2am proves IDF's Rush Hour

I normally do not report on the type of story I am about to report on. The potential for sensationalism and exaggeration is much too great. But I have seen so many similar reports over the last few months that to continue to ignore the trend would be to purposefully hide it. And so I must try to create something midway between sensationalism and deception.

At the customary hour for such dealings, 2:30 in the morning, On September 11, 12-year-old Mohammad Saleh Khawaje was awakened at home and arrested by Israeli soldiers for the charge of "stone-throwing and disturbance of public order." He is still in jail awaiting bail with his codefendant, 13-year-old Abdul Ahman.

In the Israeli justice system, Palestinian youth can be tried as adults at the age of 12. In contrast, Israeli youth are considered children until they turn 18.

This situation is further complicated by Mohammad's father's belief that his son was arrested in an act of revenge. Abed Saleh, Mohammed's father, says he had complained to Israeli police and military about a daylong beating he suffered at the behest of the now-infamous Lt. Col. Omri Bruberg.

Saleh tells ISM:

Abed Saleh wasn’t home when Israeli soldiers invaded the village of Ni’lin on Thursday night and raided his house. “The soldiers came to the house to take me again,” he explained. “They asked where I was. When they found out I wasn’t there they took my son instead.”

Saleh is not the first to accuse Bruberg of violence or of revenge for the complaints about such violence.

This is the second time in recent history that such allegations have been laid against Israeli soldiers under Lt. Col. Omri’s command. One month ago Jamal Amira, father of Salam Amira, the teenager who shot the infamous video in which Omri ordered the aforementioned shooting of Ashraf Abu Rama, was arrested as “Salam’s father” by self-proclaimed “friends of Omri”, and subjected to abuse strikingly similar to that Abd Saleh describes in his testimony.

A similar case was noted by the UK Guardian's Seth Freedman back in July. In that case, another Muhammad, this time 14 years old, described his ordeal in prison for the same charge as I previously mentioned: throwing stones. Freeman notes that, "Since September 2000 Israel has arrested and detained almost 6000 children, with 700 under-18s arrested in 2007 alone."

These are the facts on the ground, not rumor. What is debated is whether or not the children were actually throwing stones, and if they were, if this is a crime a 12-year-old should be arrested for.

Commander in IDF Abuse Case Held Responsible

There have been developments on The Saga of the Rubber Bullet. Lieutenant Colonel Omri Bruberg has resigned from his post and it is likely that criminal charges will be filed against both the commander and the soldier who shot their bound Palestinian detainee.

Ashraf Abu-Rahma was shot in the foot with a rubber-coated bullet at close range while he was handcuffed, blindfolded, and in IDF custody. The unnamed soldier who shot him claims his commander ordered him to fire.

Ynet says:

The IDF's Judge Advocate General, Avi Mandelblit, also decided that the commander and the firing soldier will face criminal charges of improper conduct. Such offences are considered relatively minor and do not result in a criminal record. The trial is expected to end in a plea bargain.

Humanitarian organization B'Tselem, who publicized the now-famous footage of the incident call the minor charges "shameful."

In response to the decision, Bruberg said: "I’m the commander, I'm responsible, and I'm paying the price. I believe this decision is good for the soldier (involved in the incident,) for the regiment, and for the army as a whole." In a talk he held with his subordinates, Bruberg said he is "proud of the army."

IDF Continues Passing the Buck

In a previous post I wrote about the case of Lieutenant Colonel Omri Fruberg, who was accused of ordering an IDF soldier under his command to open fire on a handcuffed and blindfolded Palestinian prisoner.

In more recent news reports Fruberg is referred to as Bruberg, perhaps in a correction of an earlier mistake.

The IDF's first response to the accusation was:

Lieutenant Colonel Omri was unaware of the incident and that the door of his patrol vehicle blocked his line of vision.

But then they reviewed the video footage of the event and figured out nobody would fall for that crap.

Then they launched an investigation, during which Bruberg took a polygraph at a private institute. The test confirmed he did not give the order to fire. But then he took another polygraph under military supervision, and this time he failed.

Haaretz says:

Bruberg said he told the soldier only to shake his rifle to frighten the Palestinian, according to a military investigation.

This guy is dumber than a box of rocks. He, and whoever is letting him talk, keeps forgetting that there is a video of this. Why would shaking the rifle scare the prisoner? He was blindfolded.

And furthermore...really??? You thought it would scare him because...people normally shake their rifle before firing it?

Bruberg must have also assumed that the prisoner had his ears plugged as well because that's the only way he wouldn't have heard "Shake your rifle to scare him."

UPDATE:
I have now uncovered all sorts of things the Israeli media is not reporting.

First of all, the prisoner who was shot, Ashraf Abu-Rahma, is well-known by the IDF and is considered to be the "Palestinian Che Guevarra" because of his frequent but non-violent resistance to Israeli activity in the West Bank.

Ashraf has been shot multiple times and arrested three times before this incident, which could, in part, explain his obvious lack of surprise at being shot this time. In an interview with IPS, he explained that he doesn't understand Hebrew very well and therefore could not confirm or deny that Bruberg gave the order to fire. However, he did recognize the word for rubber bullet, gumi. It was a rubber coated steel bullet that he was shot with.

Ashraf has gained his reputation for nonviolent resistance by doing things like camping out in homes that were set to be demolished or halting settlement construction by climbing onto the cranes themselves.

Another aspect of this story that nobody is reporting on is the actual situation of the IDF soldiers. For example, even though the media is not reporting his age, it is likely that Lieutenant Colonel Bruberg is between 22 and 25 years old. This is an advanced age for a soldier in his position but incredibly young for a soldier of this rank in any other army. Most active-duty IDF soldiers, especially those in direct contact with Palestinians, are between 18 and 22 years old.

They are dealing with complicated situations where they must often choose between their own life and the life of a stranger. A common example of this concept is the image of a dark figure approaching a guard tower at night. The figure holds what could be a stick or could be a gun. The soldier yells "stop!" but the figure continues to advance. This dark presence could be an adult militant, intent to kill. Or it could be a child.

These soldiers make the choice whether or not to fire before Americans of the same age are even allowed to drink alcohol. They do not have the life experience to act with wisdom and there is nobody supervising them.