The new Amnesty International report on the indiscriminate killing of Palestinians by Israeli soldiers is aptly called “Trigger-happy”. The second half of the title is “Israel's Use of Excessive Force in the West Bank” because it documents the killing of 45 Palestinians in the past three years and the wounding of thousands more who did not pose a direct and immediate threat to life. This, Amnesty stated, shows a harrowing pattern of unlawful killings and unwarranted injuries of Palestinian civilians by Israeli forces in the West Bank. The rights group thus accuses Israel of war crimes and other serious violations of international law against Palestinians. Israeli assaults killed more Palestinians in 2013 than the previous two years combined and in none of the cases that Amnesty reviewed did the Palestinians pose any imminent threat to life. In some cases the victims were even running away. When somebody is shot in the back while fleeing, it is called wilful killing, a grave breach of international law and which would amount to a war crime. On the other hand, the actions taken by the Israeli military to punish its men are not commensurate with their violations. During the past three years, only one Israeli soldier was convicted of wrongfully causing the death of a Palestinian. The soldier received a one-year prison sentence, with five months suspended, and was allowed to stay in the army. Three other investigations over the past three years were closed without indictments, five were closed with their findings were not revealed and 11 are still open. Needless to say, the Israeli defense force says Amnesty's claims are inaccurate and misleading and that its troops were acting in self-defence. But self-defense means going through a whole set of procedures before reaching any sort of extreme measures. Some of those killed were peaceful protesters and in some cases, when demonstrators turned violent, they resorted to stone-throwing which does not pose a serious threat to life. Grossly excessive force was used nevertheless and, therefore, the killings were unlawful. Soldiers serving in the West Bank are obviously too young and too inexperienced to deal with civilians or civilian unrest. They are trained to be solely combat soldiers and operate under firing regulations that allow significant leeway for commanders to exercise their own judgment — including the use of live fire. The report calls on Israel to open independent, impartial, transparent and prompt investigations into all reports of Palestinian civilians killed or seriously injured by the Israeli forces. But essentially the military which is perpetrating the killings are investigating themselves, ergo the lack of accountability. The Israeli military says the Amnesty report ignores one crucial issue: the rise in Palestinian violence. Of course, Palestinians are angry; they are under occupation. Is it at all surprising that Israeli soldiers have to interact with a Palestinian population who are angry at their situation and that sometimes Palestinian frustration erupts into violence? The military occupation is manifested in, among other things, civilians getting killed and soldiers abusing their power. It's systemic and it should not be placed only on the shoulders of those pulling the trigger. There are officers, commanders, those making policy, military police, military prosecutor — it's the entire system and it needs an overhaul. Despite the resumption of peace negotiations last spring, the West Bank saw heightened tensions in the second-half of the year, a sign of what could come if the negotiations collapse. Will Israeli authorities continue to murder and maim for no good reason and without any accountability?
