Wednesday, October 28, 2015
Elder of Ziyon
Every example they give is based on "eyewitness" testimony which even Amnesty has admitted is often based on lies.
Here is one example based purely on a supposed "eyewitness:"
In an especially egregious case, Israeli forces shot dead 19-year-old Sa’ad Muhammad Youssef al-Atrash in the Old City of Hebron as he attempted to retrieve an ID card at an Israeli soldier’s request on 26 October. The Israeli police labelled the incident an “attempted stabbing” but an eyewitness watching the events unfold from her balcony said he had posed no threat when he was shot. One of the soldiers had asked him for ID, and as he reached into his pocket to grab his card another soldier standing behind him shot him on his right side, she told Amnesty International. The eyewitness said he was shot six or seven times and bled profusely as he lay on the ground for about 40 minutes afterwards, while soldiers failed to provide medical treatment. She also reported seeing soldiers bring a knife and place it in the dying man’s hand.Amnesty believes that a woman on a balcony can hear the security forces asking al-Atrash for an ID,which is highly unlikely. Yet they accept this absurd "testimony" even when the woman claims that the soldiers planted the knife.
The claim of planting knives has been all over Palestinian Arab media, including cases where video has proven otherwise. But the meme is strong enough that "eyewitnesses" speaking to credulous NGOs know exactly what to say.
By the way, al-Atrash made it pretty clear on Facebook what his intentions were (h/t Bob Knot)
The scenario is repeated, this time with Amnesty asking the readers to connect the dots:
On 25 October, a short distance from where al-Atrash was killed, Israeli border police shot dead Dania Jihad Hussein Ershied, 17. Shortly before she was killed, she had passed through a checkpoint equipped with a metal detector and two revolving gates, between which Israeli forces frequently lock people they deem suspicious. At a second checkpoint in front of Hebron’s Ibrahimi Mosque she was called for a second inspection by more than five border police officers, who began searching her bag and yelling at her to show her knife.Amnesty clearly doesn't believe that Ersheid had a knife, because otherwise why would they mention that she went through a metal detector beforehand? But then they hedge their bets by saying that even if she had a knife, she had both hands in the air - according to the eyewitnesses. So either the eyewitnesses are lying, which even Amnesty admits they often do, or the IDF is lying and planting evidence.
Warning shots were fired at her feet, prompting her to step back and raise her hands in the air. She was shouting at the police that she did not have a knife and still had her arms raised when police again opened fire, shooting her six or seven times.
A photo of Ershied’s body shows a knife lying near the body, and the Israeli police spokesperson has stated that she attempted to stab a border policeman. However, even if Dania Jihad Hussein Ershied had a knife in her possession, eyewitness accounts indicate she was not posing a threat to Israeli forces when she was shot, and her killing is therefore absolutely unjustified.
It is clear which one Amnesty believes.
Even though there have been dozens of stabbing attacks causing injuries and deaths, and even though Palestinian media is glorifying the youths who are stabbing Jews, Amnesty is assuming that the people who cheer the attacks are honest and the ones who are the intended victims are liars. Amnesty believes the "eyewitnesses" who are under tremendous social pressure not to say anything that goes against their narrative.
The Amnesty employee most responsible for this one-sided "research" is Jacob Burns, currently visiting the area just to write reports like this. Burns happens to be a "researcher" behind Amnesty's "Gaza Platform" which claims that hundreds of terrorists killed in Gaza were innocent civilians, and he has refused to answer anyone on Twitter who pointed out his provable lies in that farce. So we know that Amnesty's main researcher in the territories has no integrity whatsoever. (And he is the only Amnesty employee i've seen who occasionally tweets terror attacks against Israelis, too. So everyone else at Amnesty is even worse!)
And then there is this:
[H]eavily armed soldiers and police wearing body armour facing a possible knife attack have a duty to use proportionate and graduated force and attempt to arrest suspects before resorting to the use of lethal force,” said Philip LutherThis mirrors what Amnesty said in its last biased report two whole weeks ago:
While Palestinian demonstrators have thrown rocks and firebombs towards Israeli forces in many demonstrations, and there are reports that Palestinians have shot at Israeli forces in isolated cases, Israeli military and police forces are heavily protected and must ensure that all use of force is strictly necessary and proportionate, and that firearms must only be used to protect against the imminent threat of death or serious injury.We've seen videos of attacks that happen suddenly, Necks and face aren't protected by body armor.
And why would Amnesty mention that soldiers are "heavily armed" if they say that the soldiers and police cannot use those arms?
It is all to paint a picture of unwarranted Israeli aggression and innocent Palestinian victims. It is part of Amnesty's war against Israel in the name of "human rights." Because it sure isn't in the name of truth.
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