Activism

Hebron teen was killed by Israelis minutes after buying cake for his 17th birthday — PCHR

Today B’tselem posted the above video of Mohammed Salayme moments after he was killed by an Israeli border police officer on Wednesday, December 11. Salayme is not visible in most of the footage. Rather, he appears to be surrounded by soldiers who leave him on the ground without medical attention, as they focus on shooing away a crowd of Palestinians. 

Update from Ahmed Moor: “The man at the end of the video, Abu Awad, is the dead teen’s father. He’s saying ‘this is my son’ while the other guys are trying to get him to stand away from the soldiers.”

Meanwhile, a human rights group’s investigation of the shooting has cast more doubt on the Israeli story that Salayme was brandishing a plastic toy gun when he was killed. This report comes a day after the family of Salayme strongly denied to the press that the 17-year-old had a plastic gun, as we highlighted yesterday. Here’s the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights on the killing:

In an example of excessive use of lethal force, Israeli Occupation Forces positioned in the centre of the Old City of Hebron killed a 17-year-old Palestinian child, Mohammed Ziad Awad al-Salayma, on Wednesday, 12 December 2012. He was killed when an Israeli female soldier from the Border Guard Forces opened fire at him and killed him. The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) condemns this crime and believes that it form part of an escalation of Israeli hostilities in the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt). PCHR calls upon the High Contracting Parties to the Fourth Geneva Convention to take practical actions to ensure Israel’s respect for the Convention in the oPt and offer immediate protection to Palestinian civilians.

According to the findings of investigations conducted by PCHR, at approximately 18:30 on Wednesday, 12 December 2012, Mohammed Ziad Awad al-Salayma, 17, was on his way home after buying a cake to celebrate his birthday, which was on the same day. When he arrived at an Israeli checkpoint that is established at the entrance of al-Masharqa neighborhood, Israeli soldiers at the checkpoint were detaining a child, who had a plastic pistol. Once al-Salayma reached the checkpoint, an Israeli female soldier fired at him from a close range; as a result, he was hit by three bullets that penetrated his body and killed him immediately. Israeli forces kept his body for over two hours before delivering him to an ambulance belonging to the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS). As a precondition for the release of his body, Israeli forces prohibited the burial of al-Salayma in a cemetery close to the limitation zone in al-Sheikh area in the centre of the Old City.

Note: In our report yesterday we passed on the report that Mohammed Salayma was on his way to buying the cake.

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So it’s clear now what happened; a Palestinian kid with a plastic gun was being held by the Israeli thugs.

When Mr. Salayme showed up at the checkpoint, the thugs murdered him and conveniently planted the toy gun from the other kid on Muhammad Salayme.

I love it how even Ha’aretz diligently printed the lies of Israeli authorities as though they were Torah from the Sinai.

Israeli soldiers at the checkpoint were detaining a child, who had a plastic pistol. Once al-Salayma reached the checkpoint, an Israeli female soldier fired at him from a close range;

what a tragedy. another horrific tragedy. they lied. again.

Israeli forces kept his body for over two hours before delivering him to an ambulance belonging to the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS).

so it was true. i read that and couldn’t confirm it. i wonder how long he lived after he was shot.

“As a precondition for the release of his body, Israeli forces prohibited the burial of al-Salayma in a cemetery close to the limitation zone in al-Sheikh area in the centre of the Old City.”

Damn. That’s pretty evil: holding a dead body hostage. Is there no depths of depravity that these criminals won’t do to these poor innocent Palestinians? Sickening filth.

” Israeli soldiers at the checkpoint were detaining a child, who had a plastic pistol. ”

WTF??? Detaining a child for having a plastic pistol? And then planting it on a murdered teenager? And holding his body? And then dictating where he be buried?

Just when you think you can no longer be sickened by Israel’s behaviour, they go and surprise you.

Now we know the truth: the Arab terrorist operative was carrying a deadly explosive device, cunningly disguised as a festive ‘cake’ in order to play on the overdeveloped sense of compassion which is a universal trait of the benevolent Israeli Border Guards. Fortunately, this brave daughter of Judea saw through the ruse, and quickly and humanely neutralized the target, saving the lives of her comrades. Thus, yet another almost-Holocaust was averted.

(Can you tell that I’m angling for Avital Leibobitch’s job?)

BTW, this poor kid must’ve been some kind of ninja assassin to have “pounced” on a heavily armed soldier whilst simultaneously tucking a large cake under one arm, choking said soldier with his other arm, and holding a fake plastic-but-actually-kinda-totally-metal-and-real-looking gun to the soldier’s head with his, um, third arm?