Israeli soldier convicted for shooting dead Palestinian assailant

Yahoo – AFP, Joe Dyke, January 4, 2017

Israeli soldier Elor Azaria (C) had been on trial for manslaughter in a military
court, with right-wing politicians defending him despite top army brass harshly
 condemning the killing (AFP Photo/Heidi Levine)

Tel Aviv (AFP) - A soldier who shot dead a wounded Palestinian assailant as he lay on the ground posing no apparent threat was convicted of manslaughter Wednesday after a trial that deeply divided Israel.

Elor Azaria had been on trial in a military court since May, with right-wing politicians defending him despite top army brass harshly condemning his actions.

He now faces up to 20 years in prison.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said after the ruling that he favoured a pardon for the 20-year-old French-Israeli sergeant.

"This has been a hard and painful day for us all -- first and foremost for Elor and his family," Netanyahu wrote on Facebook.

"I support giving a pardon to Elor Azaria."

Netanyahu made waves before the trial even began, by calling Azaria's father to express his sympathy.

Earlier Wednesday, President Reuven Rivlin's office issued a statement advising that any talk of a pardon was premature.

It said an application could only be made after the judicial process had run its course.

No date has yet been announced for sentencing, and Azaria could then appeal.

Judge Colonel Maya Heller spent more than two and a half hours reading out the court decision Wednesday, sharply criticising the arguments of Azaria's lawyers.

On behalf of the three-judge panel, Heller said there was no reason for Azaria to open fire since the Palestinian was posing no threat.

She called his testimony "evolving and evasive".

"His motive for shooting was that he felt the terrorist deserved to die," she said.

Azaria had entered the courtroom smiling, applauded by family and supporters.

But he looked shaken as the judge spoke, and after the verdict his mother yelled: "You should be ashamed of yourselves."

Israeli women protest outside the defence ministry in Tel Aviv on January 4, 2017, 

in support of Israeli soldier Elor Azaria, who shot dead a wounded Palestinian 

assailant (AFP Photo/Jack Guez)

Protests and scuffles

Outside Israel's military headquarters in Tel Aviv, where the court announced the verdict, dozens of Azaria supporters scuffled with police.

Shabtay Oz, a retired policeman carrying a large Israeli flag and protesting peacefully, said he never imagined himself joining a demonstration.

"But when I saw a soldier in cuffs after he shot a terrorist," he said, slapping his hands together, "that was the point of no return."

Right-wing leaders have called for him to be pardoned in an extraordinary public rift between politicians and the military.

Before he became defence minister in May, Avigdor Lieberman was among those showing strong support for Azaria, including attending one of his court appearances.

He has since backed away from his earlier stance, and after Wednesday's verdict said he disagreed with the decision but that it must be respected.

The March 24 shooting in the occupied West Bank city of Hebron was caught on video and spread widely online.

It showed Abdul Fatah al-Sharif, 21, lying on the ground, shot along with another Palestinian after stabbing and moderately wounding a soldier minutes earlier, according to the army.

Azaria then shoots him again in the head without any apparent provocation.

His lawyers argued the soldier may have thought the Palestinian was wearing explosives, but others said he had already been checked for a suicide belt and no one in the video appears to be acting with caution toward him.

The Palestinian's father told reporters in Hebron after the verdict that Azaria should be sentenced to life.

"For me, a just verdict will be one that is similar to the verdicts our sons (in Israeli prisons) get," Yusri al-Sharif said.

Yusri al-Sharif (L), Abdul Fatah al-Sharif's father, told reporters that Azaria 

should be sentenced to life (AFP Photo/Hazem Bader)

Polarised public

The video was filmed by a Palestinian volunteer for Israeli rights group B'Tselem, which accused the security forces of "routine whitewashing" in a statement after the verdict.

"The fact that one soldier was convicted today does not exonerate the Israeli military law enforcement system from its routine whitewashing of cases in which security forces kill or injure Palestinians with no accountability," B'Tselem said.

The case galvanised the Israeli public, and television and radio stations interrupted their broadcasts to carry live coverage of the verdict.

It had been portrayed by some as a test of whether Israel's military could prosecute one of its own, though many Palestinians dismissed it, arguing Azaria was only put on trial because of the video.

The military has said it began investigating before the release of the video.

The last time an Israeli soldier was convicted of manslaughter was in 2005, Israeli media reported.

The shooting came against the backdrop of a wave of Palestinian knife, gun and car-ramming attacks that erupted in October 2015.

Israeli security forces have been accused of using excessive force in certain other cases as well, though authorities say officers act appropriately to protect themselves and civilians.

Most of the attacks were by lone-wolf assailants, many of them young people, including teenagers. Israel's military has said it believes a significant number of them were essentially on suicide missions.

The violence has greatly subsided in recent months.

