Israel Clears Soldiers Involved In Checkpoint Killing Of U.S. Teen
Source: Politico
By NAHAL TOOSI 09/03/16 11:28 AM EDT
Israeli authorities have told U.S. officials that they found no criminal wrongdoing by soldiers involved in the February killing of an American teenager whom the troops allege tried to stab them, and that Israel will not further pursue the case, POLITICO has learned.
The decision has upset human rights activists who question the description of what happened and who have long accused Israel of failing to hold its security forces accountable for the use of excessive force. Some U.S.-based activists have quietly been pushing the Obama administration and Congress to do more to shed light on what happened.
The incident in question took place on Feb. 26, when Mahmoud Shaalan, a Miami-born 16-year-old of Palestinian descent, went to a checkpoint near the West Bank city of Ramallah. The encounter came amid a wave of Palestinian stabbing attacks that have put Israel on edge.
According to past statements from the Israelis, Shaalan stabbed a soldier, and when other troops shot him, he kept trying to stab them before being shot further. But according to Israeli media, eyewitnesses told activists that Shaalan was shot in the back after getting into an apparent verbal dispute with Israeli soldiers at the checkpoint.
It's unclear if there is audio or video footage to back up t
Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2016/09/israel-probe-us-teen-killed-mahmoud-shaalan-227711
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cpwm17
(3,829 posts)setting up checkpoints all over the US, and shooting American kids, to protect a massive land theft. It's so bizarre that in this day and age there are actually real human beings that support this evil.
Mr_Jefferson_24
(8,559 posts)...in this day and age, real human beings somehow absent of any real humanity are in abundant supply.
cpwm17
(3,829 posts)I grew up around it.
awoke_in_2003
(34,582 posts)forces are trying their damndest to put an unwanted pipeline on Native American land.
6chars
(3,967 posts)live and learn, so to speak
martin mike
(82 posts)I assure you, it's not.
King_David
(14,851 posts)If you stab a soldier or a civilian ( usually Jewish), which is more likely, it's no surprise when you're shot and killed.
martin mike
(82 posts)"Live and learn, so to speak." well, when someone gets killed, they can't live and learn, can they?
King_David
(14,851 posts)
Archae
(46,328 posts)"Palestinians can do no wrong..." 
LanternWaste
(37,748 posts)No doubt, alleging a lesson is a wonderful pretense to continue a narrative.
King_David
(14,851 posts)
NuclearDem
(16,184 posts)6chars
(3,967 posts)a person can't learn the lesson from an act that gets them killed the first time they try it. this is why there are typically cultural restrictions about doing those things. like, don't jump in the deep end of the pool if you can't swim. on the other hand, if the thing that gets a person killed the first time is an attempt to murder someone else, then they just bypassed two typical cultural restrictions. 1) don't murder. 2) don't be an idiot. although it is too late for this fellow to learn the simple lesson, it is perhaps a good opportunity for Palestinian leaders to learn a meta-lesson -- don't celebrate teenagers who murder or attempt murder, and don't encourage them to do it. Since they are unlikely to learn that meta-lesson, maybe people outside the region can learn a meta-meta lesson -- it is time to stop ignoring the way Palestinian leadership incites terror and pretending that it is all ok since they are Palestinian.
dembotoz
(16,806 posts)color me not surprised
christx30
(6,241 posts)with a knife, and is shot, that soldier is probably going to not face any kind of criminal liability. The lesson to be learned here is to not attack soldiers.