Stange people. It's like watching the Hatfields and McCoys go at it. How Americans can endorse such barbaric and un-evolved tunnel-visioned fanatics is beyond me. Of course most Americans don't, its' just the Republicrats they insisit on re-electing.
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Israeli soldier sorry for not shooting Arab
By Khalid Amayreh
Wednesday 31 December 2003, 3:38 Makka Time, 0:38 GMT
An Israeli soldier who three days ago mistakenly shot and seriously wounded a Jewish demonstrator in the northern West Bank has told interrogators that he thought he was shooting a Palestinian, not a Jew.
âI am sorry, I never thought I was shooting at Jews, I would never shoot a Jew,â the soldier reportedly said.
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The Israeli victim,ÂGil Nimaâati, was protesting the construction of the so-called separation wall near the northern West Bank village of Mis-ha north of north west of Nablus, along with hundreds of Palestinians and international peace activists.
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Another protester, an American woman, was also lightly wounded in the shooting which sparked off widespread acrimony and recrimination in Israel because a Jew was shot.
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The soldier who pulled the trigger -ÂhisÂidentity has not been released -Âreportedly said he could not recognise the identity of the demonstrators, who were protesting the construction of the âseparation wallâ in the northern West Bank.
â I thought the protesters were all Palestinians and non-Jews.â
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On Tuesday, the Israeli chief of staff and other Israeli officials sought to give the soldier in question the benefit of the doubt, arguing that he would not have opened fire had he known he was shooting at a Jew.
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âI am sure, the soldier didnât know he was shooting at a Jew,â Moshe Yaâalon said in response to a question from a Knesset member.
Shooting Palestinians is "different"
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However, when another Knesset member further asked Yaâalon if shooting a Palestinian would have been legitimate under the same circumstances, he sought to dodge the question, arguing that âthe army deals with differently with the Palestinians.â
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âSoldiers feel threatened by Palestinians and open fire when they feel threatened. This is not the same when soldiers deal with Jews.âÂ
Israeli occupation troops have shot and killed hundreds of Palestinians and a number of international activists inÂcontroversial circumstances, prompting human rights organisations to accuse the Israeli army of adopting a âshoot-to-killâ policy in the occupied territories.
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Earlier this yearÂthe Israeli Hebrew paper, Haâaretz, published a report showing that up to 80% of Palestinians killed by the Israeli army since the
outbreak of the Al-Aqsa Intifada were either innocent civilians or people who played no role in the hostilities between Israel and the Palestinians.
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However, the wanton killings of Palestinian civilians, journalists and international peace activists by the Israeli occupation army aroused little outrage in Israeli society.
Two days ago, a group of Israeli leftists demonstrated in the same area where Naâamati was wounded.
They carried placards reading âfirst, they shot the Palestinians, and we were silent..â
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