Israeli soldiers accused of mistreating bodies

http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200411/s1246580.htm

The Israeli Army has launched an inquiry into
allegations that soldiers posed and photographed the
bodies of several Palestinians killed in the West Bank
and Gaza Strip.

Ynet, the website of Israel's largest-circulation
daily Yedioth Ahronoth, reported four separate
incidents in which unidentified soldiers accused
comrades of treating Palestinian corpses
disrespectfully.

"On the surface, it appears we are speaking of serious
actions the Israeli Army strongly condemns," the
military said in a statement.

It said that such behaviour would be in violation of
its code of conduct.

The alleged incidents appear to have occurred in the
course of a Palestinian uprising that began four years
ago and has been marked by Palestinian suicide
bombings and an Israeli Army crackdown in the West
Bank and Gaza.

The Army said one case was under formal investigation
and it would examine the others.

It said there were inaccuracies in the Ynet report but
did not specify what they were.

One alleged incident took place in the Jordan Valley
area of the occupied West Bank, where Ynet said
members of a unit were said to have put a cigarette in
the mouth of the severed head of a suicide bomber and
photographed each other next to it.

The man had blown himself up near a checkpoint,
killing himself but causing no other casualties.

An officer was quoted as castigating the soldiers,
saying: "What are you, animals?"

In another case, soldiers snapped pictures next to the
remains of Palestinian policemen shot and killed in a
jeep near the West Bank city of Nablus, and one
soldier said he was disgusted to see his comrades
celebrating, Ynet reported.

In an incident in 2003, soldiers killed a Palestinian
who approached their tank in the Gaza Strip, fearing
he was mounting an attack, Ynet said.

The man was found to be unarmed but soldiers strapped
the corpse to a vehicle and drove to their base, where
troops photographed the body and joked about it, a
former member of the company was quoted as saying.

A photograph published on Ynet showed a group of
soldiers surrounding a dead body with their faces
obscured.

It was unclear which incident it was related to.

Matan Vilnai, a politician from the main opposition
Labour Party, called for the Army to treat the
allegations with severity.

"There should be zero tolerance for this kind of
behaviour," Mr Vilnai, a former general, told Army
Radio.

-Reuters
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Israeli soldiers accused of tampering with corpses
By Donald Macintyre in Jerusalem
20 November 2004

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/story.jsp?story=584774

A military police investigation was ordered yesterday
by the Israeli Chief of Staff into allegations that
soldiers had tampered with the bodies of dead
Palestinians and posed for photographs with the
corpses.

Lt-Gen Moshe Ya'alon ordered the investigation after
the publication of several detailed claims of such
abuse that the Israeli Defence Forces declared its
"ethical strength" was no less important than its
"military strength". According to one account in the
newspaper Yedhiot Ahronot, soldiers from one unit had
rearranged body parts of a suicide bomber who had
blown himself up at a Jordan Valley checkpoint,
positioning the bomber's head on a concrete barrier
and putting a cigarette in his mouth before taking
photographs.

The Labour Knesset member Ophir Pines-Paz submitted an
urgent parliamentary motion claiming the actions
"testify to a moral imperviousness and there must be
action taken to prevent this from recurring".

The move came as the Egyptian Foreign Minister, Ahmed
Ali Abul Gheit, postponed a trip to Israel and the
occupied Palestinian territories 36 hours after three
members of the Egyptian security forces were shot dead
by Israeli tank fire at the country's border with
Gaza.

The Israeli Foreign Ministry confirmed the
postponement but insisted it was for a period of days
and was for logistical reasons unconnected with the
shooting. Although the Egyptian Foreign Ministry
issued a strongly worded statement condemning the
"irresponsible conduct" of the Israeli forces, Hosni
Mubarak, the Egyptian President, was said by officials
to have accepted a personal apology made by Ariel
Sharon, the Israeli Prime Minister.

Israeli officials confirmed yesterday that a speech by
Mr Sharon on Thursday demanding an end to "incitement"
against Israel in Palestinian Authority-sponsored
media and education curricula had been designed to
apply an "easier" initial precondition for progress in
the peace process than his earlier blanket demand for
a successful clampdown on militant violence.

Mr Sharon told Likud activists that Israel "must not
waive its demands on collecting weapons and
dismantling terrorist organisations" but acknowledged:
"It's clear that is a more complicated process."
Instead, he suggested, the new Palestinian leadership
could take action on issues which were in their
control--eradication of "poisonous incitement and
propaganda" in the media and in Palestinian education.

Mr Sharon has frequently complained about broadcasts
and teaching that Israel claims glorifies martyrdom of
those, including suicide bombers, who act violently
against it.

But the Palestinian Cabinet minister Saeb Erekat said:
"[The Israelis] should begin by abandoning their
policy of setting conditions and stop their incitement
[against the Palestinians]." The new PLO chairman,
Mahmoud Abbas, also known as Abu Mazen, said: "Maybe
we have issues of this kind, but they [the Israelis]
have them to a greater extent."






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