‘IDF soldier’s penalty for shooting Palestinian? Probable reprimand for letting himself be filmed'

The more Palestinians react the more the Israelis feel they are justified in taking extremely repressive action. But the whole purpose for such action is ethnic cleansing, Paul Larudee from Free Palestine Movement told RT.

An Israeli soldier shot and killed a motionless and injured Palestinian after an alleged stabbing attempt in the West Bank. The shooting took place Thursday and was captured on video by a human rights activist.

RT: The IDF soldier who killed the Palestinian attacker said that he's sure he did the 'right thing'. How appropriate do you think his actions were in response?

Paul Larudee: I think the actions of the Israeli soldier who executed the Palestinian who was wounded and lying on the ground are very appropriate for the policies of Israel, which are the assassination and elimination of the Palestinian people from all of Palestine. This is very much in accord with Israeli policy and intentions. 

RT: The incident has been condemned by the IDF and the Israeli Prime Minister. The soldier has been suspended and is in custody pending an investigation. What consequences or punishment can he expect?

PL: A very serious reprimand for allowing himself to be filmed is what he will probably get. If he gets 90 days for misuse of a weapon, which is the typical type of conviction in this case, he will be out on probation in 30 days, let’s say. It is all for showing a good face to the world and try to make them look civilized.

Helal Alosh from Amnesty International in Israel commented on the issue:
"The Israeli forces have a long history of deliberate attacks and unlawful killing of Palestinians including extrajudicial killing and it needs to be investigated immediately and impartially by an independent investigation team…"

RT: There are plenty of cases where Palestinians armed with knives - or sometimes stones - are repelled by Israeli security forces with live rounds, and with fatal results. Is there any pressure on Israel to reassess the appropriateness of soldiers' response to street-level violence?

PL: There are actually less cases of attacks by Palestinians with knives than is reported. The number reported is greater than the number that actually takes place because we know of cases where the knives are added to the Palestinian after the Palestinian has been killed. But we don’t know how many. So, the number of incidents is smaller. But as far as whether the actions of Israel are appropriate in most of these cases the life of the other soldier is not at issue. Most of the wounds from these knives in the few cases that occur are minor wounds and do not require lethal force to stop them.  

Israel is not unique in doing this; there are policemen in countries around the world that take similar action in overreacting to a potential threat when the potential threat is smaller. But there is no doubt also that Israel’s policy is first of all to eliminate Palestinians in any way they can by expulsion, by transfer and by killing. The objective is to eliminate the Palestinians. But at the same time the part of the reason is to provoke other Palestinians who are not wounded or killed or taken prisoner to do more because the more the Palestinians react the more the Israelis feel that they have the justification for taking extremely repressive action. But the whole purpose is ethnic cleansing.