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Israeli guilty of shooting Briton
A
27 June 2005 16:39
A former Israeli soldier has been found guilty of the manslaughter of British student Tom Hurndall in the Gaza Strip.

Ex-sergeant Wahid Taysir was convicted at Castina military court in Ashkelon, for the shooting of Mr Hurndall in April 2003. He died nine months later.

Mr Hurndall, 22, was involved in protests against the Israeli military in the Palestinian town of Rafah.

His father, Anthony, welcomed the guilty verdict, but he said the Israeli army acted with impunity too often.

The defendant was led out of the court in handcuffs and tried to attack a number of photographers and cameramen filming him, the BBC's Middle East correspondent James Reynolds said.

Improper conduct

More than 50 people crowded into the small courtroom on a military base in southern Israel, to hear the verdict - which took more than an hour to read out.

In addition to the manslaughter verdict, Taysir was found guilty of obstruction of justice, incitement to false testimony, false testimony and improper conduct.

The court was told Taysir fired at Mr Hurndall from an Israeli army watchtower.

Witnesses said Mr Hurndall, from north London, had been escorting children away from gunfire when he was hit in the head by a single shot.

The Israeli army initially disputed this account, but under pressure from Mr Hurndall's family the British government ordered a full investigation.

It later indicted Taysir, a member of Israel's Bedouin Arab minority, who is no longer in the army.

Family 'concerned'

Mr Hurndall, a Manchester Metropolitan University journalism and photography student, had been operating as a human shield in the Gaza Strip with the International Solidarity Movement.

His father, who had been sitting in court within touching distance of Taysir, said the guilty verdict was the right one.

But he added that the family was "concerned about the culture in which this incident took place".

"We're concerned that there is a policy which seems to be prevalent in Gaza, amongst the Israeli soldiers and army, that they feel able to shoot civilians really without any accountability whatsoever."

Civil liberties group Human Rights Watch last week accused Israel of investigating less than 5% of hundreds of cases of Palestinians killed since 2000.

Israeli authorities say there is no policy of tolerating the shooting of civilians.

Taysir is due to be sentenced next week.

A film about the case, Shot on Camera: Tom Hurndall, will be shown on BBC Three on Monday 27 June at 2000 BST.

source :
[news.bbc.co.uk]
a
27 June 2005 16:47
They got guilty only when a westerner is killed. What about the case of thousands of palestinians killed also in similar circumstances?

A
27 June 2005 17:11
Assalamo 3alikom,

Muslim blood is very very cheep.

No one cares about killing of innocent Muslim people in Iraq,Palestine,Afganistan,Chechenia ... and More to follow.

It's a shame but we should only blame ourselves we love this world so much and no one is willing to fight for his right or the right of his Muslim brother.

My allah change our condition, unify our hearts and strengten them with Iman.

Salam
 
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