Israeli use of U.S. rifle to kill boy protester sparks calls for investigation

As you know, Israeli soldiers murdered Ali Abu Alia, a boy of about 14 (reports of his age have varied from 12 to 15), while he was protesting an illegal Israeli settlement in the occupied West Bank Friday. The killing — on top of hundreds of similar atrocities in recent years — has generated outrage in the west, led by Reps. Rashida Tlaib and Betty McCollum. Jewish Voice for Peace promptly issued the demand that the U.S. cut off all military funding to Israel.

Two Jewish organizations have called on the U.S. to investigate the matter because an American arm was used, a Ruger rifle.

Both J Street and IfNotNow have demanded a U.S. investigation, with IfNotNow challenging Joe Biden to investigate the murder. “Why has it been three days since Israeli forces killed a Palestinian child and no condemnation from the Biden team?”

By the way, Israel itself claims that it will investigate the killing. It must be stated flatly: Israeli investigations of “the most moral army in the world” never go anywhere; they are the equivalent of Donald Trump investigating why he lost Georgia.

“Given that an IDF spokesperson has said that Abu Aliya was shot with a ‘Ruger’ firearm,” J Street wrote, “we believe any such investigation must also clarify the circumstances in which Israeli forces are authorized and instructed to use such weapons, which are subject to requirements under US law that such equipment be used for legitimate defense purposes only.”

Alex Kane echoed this point, and suggested that the Israeli army made a point to tie its actions to the U.S. even as the murder was making international headlines.

The writer Jeff Klein pointed out the Ruger connection to me first, on the day of the killing. “Just a reminder that these guns are made in Newport, NH and exported by the Sturm, Ruger Co. whose corporate headquarters is in Southport, CT. As you might recall, I wrote about this a couple of times on MW some time back.”

Yes, in 2011 — Jeff Klein wrote about Israel’s use of the small caliber — .22– sniper rifles to kill six Palestinians and injure scores in the previous three years. Some excerpts.

• On January 28, 2008, Kusai al-Afrandi, age 17, was killed in Bethlehem
• on 29 July 2008, Ahmad Musa, age 10, was killed in Ni’lin
• on 28 December 2008 Mohammed Khawaje, age 20 (and Mohammed Hamid, age 22)
• on 13 February 2009, Izzedine al-Jamal, age 14, was killed in Hebron
• on 5 June 2009, Yusuf Aqel Srour, age 36 in Ni’lin (28 other than Srour were injured by 0.22” bullets in Ni’lin alone)
• B’stelem claims to have documented injuries from these weapons in Ni’lin, Bil’in, Jayyus, Bitunya, and Budrus, including at least one foreign national

Klein explained that the gun was acquired during the First Intifada for the very reason that Israeli soldiers used it Friday in the occupied West Bank — for “riot control.”

The intention was to deploy weapons that would be less lethal than its standard issue 5.56mm US-Israeli M16 assault rifle, but with more potent firepower than rubber-coated metal bullets (which have also killed). The IDF settled on the Ruger 10/22, which fired a relatively small, but high velocity 0.22 caliber rimfire cartridge that could be used “to take out key protest leaders by shooting them in the legs.” The Israeli version was fitted with a sniper scope and, presumably to amplify its terror effect, with a fully “suppressed” – or silenced in popular usage – barrel, which could wound or kill at a distance with no loud report to indicate the shot’s origin. As one advertiser of this weapon boasted, the only noise you will hear is the firing pin hitting and then, “the ‘smack’ on the target.”

Twenty years ago this weapon was controversial. But no matter, Israel kept using it.

In 2001, following the killing of several children in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank by Israeli soldiers using the Ruger 10/22, the IDF Judge Advocate General ruled that the weapon should be classified as a live-fire weapon and banned from crowd control usage. “The mistake was that the Ruger came to be seen as a means of dispersing demonstrations, in contrast to its original purpose as a weapon in every respect,” said a senior IDF officer.

Nevertheless, the Israeli security forces began to deploy the Ruger 10/22 again, with lethal effect, to suppress West Bank protests against the Apartheid Wall in 2008-09. Court testimony last October indicated that the cost of .22 caliber ammunition fired in Bil’in and Ni’lin from August 2008 to December 2009 was NIS 1.3 million, or about $350,000. A lot of bullets.

Klein said that Sturm, Ruger Co. was proud that its rifle was chosen by the Israeli Defense Forces. And that the company boasts that it is “a model example of corporate and community responsibility.”

Will anyone bear responsibility for robbing Ali Abu Alia of his life? It all depends on the responses of American political actors. The J Street statement is an advance. Though I’d note rather savagely that Jim Klutznick, chair of Americans for Peace Now, made a statement yesterday about reaching an “inflection point between the U.S. and Israel” that referenced the murder of John Lennon. No mention of Ali Abu Alia. Really the political question is, How long will American liberals keep their heads up their —-.