IAWM condemns response of Israeli armed forces to abduction and killing of three Israeli settler teenagers

IAWM PRESS STATEMENT – 01 JULY 2014

• IAWM condemns response of Israeli armed forces to abduction and killing of three Israeli settler teenagers
• Media silence on a brutal IDF response shows bias towards Israel

The Irish Anti-War Movement (IAWM) issued a statement today condemning the harsh and unjustified response by the Israeli armed forces to the abduction and now confirmed killing of three Israeli settler teenagers. Their deaths are no less tragic than the thousands of Palestinian deaths due to the endless brutal occupation of Palestinian land and the oppression of its people. The only difference is in the mainstream media coverage, for which every Israeli death is top of the news agenda, in contrast to Palestinian deaths, which in most cases will not be reported at all.

Quoting from a weekly report from the internationally award-winning Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) issued last Thursday (26 June); the statement noted that since the teenagers were abducted near Hebron the Israeli armed forces had carried out operations in the West Bank that resulted in the following happening:

IAWM PRESS STATEMENT – 01 JULY 2014

• IAWM condemns response of Israeli armed forces to abduction and killing of three Israeli settler teenagers
• Media silence on a brutal IDF response shows bias towards Israel

The Irish Anti-War Movement (IAWM) issued a statement today condemning the harsh and unjustified response by the Israeli armed forces to the abduction and now confirmed killing of three Israeli settler teenagers. Their deaths are no less tragic than the thousands of Palestinian deaths due to the endless brutal occupation of Palestinian land and the oppression of its people. The only difference is in the mainstream media coverage, for which every Israeli death is top of the news agenda, in contrast to Palestinian deaths, which in most cases will not be reported at all.

Quoting from a weekly report from the internationally award-winning Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) issued last Thursday (26 June); the statement noted that since the teenagers were abducted near Hebron the Israeli armed forces had carried out operations in the West Bank that resulted in the following happening:

• “6 Palestinian civilians, including a child and an old man, were killed, and 14 others, including 4 children and a journalist, were wounded
• 127 incursions were conducted in the West Bank
• Hundreds of houses were raided brutally, their residents were maltreated and a number of houses were turned into military barracks
• 215 Palestinian civilians, including dozens of former prisoners and 10 children, were arrested
• 21 of these civilians, including 3 children, were arrested in East Jerusalem
• 18 Charitable associations were raided and a number of them were closed.
• 4 university campuses, 2 money exchange shops and a media centre were raided
• Dozens of surveillance cameras were confiscated from houses and shops”

The full PCHR statement is here – http://www.pchrgaza.org/portal/en/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=10433%3Aweekly-report-on-israeli-human-rights-violations-in-the-occupied-palestinian-territory-19-25-june-2014-&catid=131%3Anew

Meanwhile in Gaza, 2 men were killed in a military strike on a moving car, while 18 Palestinian civilians, including 7 women and 4 children, were wounded in other attacks. Gaza is again under bombardment from the 4th largest military in the world.

The statement noted that these attacks by the Israeli armed forces amount to collective punishment of the entire Palestinian population, which is illegal under the 4th Geneva Convention.

The IAWM statement also criticised the biased coverage of the Irish media, noting that there was no media coverage whatsoever of the Israeli military killing, wounding and harassment of Palestinians over the last two weeks but that the killing of the Israel teenagers is now receiving blanket coverage.

Jim Roche, PRO of the IAWM, said:

“While the killing of the three Israeli teenagers is a horrible tragic event for their families and loved ones it cannot come as a surprise that such an act might one day happen in Hebron which is a city of almost 700, 000 Palestinians that is under frequent curfew by a hostile, occupation force protecting a few thousand illegal extremist settlers. The abduction and killings should also be contextualised within both the brutal response by the Israeli armed forces over the last two weeks and in relation to the abduction and imprisonment of Palestinian adults and children for many decades.”

He concluded by noting:

“We should remember that over 1,400 Palestinian children have been killed as a result of Israeli military and settler presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory since 2000. Hundreds of Palestinian children currently suffer in silence away from media glare in harsh environments in Israeli prisons. In fact Middle East Monitor reports that; “Every year, about 500-700 Palestinian children, many as young as 12, are held captive in Israeli prisons” (see report here – https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/blogs/lifestyle/10063-the-reality-of-palestinian-children-in-israeli-jails). Why have we not heard about these children from the Irish media? Why have we not seen the faces of the Palestinians killed and wounded over the last two weeks? The recent media coverage around the awful deaths of the 3 Israeli teenagers displays a horrendous bias in the Irish media which is hiding the daily suffering of Palestinians under a brutal military occupation and siege.”

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