Israeli soldiers 'shoot boy for fun'

A group of Israeli soldiers serving in the Gaza Strip have reportedly admitted killing a 15-year-old Palestinian in Khan Yunus for sport.


According to the Israeli newspaper Yediot Ahronoth, the incident took place in March when a group of newly graduated soldiers were on a hike near the town of Khan Yunus.

According to the report, an undisclosed number of Givati brigade soldiers shot and killed Khalid Sulaiman Mahdi while he was working with his father on their farm.

The boy's father, Sulaiman Mahdi, told the paper the killing was "just for the sake of it".

"Seven bullets pierced my son's head, so you can't talk here about a mistake or random gunfire. This was an act of direct and clear sharp shooting," he said.

"The area is wide open and contains nothing special. The only thing unusual was the shooting at us, which killed my son."

No threat

The father, Khalid, and two other sons were working in the family's field when the shooting occurred.


Numerous Khan Yunus residents
have been killed by Israeli forces

According to soldiers interviewed by Yediot Ahronoth, there were no operational purposes for the shooting and no justification, since the boy and his family posed no threat to the soldiers.

Source: english.aljazeera.net...

I am not going to share an opinion. It is too sick to comment on.

Sick, very sick. Can only hope this is false.

very sick
but expect some replies from some people ( wont name them )
that will say its ok that they did that)

[edit on 10-12-2004 by bodrul]

I hardly think thats proof the kid was killed for sport. You cant consider the boys father unbaised. We also have to consider this came from Alijazeera which is not unbaised in its self.

Exactly you were these "soldiers interviewed by Yediot Ahronoth" Thats alittle vague.

I hope in Israel you are innocent until proven guilty and if this was a court case I would say the evidence is weak at best.

man, i can't believe this.

it's near as ignorant as say

beheading innocent civilians
detonating explosives in nightclubs
blowing up busses with innocents on board
blowing up markets, trains, and other civilian abodes

whatever

No doubt this is a terrible story (I read about this a few days ago). Horrible to an extreme. But with so many questionable media sources these days its so hard to believe. Its like the worse the story, the more questionable the source, the less I believe it.

I must say that this killing is within the realms of possibility, but do I believe it?

Lets hope that its false.

This isn't the first time we've heard such reports ...
politics.abovetopsecret.com...

Originally posted by smokenmirrors
man, i can't believe this.

it's near as ignorant as say

beheading innocent civilians
detonating explosives in nightclubs
blowing up busses with innocents on board
blowing up markets, trains, and other civilian abodes

whatever

Yea it kinda sucks doesnt it? What about when the Isreali army brakes the hands and legs of Palestinian civilians or when they lunch missiles into civilian homes or even better when they bulldose a civilians house and tell them they cant live there anymore how about this when they shoot little girls for running away from them. Then there is the tanks blasting away at peaceful protestors or when the army opens fire on these protestors. Have you ever thought about that. You should watch this documentary on the discovery times channel called Behind the Hatred.

Since this is AlJazeera.net, I'll be happy to assign credibility to this story if it is corroborated by an organization that does not have a reputation for presenting outrageous, brazen falsehoods as "news".

AlJazeera.net claims that Yediot Ahronoth carried this story, so it seems logical to see what Yediot Ahronoth actually has to say, wouldn't you agree?

I am unable to find an english-version website for that newspaper, and can't read Hebrew, but perhaps someone else can?

For what it's worth, I'm not sure why this is in the "War on Terrorism" forum, but just about everything Middle East finds its way here, so I guess that's the way it is.

I strongly recommend making sure this story is true before jumping on the bandwagon. To do less would be to sell one's honor for a very low price.


Edit: AlJazeera.net is apparently a different outfit from AlJazeera.com. Both sites refer to a television channel, but I not sure which one is actually associated with the Al Jazeera channel we all know and love. Beware.


[edit on 12/10/2004 by Majic]

Any source for this story other than al-jazera? Al jazera gets a lot of bad press, but, they are an independant news network in the middle east, which is saying a lot. Something like this, if its not true, it just might be that the people at al jazera haven't followed up enough to verify the information. Its such a horrible act, that I find it in itself hard to beleive, but, then again, these sorts of things do happen.