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"THE BRIDGE OF SWORDS"– Sep  29, 2012 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll) - (Text version)

“… What have we told you about the bridge? Actually, not much except that in crossing the bridge, the old energy ones were not going to like it. Old energy does not want you to escape! Old energy doesn't want you to cross the bridge because it can't cross. Did you know that? It can't cross. The old paradigms of Human nature that you've known all of these millenniums have to stay on the old side of the bridge. It cannot cross, for the bridge rejects all that is not in love, compassion and light. Those things that are dark, including Human nature of the past, will not be able to go. But the ones I speak to right now are already on the bridge. That was your design, old soul, and those are the words that are ringing in your ears to this day and the ones given at the wind of birth, that this might happen in your lifetime. So what's going to happen next?

Swords

Let us talk about the swords: When you hear the word sword, the first thing that occurs to you is battle. The Bridge of Swords is a battle and we told you that as well. Swords are metaphoric and they mean many things, so let us describe the things we mean them to say to you.

Number one: They are indeed a weapon in a battle. There is a battle coming. "Kryon, does that mean there's going to be a war?" Potentially, yes. Right now we will tell you that the Middle East cooks itself. You've noticed, haven't you? What do you know about the Middle East, dear one? Let's start examining things for a moment. What energy did you grow up in? What was the energy of the Middle East? In the '40s, what was the energy? With the establishment of the state of Israel, you built a wall of hate, both sides. The wall was so thick that the children of both sides were taught to hate one another as soon as they were able to understand the language. They were told who their enemies were. Now, where were you then?

Some of you weren't here yet. By the time you arrived, in your youth, were you aware of the Middle East? Not particularly. "What's the hatred about?" you might ask. What if I told you it's about a family feud? Two sons of a Jewish master are involved. One founded the Arabs and one remained a Jew. They don't want to hear this, but they are all Jews. (Don't tell them this.)

If you look at the lineage, it's pretty obvious and yet it's a complete and total set-up for either solution or war. The set-up would have this world ending in a conflagration that would have been brought about by this hatred. That's in the prophecy of Nostradamus and your scripture, but it is no longer the prophecy of the planet. Yet the hatred still exists. The hatred is as great today as it was then, but where was all the terrorism 40 years ago? It was isolated.

Those in Israel and Palestine and surrounding areas took the brunt of it, but now it's seemingly everywhere - and you're worried. Why would this be? The answer is that the old energy was happy to have this hatred contained, for it would keep it going and never involve outsiders. Outsiders tend to bring unwanted light to the party. Suddenly, the whole earth is involved and can see the entire scenario before them. The old guard wants war, just like all the eons before them. The ones on the bridge are holding the light and showing the earth how to cross. Even many younger ones in Israel and Palestine and Iran are holding light! It's all around the old guard and they are furious, for they are losing the "battle of hatred." …”

"The End of History" – Nov 20, 2010 (Kryon channeled by Lee Carroll)

(Subjects: Abraham, Isaac, Ishmael, Muhammad, Jesus, God, Jews, Arabs, EU, US, Israel, Iran, Russia, Africa, South America, Global Unity,..... etc.) (Text version)

" ..... If an Arab and a Jew can look at one another and see the Akashic lineage and see the one family, there is hope. If they can see that their differences no longer require that they kill one another, then there is a beginning of a change in history. And that's what is happening now. All of humanity, no matter what the spiritual belief, has been guilty of falling into the historic trap of separating instead of unifying. Now it's starting to change. There's a shift happening. ....."

"... Taught to Hate From Birth

On this earth today, many who are born in Israel are taught from birth how to dislike and distrust all those around them. At this time in history on this earth, those around them from birth are taught how to hate the Jews. Carefully taught, they are. Against all odds, they are proud of this separation because it is the lineage of their ancestors that is at stake, and they want to follow historic protocol. They want to stay separate. Yet I want to tell you that's what is changing. Oh, it's really changing! It's changing in the places you don't expect. It's changing in Jerusalem. It's changing in Iran. And the children are waking up and saying, "Tell me again why I should hate them? They did what, when? That wasn't them. It was their ancestors. The ones here now are current and didn't participate in history. Tell me again, because I don't feel it."

The parents are shaking their heads, and saying, "Do as we say, for tradition and history tells us that they are our enemy and always will be." And the children are saying, "No. I am not going to do this, and neither are those around me." This is slowly making a difference on this planet and it is not being recorded. For your worldwide media has no idea what to do with this new energy and it doesn't seem to even be news to them. They are steeped in the old Human nature, where things that separate are news, and things that unify are not. Yet it is one of the greatest energies this planet is seeing today. I'm here to tell you it's real and it's happening under the hood, you might say. Oh, there are other things I'd like to report to you. ..."