrier. By the time you end this barrage, only a handful would be left standing. For mopping them up, you use the ultimate postmodern wisdom: Everything sucks.
War, genocide, racism, oppression are everywhere. From the Roma in Italy to the Native-Americans in the U.S., the weak are victimized. Why pick on Israel? It’s the way of the world. Look! Right is only in question between equals in power; the strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they must. Ethics, schmethics. Life is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing. Eat, drink! Carpe diem! The Palestinians would throw us into the sea if they could. Ha ha!
Trust me, that’s as far as words can go. If you followed this method faithfully, you’ve done your work. You should leave the few who are still unconvinced to the forces of order.
Congratulations!
You are now ready to
apologize for Israel like a pro.
I wonder if the growing strength of the anti-apartheid campaign and the BDS movement are contributing to frustrations in Israeli society and a growing sense of siege?
If my observations have some relevance then these would explain the increasing lurch to the fascist right, the erosion of democracy, the challenge to the status of Masjid al Aqsa and the practice by the authorities to just execute the Untermensch with impunity.
When you have a heavily armed and enraged group feeling a sense of siege, expect things to deteriorate.
The only word missing in your article is ‘INNOCENT’.
There is no book of law in which this case is murder EVEN IF the cop May have misjudged the situation.
@ Ariel: It’s murder in every book of law except your book of Zio-law, which says police can’t “murder” Palestinians. Most of the time they can’t even murder Jews since they’re unaccountable in those circumstances as well. But even with bullets in your back, if you’re Palestinian, you weren’t murdered. You were a threat. You fired first, you stabbed first, you spoke first. We had to respond in kind. Regrettably, you died. Nothing could be done.
Regardless it isn’t a murder. Possibly manslaughter. The guy still was a thread (He was NOT fleeing) but could probably be handled differently.
Murder – the killing of a human being by a sane person, with intent, malice aforethought (prior intention to kill the particular victim or anyone who gets in the way) and with no legal excuse or authority.(http://dictionary.law.com/Default.aspx?selected=1303)
@ Ariel: Whether it’s murder or manslaughter you & I both know the killer will much more likely be promoted than disciplined, let alone convicted of a crime for this.
Richard – NOT “Whether it’s murder or manslaughter” but rather “Whether it’s fully justified or manslaughter…”.
And before you make a claim about promotion, can you give an example? I have a few that shows the exact opposite.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/idf-chief-dismisses-officer-who-hit-danish-activist-with-rifle-1.425082
http://www.inn.co.il/News/News.aspx/239431
http://www.mako.co.il/news-military/security/Article-50c6f937521e731018.htm
@ Ariel: You found THREE whole instances in which IDF officers or police were held somewhat accountable for their heinous actions. Wow. Did you note that some or all of these incidents were videotaped and aired world wide, embarrassing the IDF & Israel? Can you find a single soldier disciplined for unlawfully killing a civilian who wasn’t exposed to derision in international media first? In other words, when the camera’s on there just may be a thin chance a killer might be held accountable. Still unikely, but a thin chance. But when there’s no camera, there’s no chance.
Can you tell us how many IDF soldiers were disciplined for mass civilian killings during Cast Lead? How many have been charged or even questioned who killed civilians during Protective Edge? How many soldiers were charged for looting millions of dollars worth of personal effects from Mavi Marmara detainees? No cameras, no accountability.
For the Marmara looting – http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3948049,00.html
As for Cast Lead, What mass killings do you refer to? almost 50% of casualties were militants (http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/hamas-admits-600-700-of-its-men-were-killed-in-cast-lead-1.323776). That does leave much space for ‘mass killings’ considering the density of Gaza. It does leave space for some mistakes which were probably done.
@ Ariel: I don’t need a Ynet article as I covered the story & remember the tens of millions of dollars in personal property looted from kidnapped members of the mission. You think ONE soldier looted those millions in belonging? This poor shlump was low man on the totem pole & got caught with his hands in the cookie jar. Looting was widespread. Far more than one soldier did this.
Your figures on Cast Lead lies as well. And there were well documented mass killings documented by the Goldstone Report and Israeli media of the time. NO senior officers were ever held culpable though several were investigated. I think one soldier was charged with looting a Palestinian home and perhaps one other lower level officer was punished for some offense. This despite the fact that 1,700 were killed 1,400 of whom were civilians.
You can’t get by with bullshit numbers here. I’ll catch you out every time. So don’t even try. Use hasbara bullshit numbers & I’ll stop you cold.