The thing is, they are saying that the soldiers admited to it. So that'd be some pretty big news.

And as others have noted, aljazeera.net might, infact, not have anythign to do with aljazeera.com and the actual news network. In fact, I just started a thread about it because of this.
www.abovetopsecret.com...

Also, what the heck is Yediot Ahronoth ? I am unfamiliar with it. A quick google says 'arabic news from israel', but apparently it is a well established and good selling newspaper.

Also, and I don't think that this affects anything either way, notice that the boy was named 'Mahdi', after the islamic messiah prophesied to show up on day. And in fact the full name is Khalid Sulaiman Mahdi , i know that sulaiman is an Ottoman Emperor, is Khalid also something?

Anyway, this entire situation, if true, is absolutely disgusting. Obviously the Israelis, if these guys admited to it, aren't going to let them get away with it.

Well I certainly hope it is not true, but it sounds fishy, if you read the article. From the father:

Sulaiman Mahdi, who leads a simple farmer's life, said he did not plan to sue the Israeli army for his son's murder.

"I only hope the Israeli army takes care such a thing doesn't occur again. There are lots of children here who work with their parents and I hope Khalid will be the last casualty."

He must be one laid back individual.

Also, why leave the father and other sons as witnesses? But then, nothing makes sense over there.

Did anyboby see the show on Palestinian children, on HBO? Three Britsh journalists were doing a story(2003), and it was terrible- at the end the jounalists tried to approach an Isreali personnel carrier that was watching them- they approached waving a white flag- the Isrealis shot and killed the British journalist. One shot...it was graphic, and if you have not seen this show, make a point to watch it. I am so glad I do not have to live as they do- the kids, and adults, are obsessed with becoming martyrs. That is all they wish for, is to die as a martyr. What a way to have to live-

Journey i watched it
one of the kids that he was filming now want to follow in his footsteps.

it was a sad documentary
somethings in it made me sick and

some of the things that the bombers said about the kid was shocking

Originally posted by Journey
at the end the jounalists tried to approach an Isreali personnel carrier that was watching them- they approached waving a white flag- the Isrealis shot and killed the British journalist.

In the Middle East, a white flag means nothing. Walking up to someone who doesn't want to be approached means everything.

A lot of good people have been murdered by people waving white flags. It doesn't help that murderers also use ambulances as troop transports and children as bomb delivery systems.

Of course, it is possible to draw any conclusion as long as it is free of the restrictions of context, history and reason.

Originally posted by Majic
In the Middle East, a white flag means nothing. Walking up to someone who doesn't want to be approached means everything.

Does anything matter in the Mid East? Besides oil, money, death, and martyrism?
You know, there is plenty of desert there, seems as if everyone would prefer to just get along with everyone else. The documentary haunted me, I have to admit. And there was no mention on national news that I saw- concerning the murder of the BBC reporter. And the Isreali's are God's Chosen people?

Originally posted by Journey
The documentary haunted me, I have to admit.

That was undoubtedly the purpose of the documentary, so it succeeded.

Originally posted by Journey
And there was no mention on national news that I saw- concerning the murder of the BBC reporter.

If I am correct, the deceased journalist was James Miller, and if that is the case, I agree that the circumstances of his death were extremely suspicious.

But death is not news in Israel/Palestine, and it doesn't matter whether you're an Arab, Israeli, Briton or anything else. If you are mortal, then simply being there is to be in mortal danger every minute of every day.

Originally posted by Journey
And the Isreali's are God's Chosen people?

Ask God.

As For The Topic

Time has passed, and this AlJazeera.net article was published on Wednesday, so presumably -- if the article is true -- the rest of the world has had an opportunity to find out if Yediot Ahronoth actually printed this article or not. So far, all I have been able to find are echoes of Al Jazeera's article, and nothing from what they claim is the original source.

Considering how news of this kind is normally good for several days of headlines in the international press, I am coming to suspect that this is another typical Al Jazeera "news" offering. Of course, maybe it's taking a real long time to translate the article from Hebrew into languages other than Arabic, so I suppose we should be patient.

