20 July '08: B'Tselem: Prosecute soldier who fired 'rubber' bullet at Palestinian detainee, Investigate the involvement of an officer in the event and suspected cover-up

Today, B'Tselem is publishing a video clip documenting a soldier firing a rubber coated steel bullet, from extremely close range, at a cuffed and blindfolded Palestinian detainee. The shooting took place in the presence of a lieutenant colonel, who was holing the Palestinian's arm when the shot was fired.

The incident took place on 7 July, in Nil'in, a village in the West Bank. A Palestinian demonstrator, Ashraf Abu Rahma, 27, was stopped by soldiers, who cuffed and blindfolded him for about thirty minutes, during which time, according to Abu-Rahma, they beat him. Afterwards, a group of soldiers and border policemen led him to an army jeep. The video clip shows a soldier aim his weapon at the demonstrator's legs, from about 1.5 meters away, and fire a rubber coated steel bullet at him. Abu-Rahma stated that the bullet hit his left toe, received treatment from an army medic, and released by the soldiers.

A fourteen-year-old Palestinian girl from Nil'in filmed the incident from her house in the village, and B'Tselem received it this morning.

B'Tselem does not know if any proceedings were opened against those involved. However, residents of Ni'lin told B'Tselem that they saw the soldier the following day, still serving in his unit.

B'Tselem immediately forwarded a copy to the Military Police Investigation Unit commander, with demand that an immediate Military Police investigation be opened, if it hasn't already, and that the soldier be brought to justice. Additionally, B'Tselem demanded that the involvement of the lieutenant colonel who was holding the detainee is investigated. B'Tselem stressed that members of the security forces are obligated to report unlawful acts. It is even more serious is a high-ranking officer participates in such a whitewash.

A terror attack in Jerusalem:

A terrorist drives a Bulldozer killing at least 4 people, injuring dozens.

You can see a soldier dressed in civil cloths eliminates the terrorist by shooting several rounds at zero range. Seconds later, a policeman from the motorcycle's unit joins to assist the soldier.

WHAT A TWISTED WORLD WE LIVE IN :/

An off-duty soldier and a policeman from an elite unit at the scene of the Jerusalem attack shot the terrorist dead. The soldier M,, 18, is the brother-in-law of IDF officer David Shapira, who killed the terrorist in the Mercaz Harav Yeshiva attack on March 6. The policeman Eli Mizrahi told reporters after he did what he was trained to do. BBC took the footage. 07/02/08

from Yahoo/AP (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080702/ap_on_re_mi_ea/israel_b ulldozer_attack;_ylt=A0wNc0LEvWtIKagAUgLlWMcF)
JERUSALEM - A Palestinian man plowed an enormous construction vehicle into cars, buses and pedestrians on a busy street Wednesday, killing at least three people and wounding at least 45 before he was shot dead by security officers.

Israeli police referred to the man as a "terrorist" acting on his own. He repeatedly smashed vehicle after vehicle with the huge shovel on his machine, throwing cars into the air and overturning a bus.

from Jerusalem Post (http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1214726186987&pa gename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull)
"People started screaming 'he is running us over, he is running us over,'" recounted traffic policewoman Elinor Nahum, 22, who was the first to react, firing at the bulldozer and apparently hitting the terrorist. Another policeman then climbed onto the vehicle and was lightly wounded in a struggle with the attacker.

Finally, an off-duty soldier took a gun from a security guard at the scene and shot the terrorist, who cried "Allah Akhbar" (God is great) before being killed. The soldier, Moshe Plesser, was assisted in neutralizing the attacker by Eli Mizrahi, a member of police's elite Yasam anti-terror unit.

2008 Presidential candidate Ralph Nader discusses the situation in the Gaza strip and challenges Senator Barack Obama's comments to AIPAC. Music: Wassaic by Atmospheric Diver.
http://www.votenader.org