It’s no secret that Amnesty International hates Israel. Its directors have been caught writing, saying, and tweeting anti-Israel comments at every turn. The title alone is biased.
‘Trigger-happy’ Israeli army and police use reckless force in the West Bank
How biased against Israel is Amnesty? Their London office is hosting a book launch by notorious anti-Semite Ben White.
Elder of Ziyon has the statistics to prove that Amnesty is effectively lying about the deaths. From the Amnesty release:
In all cases examined by Amnesty International, Palestinians killed by Israeli soldiers did not appear to be posing a direct and immediate threat to life. In some, there is evidence that they were victims of wilful killings, which would amount to war crimes.
[…]Amnesty International has documented the killings of 22 Palestinian civilians in the West Bank last year, at least 14 of which were in the context of protests. Most were young adults under the age of 25. At least four were children.
Let’s take a look at those cases in which “civilians” were killed. Elder:
Of the 27 killed, according to B’Tselem, the vast majority were either known terrorists, were involved in throwing stones or Molotov cocktails at soldiers, or were resisting arrest raids. Maybe 5 or 6 were in the wrong place at the wrong time during riots.
That isn’t exactly wonderful, but it is a far cry from “trigger happy.” One killed every two weeks when there are several violent riots every week, and over 75% of those killed being involved in attacking the soldiers first or being terrorists, is hardly a bad record and far from indicating the IDF being “trigger happy.”
The press release is full of lies and distortion.
“The report presents a body of evidence that shows a harrowing pattern of unlawful killings and unwarranted injuries of Palestinian civilians by Israeli forces in the West Bank,” said Philip Luther, Middle East and North Africa Director at Amnesty International.
“The frequency and persistence of arbitrary and abusive force against peaceful protesters in the West Bank by Israeli soldiers and police officers – and the impunity enjoyed by perpetrators – suggests that it is carried out as a matter of policy.”
Note that Amnesty is accusing Israel of deliberately ordering soldiers to murder civilians and use lethal force when it is not necessary. Say, you know who does that? Syria. Iran. Ukraine. Russia. Venezuela. Where are the reports calling them “trigger-happy”? Nope. Here’s their reaction to the snipers murdering protesters in Ukraine:
“Moves to disband the riot police must not be used to allow the perpetrators of crimes off the hook. The Ukrainian authorities must not shirk their responsibility,” said Heather McGill, Amnesty International’s Ukraine researcher.
“Each and every allegation must be investigated promptly, effectively and independently and any police officers found to be responsible must face criminal prosecution.”
Interesting how there is no slamming of the Ukraine government for deliberately targeting civilians, or calling it “a matter of policy”. And yet, we have videos of the riot police deliberately targeting civilians. Amnesty’s response? Well, it should be thoroughly investigated and the guilty brought to judgment.
When it comes to Israel, the investigations are only on one side–the anti-Israel side. But this report will be used by the Israel haters to justify even more anti-Israel campus demonstrations and boycotts.
The anti-Israel tide is rising again. It had ebbed for a while, but it feels as bad now as it did during the years of the terror war. Thankfully, Israel is still America’s favorite Middle East country. So far, that outranks the Amnesty shills.