@Richard – I have no idea where you take your numbers for Cast Lead. And I am not sure why will you dismiss Haaretz report. Here is another source from the Arab world – http://www.khaleejtimes.com/displayarticle.asp?xfile=data/middleeast/2010/November/middleeast_November13.xml§ion=middleeast&col=
The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) claims 1,417 dead, including 926 civilians.
https://web.archive.org/web/20090612193512/http://www.pchrgaza.org/files/PressR/English/2008/36-2009.html
B’Tselem claims 1391 dead, including 811 civilians (759+32+20).
http://www.btselem.org/statistics/fatalities/during-cast-lead/by-date-of-event
Can you please bring a source to the numbers you quote?
@ Ariel: You claimed “50%” of the dead were civilians. All the independent stats you offer show that the percentage is between 60-70%. Please bring a credible source for the percentage you quote or you’ll be dismissed as a blatant hasbarist.
[comment deleted: stop boring me with nattering hasbara]
Thank you to Richard for being the first, as far as I know, to publish this video to a wide audience.
You are absolutely right to condemn the Israeli police who disgustingly lied about what happened (the stabbing and the shot fired in the air).
I have personally found myself inside a rioting looting crowd and saw for myself how difficult the situation was for all present, including the non-rioting demonstrators as well as the police present – even though there were large numbers of police present. The experience really shocked me – especially how fearful the police were of advancing while looting was going on right in front of them, as well as how violent the looters were towards the non-looting demonstrators. I was also shocked when I saw two bandana wearing demonstrators throw bottles indiscriminately towards the police – often missing the police and hitting other demonstrators.
I also follow with a lot of interest news reports, especially when there’s accompanying video, of police brutality around the world. Unfortunately, though I have a lot of respect for the official norms and accountability that police abide by in western liberal countries (in this I include Israel), I have learned to have great distrust in police officers themselves. There are many incidents in western liberal countries of officers being caught lying during court testimony to protect their colleagues – in many police forces there does seem to be a culture of omerta.
There are also many incidents around the world in the past few years of officers shooting dead suspects who were only armed with close-range weapons (like knives) and were not directly threatening the officers.
On the other hand, the fact that there are so many such cases in western liberal countries leads me to think that the situation is complex. I certainly wouldn’t want to be an officer confronted with a a suspect brandishing a knife when the only accessible weapon I have is a gun.
Though I feel that the Israeli officer in question above was too trigger-happy and did in fact kill the young man without any imminent threat to his own life, I think a charge akin to voluntary or involuntary manslaughter is more appropriate than second degree murder. The situation seemed emotionally charged for all involved, and the shooting seemed to be committed in the heat of passion. I also note that right after the shooting, the officers aimed at other people outside the camera shot who were further behind the victim. Those people were likely in the officer’s field of vision, behind the victim, as the officer was making his decision as to how to handle the situation.
I think that hindsight can sometimes be 20/20, and further we do not have all the facts – was there a viable option to exit from the other side of the vehicle? Was the victim in fact holding a knife or not? Did the officer have alternative means available, such as pepper spray or a taser? Did the officer have a history of ‘mavet laaravim’ racist extreme views? Or was the officer himself Arab (like the Israeli-druze soldier Captain R in 2005)? The identity politics involved certainly add to the complexity as compared to the many incidents I’ve read about in other western liaberal countries.
This is a tragedy for the family of the victim and proper respect needs to be expressed.
I am worried that there is a pattern of cover-ups and minimization in Israel’s history when it comes to crimes committed by Israeli soliders – just like there is in some other western liberal countries. I hope that a different (national?) police body will head the investigation so there is some increased chance of impartiality.
@ Eli: Thanks for your measured comment on this subject. However, given the failings of the Orr Commission which found police culpability in similar circumstances, after which no consequences were meted out to the police killers, I hardly think anything will happen to the killer here. There can be no impartial investigation of this incident. I wish it weren’t so, but alas it is.
What a lying, stupid article- this guy is beating against the police car windows trying to smash it -what if he had succeeded? there would be dead cops…but I guess that is ok in your warped minds? He’s holding something like he would a knife and clearly threatening the police. He would be treated the same way in any civilized country- however, in an arab country I doubt he would still be moving as he is in this video- looks to me like the police were lenient!
@ Liora: Read my lips: it’s an A-R-M-O-R-E-D vehicle. There’s no way a human being can penetrate an armored vehicle with his own limbs. None. So he couldn’t have succeeded.
What is “something like a knife.” Is that like a Dick Cheney having “something like” a conscience? What precisely does he have and how can you prove it?
Your comment & racism is odious.