On September 17th, a Palestinian court has convicted two men of kidnapping and murdering Vittorio, whilst a third man was convicted of abduction. All the accused belonged to an obscure Salafi group which is opposed to Hamas.

“Vic” as we knew him spent a lot of time in London, and was a good friend to several ISM London volunteers. Fit and strong, he was a big man with a big personality whose presence lit up any gathering.

Behind the jokes, the brio and vitality, Vic was a serious political activist deeply committed to the Palestinian cause. He was denied entry to Israel and did a week imprisoned in an Israeli airport detention centre before turning his attention to Gaza. Once there he became one of the long term volunteers who ensured the ISM Gaza movement was active and effective.

Today our thoughts are with Vic’s family, who typically asked the court not to impose the death penalty upon the murderers. Vic was desperately unlucky to be the only international ISM volunteer ever harmed by Palestinians. His killing brought feelings of shame and sorrow to Palestinians in both Gaza and the West Bank. His killers were swiftly apprehended within days of their crime.

Vic was such a presence that it’s hard to accept that he’s gone. His spirit and our memories of him will continue to inspire us, as we stand in solidarity with the Palestinian people.

UPDATED, 8th September: Tom’s Killer was released this morning. The Hurndall family was not informed by any representative of the Israeli government. The British Foreign Office did contact Jocelyn this morning, but not before the news had reached her via ISM London. We are re-publishing our press release from July as our statement today.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

20th July 2010

The International Solidarity Movement (ISM) condemns the early release from prison of the Israeli soldier that murdered photography student and ISM volunteer Tom Hurndall in Gaza in 2003. The Israeli press yesterday reported that Taysir Hayb will be released three years early from an already short eight-year sentence.

His murder was only a symptom of a much wider culture of impunity in the Israeli army. This early release serves to reinforce the notion that the Israeli army can continue to commit war crimes against Palestinians without fear of serious consequences.

Tom’s mother Jocelyn Hurndall told ISM London that: “this reduced sentence comes at a time when the world is becoming more sceptical about Israel’s investigations into its own actions. It’s a reminder of Israel’s disregard for international law and opinion.”

When Hayb was sentenced in 2005, human rights activist, Raphael Cohen, who was with Tom on the day of the shooting said, “On the very street where Tom was shot, two children had been shot just days before. This is why he and the rest of the group went to that spot, to protest against the shooting of children as they played outside their homes. There has never been any investigation into the shootings of those children.”

To this day, there has still been no investigation of these deaths or of the thousands of other Palestinian civilians killed by Israeli soldiers. Only last month in Jerusalem Ziad Joulani, 41, a Palestinian shopkeeper and father of three with no criminal record or history of political activism, was killed when Israeli police opened fire as he got out of his car. [1] His killing is not being investigated.

Tom’s family had to fight hard to achieve even the eight-year manslaughter conviction that they won in 2005, against a system of Israeli obfuscation and lies, and an indifferent British government. In a statement yesterday the Foreign Office merely said: “We note the court’s decision to release Taysir Hayb and recognise the grief this decision will cause to the Hurndall family,” describing the deliberate act of murder as “a tragedy”.

Tom’s father Anthony hit back in the Guardian today, condemning this as a “weak response” by the British government, and demanding to meet with ministers. He said: “I would like them to say that this is not just a tragedy but that the Israeli government is directly responsibile for Tom’s death and should acknowledge this and take steps to put matters right by changing policies to ensure that civilians are not shot or killed indiscriminately.”

Israel did not even bother to inform the Hurndall family in advance of the news reaching the Israeli press, and Tom’s sister Sophie only learnt the news when ISM London contacted her yesterday.

Hayb shot Tom in the forehead with a high velocity bullet using a rifle with a telescopic sight, while he attempted to rescue Palestinian children in Gaza from Israeli gunfire. According to an Observer report from the 2005 trial, Hayb was “an award-winning marksman”. [2] Tom never regained consciousness, dying nine months later in a London hospital at the age of 22.

Jewish nurse and peace activist Alice Coy, who saw Tom shot, said Hayb was only part of “a culture of impunity in which generations of Israelis are taught that Arabs hate them and are subhuman. They are then given guns and they know they can get away with killing Palestinians. The occupation and aggression of Zionist policy is harming ordinary Israelis as well as Palestinians.”

Amnesty International says that: “The shocking truth is that Israeli soldiers kill civilians in Gaza with near-total impunity, week in week out” [3]

B’Tselem, the Israeli human rights organisation, report that “From the beginning of the [second] intifada, on 29 September 2000, to the end of 2008 (not including Operation Cast Lead in Gaza, which began on 27 December), [Israeli] security forces killed more than 2,200 Palestinians who were not taking part in the hostilities at the time they were killed. However, a Military Police investigation was opened in only 287 cases of suspected illegal shooting by security forces. This number includes investigations into cases in which civilians were wounded. Only 33 of these investigations resulted in the filing of indictments” [4]

Israeli human rights group Yesh Din clarifies that of these, Haib is the only soldier to have been convicted for an offence causing death: “From the beginning of the second intifada until the end of 2009, Courts-Martial convicted soldiers of offenses connected with the deaths of only four civilians: three Palestinians and one British national. One soldier was convicted of manslaughter, and he was the only one convicted of an offense of causing death. Four other soldiers were convicted of offenses of negligence.” [5]

For more information:

Alice Coy, UK: +44 7828 540512

ISM Media Office, Ramallah: +972 59 760 6276 or +972 2 241 0604

ISM London: +44 7913 067 189

References

“Family of Palestinian driver killed by police demands investigation”. LA Times online, 14th June 2010 http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/babylonbeyond/2010/06/israel-family-of-palestinian-driver-killed-by-police-demands-investigation.html

