Thread by @HediViterbo

Israel is investigating its killing of 7 aid workers in #Gaza (who were from the UK, Australia, Poland, and Palestine, and included a U.S.-Canadian citizen).

But what do Israel's past investigations of similar killings tell us?

1/11

#Palestine

Take, for example, James Miller – an award-winning British filmmaker.

He was killed by Israeli gunfire while filming a documentary in #Gaza.

Forensic experts from the London police found that the bullets were the same ones used by the Israeli military.

2/11

But the Israeli investigation into Miller's death did not recommend that the suspected soldier be prosecuted.

Even when the British Attorney General asked Israel to prosecute the soldier, Israel ignored this request.

3/11

Another example concerns U.S. activist Rachel Corrie, who was crushed to death by an Israeli armored bulldozer in #Gaza.

Corrie was protesting Israel's demolitions of #Palestinian houses.

Physicians and activists who were there say she was deliberately driven over.

4/11

But the Israeli investigation found that Corrie's death was an accident.

Unsurprisingly, when her parents filed a civil lawsuit against Israel, the Israeli court rejected their lawsuit.

The court described Corrie's death as "an accident she brought upon herself".

5/11

And another example:

British activist Tom Hurndall was helping Palestinian children in #Gaza cross a street to avoid gunfire. Then, an Israeli sniper shot him in the head.

Photographic evidence shows that Hurndall was wearing a bright orange vest.

6/11

Initially, the Israeli inquiry concluded that Hurndall's death was an accident.

But then, the UK demanded a more thorough investigation.

7/11

This time, the investigation led to the prosecution and conviction of the soldier.

Why? One possible reason is that the convicted soldier was Arab, to whom Israel was perhaps less committed than to its Jewish citizens.

8/11

Another possible reason is that the soldier said, during his trial, that the Israeli military had a policy of shooting at unarmed Palestinian civilians.

For Israel, it was easier to convict this soldier than to admit it had been systematically murdering unarmed civilians.

9/11

Add to this the fact that the Israeli military has a long record of lying.

There are various examples in this thread:



10/11

So far, we've seen how Israel acts when the fatalities are British and US citizens.

Soldiers who kill #Palestinians are almost never prosecuted (see info in that same thread).

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