Israeli “education minister” Bennett attacks Arab rights group
Israeli education minister attacks Adalah for Supreme Court petition against sniper killings of unarmed civilians in Gaza. Adalah: Naftali Bennett has nothing to say in response to our petition so he chooses to slander and incite against us. Video evidence & testimonies indicate live ammunition was fired at unarmed Gaza demonstrators, raising serious suspicions of war crimes.
Israeli Education Minister Naftali Bennett attacked Adalah – The Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel on Wednesday, 25 April 2018 for petitioning the Israeli Supreme Court against the Israeli military’s use of snipers on unarmed civilian Palestinian protesters in the Gaza Strip.
Israeli snipers have killed 35 Palestinians during civil protests in Gaza since 30 March. The Supreme Court will hold a hearing on the petition, filed jointly with Al Mezan Center for Human Rights, on Monday, 30 April 2018, at 9:00 AM.
Israeli violence targets Palestinians in Gaza Strip Friday Oct. 23, 2015. Copyright (C) 2015 Mohammed Asad. All Rights Reserved
In a post on his official Facebook page, Education Minister Bennett wrote:
“Adallah [sic] is petitioning the Supreme Court to instruct the Israeli army how to deal with Hamas. Question: Will the Supreme Court act as it should and throw Adallah [sic] down the stairs…?”
Adalah issued a response to Bennett:
“Naftali Bennett has nothing to say in response to our Supreme Court petition, so he instead chooses to slander and incite against Adalah. The harsh videos and eyewitness testimonies from the Gaza Strip indicate that live ammunition was fired at unarmed demonstrators, raising serious suspicions of war crimes. It is important to note that Israeli snipers have already killed 35 protesters in Gaza, including two journalists and four children. Israeli troops have wounded 2,882 people – including 523 children and 97 women – and 1,607 of them were hit by live ammunition.
Co-petitioner Al Mezan also issued a response to Bennett’s Facebook post:
“Mr. Bennett’s statement highlights the mindset of the government he serves by disregarding international law issues and attempting to undermine peaceful civil society justice initiatives. The Court has a poor track record of responding to cases like this one by securing justice and rights or deterring the practices that could amount to war crimes. A failure to bring compliance with international law obligations in this case – where evidence points to breaches of international human rights law and the Fourth Geneva Convention – will strengthen the pressing need for intervention by international justice mechanisms.”
CLICK HERE for a video about Israel’s deadly sniper fire in Gaza [English]
CLICK HERE for the Supreme Court petition [Hebrew]
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Ray Hanania is an award winning political and humor columnist who analyzes American and Middle East politics, and life in general. He is an author of several books.
Hanania covered Chicago Politics and Chicago City Hall from 1976 through 1992 at the Daily Southtown and the Chicago Sun-Times. He began writing in 1975 publishing The Middle Eastern Voice newspaper in Chicago (1975-1977). He later published “The National Arab American Times” newspaper (2004-2007).
Hanania writes weekly columns on Middle East and American Arab issues as Special US Correspondent for the Arab News ArabNews.com, at TheArabDailyNews.com, and at SuburbanChicagoland.com. He has published weekly columns in the Jerusalem Post newspaper, YNetNews.com, Newsday, the Orlando Sentinel, Houston Chronical, and Arlington Heights Daily Herald.
Hanania is the recipient of four (4) Chicago Headline Club “Peter Lisagor Awards” for Column writing. In November 2006, he was named “Best Ethnic American Columnist” by the New American Media. In 2009, Hanania received the prestigious Sigma Delta Chi Award for Writing from the Society of Professional Journalists. He is the recipient of the MT Mehdi Courage in Journalism Award. He was honored for his writing skills with two (2) Chicago Stick-o-Type awards from the Chicago Newspaper Guild. In 1990, Hanania was nominated by the Chicago Sun-Times editors for a Pulitzer Prize for his four-part series on the Palestinian Intifada.
His writings have also been honored by two national Awards from ADC for his writing, and from the National Arab American Journalists Association.
Hanania is the US Special Correspondent for the Arab News Newspaper, covering Middle East and Arab American issues. He writes for the Southwest News newspaper group writing on mainstream American issues.
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