“Parents fight to learn why Israeli sniper shot their son”. Observer, 30th January 2005 http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2005/jan/30/israel

“Hurndall case: Israeli military forces still kill civilians with ‘near-total impunity’” Amnesty International statement, 7th October 2008 http://www.amnesty.org.uk/news_details.asp?NewsID=17897

“Military Police investigations during the al-Aqsa intifada” B’Tselem http://www.btselem.org/English/Accountability/Investigatin_of_Complaints.asp

“IDF Investigations of IDF offenses against Palestinians” [PDF] Yesh Din, Februrary 2010

REVISION, 21st July: The initial version of this press release erroneously stated that Ziad Joulani had been shot “last week”. In fact he was killed on the 14th of June, as stated in the text of our reference. This online version has been revised to read “last month”. The final paragraph with the Yesh Din figures on convictions was also added.

Regardless of the outcome of today’s verdict on the killing of Tom Hurndall, the International Solidarity Movement, London maintains that justice cannot been served while the culture of impunity in the Israeli army remains intact. Tom was one of hundreds of civilians killed in Rafah alone in the past four years. He was shot whilst trying to get children out of the line of Israeli army gunfire. As he bent down to pick up a young boy, he was shot in the head.

Human rights activist, Raphael Cohen (39), who was with Tom on the day of the shooting said, “On the very street where Tom was shot, two children had been shot just days before. This is why he and the rest of the group went to that spot, to protest against the shooting of children as they played outside their homes. There has never been any investigation into the shootings of those children.”

Last month, two Palestinian teenagers were shot dead by Israeli soldiers in the village of Biet Liqya near Ramallah. Adi Asi, 15 years old and Jamal Asi, 14 years old, were killed as the soldiers who were guarding the Apartheid Wall surrounding the village shot at the group of children. They were killed with live bullets to the chest and abdomen. Witnesses said they were playing football.

Recent Human Rights watch Report

As Human Rights Watch state in their recent report, Promoting Impunity, The Israeli Military’s Failure to Investigate Wrongdoing, “Pressure for a proper investigation rises every time a high-profile killing takes place, but Israeli authorities have taken no serious steps to improve the accountability of the armed forces, create an independent investigation system, or reform the military justice system.”

According to the Israeli human rights organization B’Tselem, between the beginning of the intifada and the end of November 2004, 3,040 Palestinians were killed by Israeli security forces, including 606 children. According to Human Rights Watch, “The number of official investigations into alleged wrongful use of lethal force equals just two percent of the total number killed and only 15 percent of the number of children killed, despite the fact that many deaths occurred in non-combat circumstances and the extreme unlikelihood that many of the children killed were legitimate targets.”

The investigation into Tom’s killing was the result of a long hard process by his family and supporters to pressurise the Israeli government into providing answers. Without the family’s unrelenting efforts and personal investigations, this trial would not have happened.

No Human Rights for Palestinians

Israel has no national human rights institution, nor any independent commissioner for complaints about human rights violations committed by the army. Meanwhile, the government of Israel continues to deny entry to human rights activists, witnesses and journalists and deports those who take part in non-violent demonstrations against the seizure of Palestinian land and destruction of homes.

We, at ISM London, are calling to the people of Britain to do what our government refuses to do, to demand justice for the Palestinians. Britain continues to supply military equipment to Israel to be used in its campaign against the civilian Palestinian population. We urge people to put pressure on the government and people of Israel via economic boycott, to end the killings, withdraw the settlements, end the occupation and allow the people of Palestine and Israel to have a peaceful and prosperous future. This will be impossible while the occupation continues. Without justice there can be no peace.

Human Rights Watch report linked to here.

Attention Journalists!

ISM London is always happy to help journalists with specific questions and general background information. We can also provide speakers for radio or TV debates, and access to volunteers who have spent time in the Occupied Territories and are glad to be interviewed.

If you’d like to get in touch with the ISM London, the best way is to send an e-mail to: info@ism-london.org.uk

We also believe in free speech, and accept that not everyone views the Isreal/Palestine conflict the same way as we do.

But we will not tolerate lies. The internet has several misleading stories about the ISM that have been repeated on numerous sites that give them a superficial appearance of truth. The vast majority of these sites are operated by pro-Zionist extremists that shelter under US laws that effectively provide unrestricted free speech, regardless of the facts. But outside the USA there have been a few cases where journalists have printed this material leaving themselves open to legal action, and in the UK the attention of the Press Complaints Commission.

If you come across material which seems at odds with the aims and philosophy of the ISM, the chances are it’s false. To prevent any misunderstandings or (at worst) legal action, we suggest you do some elementary fact checking before you publish:

1. The main ISM website has a detailed FAQ that contains most of the false charges made against the ISM, together with the facts. You can find the FAQ at the bottom of the main page here: http://www.palsolidarity.org
2. If you can’t find the material in the FAQ, please contact us immediately and we’ll get back to you as soon as possible.

We welcome journalists and will help you in any way we can, but we will challenge any story that lies about our members, our aims, or our organisation.

‘I am Tom Hurndall’ International Day of Action for Justice In Palestine June 5th 2003. The International Solidarity Movement, Jews for Justice for Palestinians and the Palestine Solidarity Campaign will be holding a vigil outside Downing Street from 5:30pm on Thursday June 5th (anniversary of 36 years of occupation). There will be a procession to Parliament Square.

More photos… » (registration required)