RAMALLAH, December 14, 2011 (WAFA) – Arab Knesset Member, Massoud Ghanayem, described, in his address to the Knesset on Tuesday, the killing of the Palestinian protester Mustafa Tamimi by an Israeli soldier as a premeditated murder.
Tamimi, 27, who was participating in the peaceful weekly demonstration in Nabi Saleh, north of Ramallah, died on Saturday of injuries sustained after an Israeli soldier shot him in the face at close range with a tear gas canister.
Ghanayem said the murder of Tamimi is clearly a crime as the Israeli soldier directly targeted him at close range with the intention to kill.
The Knesset member described the Israeli army’s promise of an investigation into Tamimi’s death as a deceptive scheme because Israeli authorities do not investigate or arrest assailants against Palestinians in the Occupied Territory, indicating recent reports showing that 90% of all cases of offenses committed by Israelis against Palestinians are closed after investigations fail to find suspects and sufficient evidence to indict anyone.
Ghanayem stressed that the murder of Tamimi, and other Israeli army crimes, indicate the hypocrisy of the Israeli authorities, saying “when it comes to an Arab, killing is legitimate and justice is absent in Israel.”
R.Q./F.J.
