Israel investigates B'Tselem claims on shooting Palestinians
In an interview with Al-Monitor, B'Tselem Director Hagai El-Ad defends the organization's unequivocal, yet unpopular stance against Israeli policies: ''The moral image of the state is important for many Israelis and not just for B’Tselem activists.''
Six months have passed since B'Tselem disseminated the video footage documenting the killing of two Palestinian youths — Nadim Nawarah and Muhammad Salameh — during the May 15 Nakba Day demonstrations in Bitunya, a small town near Ramallah. An inquiry by the organization raised suspicion that the youths had been deliberately killed.
On Nov. 12, it was authorized for publication that a border police soldier was arrested on suspicion of murdering the two youths, having used live bullets instead of rubber ones. In tandem, the soldier’s commander was also questioned on suspicion of having known that live fire was used but having failed to report it.
The footage, filmed by a security camera located at the Bitunya intersection, stirred up a huge storm in Israel and around the world. The Israel Defense Forces emphatically argued that the riot-control force had not used live ammunition. “The video footage has been tendentiously edited, failing to reflect the violent disturbance,” was the response of the IDF spokesman. That response failed to address the allegations of the Palestinians that live ammo slugs had been removed from the bodies of the youths, who apparently posed no danger to the soldiers and were probably not involved in the violent demonstration that was taking place at the same time.
Defense Minister Moshe (Bogie) Ya’alon also called the video into question, reinforcing the prevailing assumption in Israel that the Palestinians had, as usual, distributed a bogus and doctored video.