I guess it's too early to know one way or another for now. Babelfish doesn't do Hebrew, or I'd try to track it down myself. Like so many other stories from this source, it will probably be left uncorroborated and just become one more tale of "the Evil Jews".

But of course, I could be mistaken.

Originally posted by Majic
Since this is AlJazeera.net, I'll be happy to assign credibility to this story if it is corroborated by an organization that does not have a reputation for presenting outrageous, brazen falsehoods as "news".

AlJazeera.net claims that Yediot Ahronoth carried this story, so it seems logical to see what Yediot Ahronoth actually has to say, wouldn't you agree?

I am unable to find an english-version website for that newspaper, and can't read Hebrew, but perhaps someone else can?

For what it's worth, I'm not sure why this is in the "War on Terrorism" forum, but just about everything Middle East finds its way here, so I guess that's the way it is.

I strongly recommend making sure this story is true before jumping on the bandwagon. To do less would be to sell one's honor for a very low price.


Edit: AlJazeera.net is apparently a different outfit from AlJazeera.com. Both sites refer to a television channel, but I not sure which one is actually associated with the Al Jazeera channel we all know and love. Beware.


[edit on 12/10/2004 by Majic]

Here You Go Majic...this is from the BBC....Israeli soldiers have shot and killed a Palestinian youth in the town of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip.
Palestinian medical sources said Ahmed Hams died as he tended a friend who had been shot and injured.

An Israeli military spokesman said troops had opened fire because the two were in a restricted area.

Meanwhile, Palestinian militants fired five homemade rockets from the Gaza Strip into southern Israel, injuring a 10-year-old boy and damaging property.

news.bbc.co.uk...

This is outrageous,and I can assure you it was not a 'Single ' incident..the other day some people were amazed at some of us laughing at a kid pissing over a soldiers helmet,and he was not a U.S.one either,but they failed to see the fun in it,and made the point that we should be ashamed for taking a soldiers life so forganted while he's fighting for' our' freedom and' theirs'..I wonder what this racial hatred is good for and who's fighting for who & what....

If there's an Israeli and a Palestinian involved, you just know the Palestinian is the innocent party, unless his remains are splattered all over a two-block area and thirty Israelis are also dead or wounded.

[edit on 04/12/11 by GradyPhilpott]

Originally posted by GradyPhilpott
If there's an Israeli and a Palestinian involved, you just know the Palestinian is the innocent party, unless his remains are splattered all over a two-block area and thirty Israeli are also dead or wounded.

Regardless, only one group has control over the peace process and only one group is currently trying to steal land from the other.

God made me do it. Only lunatics or deranged psychopaths would resort to God as an excuse for their actions.

Tali Hatuel (left) and her four daughters were killed by Palestinian terrorists
who shot them at close range

Savages On the Earth

�He lies in wait secretly as a lion in his den; he lies in wait . . . in the secret places he murders the innocent . . .� (Psalm 10:8-9).

It is one thing when civilians are killed accidentally in a war. War is war and sometimes there is �collateral damage.� But there is absolutely nothing that can justify the cold-blooded murder of a beautiful family such as happened to the wife and four daughters of David Hatuel on May 2. Tali Hatuel, 34, who was eight months pregnant, and her daughters Hila, 11; Hadar, 9; Roni, 7; and Merav, 2 died after their car was attacked on the Kissufim road leading to the Gush Katif settlement bloc. The family was on its way to campaign against Prime Minister Ariel Sharon�s disengagement plan. Their white Citroen station wagon ran off the road after the initial shooting, and then the attackers approached the car and shot the occupants dead at close range. The girls were killed hugging one another. Later at the funeral, standing over the shrouded bodies of his wife and daughters, David Hatuel asked their forgiveness for spending so much time away from home, lobbying against the Gaza disengagement plan. �On Friday, the girls drew me a picture and wrote, �Daddy, we are proud of what you are doing for the home where we were born.�� Is there any justification for this kind of savagery? The Palestinian militants who do things like this have been likened to animals. But not even animals would do something this bad. In this writer�s opinion, it can only be put down to demonic influence. Surely God Himself weeps after such an incident.




Palestinian savages murder two Israelis
and proudly dip their hands in their blood

[edit on 11-12-2004 by Thinker]