[News] Israel acquits two police officers over killing of Palestinian in Jerusalem after less than a 2 hour hearing

[Anti-Imperialist News]

middleeasteye.net
<https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/israel-palestine-policemen-acquitted-over-killing>
Israel
acquits two police officers over killing of Palestinian in JerusalemDecember
9, 2021
------------------------------

Officers in line for public medals following shooting of Mohammad Shawkat
Salima, who allegedly stabbed an Israeli settler

Mohammad Shawkat Salima, a 25-year-old Palestinian from Salfit, was shot
dead by Israeli police in occupied East Jerusalem on 4 December (Social
media)

Israel <https://www.middleeasteye.net/countries/israel>'s internal police
investigations department acquitted two police officers on Thursday over
the killing of a Palestinian as he lay on the ground near occupied East
Jerusalem's Damascus Gate.

On Saturday, Israeli military police, one man and one woman, shot dead
25-year-old Mohammad Shawkat Salima after he allegedly stabbed and wounded
an Israeli settler.

<https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/israel-forces-kill-palestinian-alleged-stabbing>

Israeli forces kill Palestinian after alleged stabbing

Read More »
<https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/israel-forces-kill-palestinian-alleged-stabbing>

Footage from the scene shows two soldiers shooting Salima at close range at
least twice while he lies on the ground. Salima was from Salfit, in the
occupied West Bank.

The Israeli police internal investigations department, known as Machash,
said the shooting by the police officers was "justified," and that no
charges were to be raised against them.

Israel's attorney general, Amit Isman, approved the decision to close the
investigation.

Israel’s justice ministry said in a statement on Thursday that the incident
"took place over mere seconds, in circumstances in which there was a real
and concrete threat to the lives of the fighters and the civilians in the
area".

It added that it closed the case after questioning the policemen, saying
the use of weapons was "legally justified”.

Machash's investigations did not exceed two hours. A police chief intends
to reward the officers with "medals of honor".

Israeli politicians have praised the police officers. Prime Minister
Naftali Bennett said that they "acted very quickly and decisively, as
expected of Israeli police, against a terrorist who tried to murder an
Israeli citizen".

Adalah, a rights group, said in a statement that "the praising and show of
support for the officers by senior political and legal figures substantiate
a policy of extrajudicial execution.

"It is difficult to imagine a serious and exhaustive investigation when the
prime minister, the minister of public security and the
commissioner-general praise the officers on their actions before the
investigation even began," it added

The Palestinian <https://www.middleeasteye.net/countries/palestine>
Authority (PA) condemned the killing of Salima last week, calling it "a
documented war crime".

"This crime comes in the context of continuous Israeli escalation against
our people, and it is a continuation of series of daily killings that
cannot be tolerated," the PA said.
Settlers in Sheikh Jarrah

On Wednesday, a 15-year-Palestinian girl attempted to stab a 25-year-old
Israeli woman in the East Jerusalem neighbourhood of Sheikh Jarrah.

Israeli forces stormed two schools in East Jerusalem after the incident and
arrested Nifuz Hammad in a classroom, along with another female student, a
teacher and the headmistress.

<https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/israel-uses-settler-violence-tool-take-palestinian-land-btselem>

Israel uses settler violence as 'tool' to take Palestinian land: B'Tselem

Read More »
<https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/israel-uses-settler-violence-tool-take-palestinian-land-btselem>

The Hammad family faces Israeli eviction orders from their home to make way
for Israeli settler groups.

Palestinian and Israeli media reported that the Israeli woman was a settler
living in a house close to the Hammads in Sheikh Jarrah, a significant
flashpoint in East Jerusalem.

Hours after the stabbing attempt, hundreds of far-right settlers marched in
Sheikh Jarrah carrying flags and chanting "Death to Arabs", while Israeli
police closed the entrances to the neighbourhood and prevented journalists
and Palestinians from entering.

Palestinians have called for a mass march to al-Aqsa Mosque in the early
hours on Friday morning amid rising tension in the city.

Last week, Israeli police forces killed
<https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/palestine-israel-jerusalem-killed-old-city>
a
Palestinian man, identified as 42-year-old Fadi Abu Shukhaidem, from the
Shuafat neighbourhood, for allegedly shooting dead an Israeli and wounding
two others in the Old City.
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