Israeli settler accused of involvement in killing of Palestinian moved to house arrest --- ARAB NEWS

JERUSALEM: An Israeli settler suspected of involvement in the killing of a 19-year-old Palestinian man in the West Bank last week was released from detention on Wednesday and transferred to house arrest, a Jerusalem court said. The Israeli judge said there was insufficient evidence to extend the detention of the radical Jewish settler, Elisha Yared. The court also ordered a second Israeli settler accused of shooting and killing the 19-year-old Qusai Matan to remain in custody while being hospitalized for wounds sustained during the attack last Friday on the Palestinian herding village of Burqa. For Matar’s family and other Palestinians, Yared’s transfer to house arrest seemed to underscore the sense of impunity enjoyed by Jewish extremists in the occupied West Bank. “They did something that is so horrific, so immoral,” said Matan’s 34-year-old uncle, Hamam. “We can only expect these attacks to continue.” The killing of Matan near the West Bank city of Ramallah enraged Palestinians and drew condemnation from human rights groups and foreign diplomats. In a rare statement, the United States Office for Palestinian Affairs denounced the killing of Matan as a “terrorist attack” — a phrase typically reserved for Palestinian attacks on Israeli civilians — and urged “full accountability and justice.” A mob of armed Israeli settlers stormed into the West Bank village last Friday, torching at least two cars and opening fire at Palestinians who thronged the street. Matan was killed and four other Palestinians were wounded. The Israeli military said that Matan was shot after an altercation between Palestinians and Israeli settlers escalated, leading Israeli settlers to open fire and Palestinians to hurl rocks and fireworks. The episode added to an intense surge of violence that has gripped the West Bank and Israel in recent months. Matan’s family on Wednesday said that the court decision to place Yared under house arrest diminished their already grim expectations for justice. “That they could shoot a young, innocent man in the neck and walked home, that tells you everything about the occupation,” his uncle said. Matan was “shy and good-humored,” Hamam added, and had dropped out of high school to work at a spice shop in Ramallah and support his family. He was recently engaged to be married. “Our whole country is grieving,” he said. Police have accused the two Israeli settlers — Yared and Yehiel Indore — of causing death, obstructing justice and committing a nationalistically motivated arson attack. The defendants claim that they were acting in self-defense. Yared, wearing a lime-colored knitted skullcap, long Orthodox hair locks called payots and a green T-shirt, grinned as he entered the courtroom. He left the hearing singing and dancing down the stairs, videos showed, surrounded by clapping supporters. The case has also stirred controversy in Israel because Yared worked as a spokesperson for a lawmaker in the far-right Jewish Power party led by Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir. Ultranationalist settler leader Ben-Gvir, known for his anti-Arab rhetoric and stunts, helped propel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to power late last year and continues to exert pressure on his right-wing government. In recent months, groups of radical Jewish settlers have increased their attacks on Palestinian towns and villages, attacking civilians and vandalizing property. Netanyahu’s government has vowed to take a harder line on Palestinians and assert greater control over the occupied West Bank. “A Jew who defends himself and others against the murder of Palestinians is not a murder suspect, but a hero who will receive my full support,” Ben-Gvir wrote on Twitter this week about the arrests of Yared and Yehiel. Israel captured the West Bank, east Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip in the 1967 Mideast war. Palestinians seek those territories for their hoped-for future state. Rights groups say the settler enterprise leads to a deep power imbalance in the West Bank, where Palestinians are prosecuted in military courts with an extremely high conviction rate, while Israelis are charged in civilian ones, if at all. The Israeli human rights group Yesh Din reported in February that out of more than 1,500 investigations of violence, property crime, seizure of Palestinian land and other offenses allegedly committed by Israeli citizens against Palestinian civilians since 2005, only 7 percent had led to indictments.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

PCG: China’s bullying in West Philippine Sea undermines international law --- Ghio Ong - The Philippine Star

MANILA, Philippines — Letting China sustain its aggression in the West Philippine Sea would make other countries doubt the strength of international law currently being asserted by the Philippines, Commodore Jay Tarriela of the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) said. “Allowing China to blatantly disregard the established rules-based order threatens the very foundation that we all depend on,” he wrote in a post on X last Tuesday. He added, “If we permit this, countries worldwide may forget why this order was created in the first place. Nations could begin to doubt the significance of adhering to international law if powerful bullies can easily violate it.” Tarriela also said defiance of other countries to a rules-based order would result in the prevalence of cruelty. He wrote, “This could lead us back to a time when might makes right, undermining the global structures that keep human greed, savagery and barbarism in check. Such a scenario would not only invite challenges from aggressive ...
Read more

China ships maintain presence in key West Philippine Sea areas --- Michael Punongbayan - The Philippine Star

STAR / Michael Varcas MANILA, Philippines — While Chinese vessels in the West Philippine Sea (WPS) have decreased in number, they have maintained a presence in three key land features where naval and coast guard ships have intensified operations in the past seven days, according to the Philippine Navy. Latest monitoring by the Philippine Navy showed armed ships of the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) maintaining a menacing presence around the grounded BRP Sierra Madre in Ayungin Shoal, Panatag Shoal and Escoda Shoal. According to the Philippine Navy, there are 17 Chinese military vessels and 28 China Coast Guard (CCG) boats spotted inside the country’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ) between Sept. 23 and 30, or one vessel more than in the previous week Sept.17-23. Five of the warships were seen roaming around the vicinity of Escoda Shoal, along with 10 CCG vessels and 12 maritime militia vessels (MMVs). There are also two PLAN ships in Ayungin Shoal as well as 10 CCG boats and 12...
Read more

Social media seen as cause of rising intermarriages --- Helen Flores - The Philippine Star

MANILA, Philippines — The Commission on Filipinos Overseas (CFO) sees social media as the main reason for the rising number of Filipinos marrying or becoming partners of foreign nationals. In 2022, the CFO recorded 6,854 marriages or partnerships with foreign nationals, a 40.1 percent increase from the 4,891 “intermarriages” recorded in 2021. “First of all, what we see in the increase in the marriage rate of Filipinos or Filipinos with foreign partners is because of social media, (that) is number one; matchings; letters, introduction of their friends,” CFO chairperson Romulo Arugay said at the Bagong Pilipinas Ngayon public briefing yesterday. Arugay said the agency has been registering a high number of intermarriages since 2007, but the figures went down during the COVID-19 pandemic. From over 6,500 Filipinos who married foreign nationals, only 600 are men, he said. Most of them are married to Americans, Japanese, Germans, Canadians and Australians, Arugay said. Arugay warned Fi...
Read more