[fwd] Another Politcal Extrajudicial Execution - Eyad Sawalha,Jenin

[Gush Shalom (Israeli Peace Bloc)]

GUSH SHALOM - pob 3322, Tel-Aviv 61033 - http://www.gush-shalom.org/

The following which one of the Gush Shalom members passed on to her private list 
expresses all what there is to say about the latest assassination.

------- Forwarded message follows -------
Date sent:      	Sun, 10 Nov 2002 22:51:15 +0200
From:           	Yehudith Harel <ye_harel at netvision.net.il>
Subject:        	Another Politcal Extrajudicial Execution - Eyad Sawalha,Jenin 
9.11.2002

Another Politcal Extrajudicial Execution

Dear All, 

Eyad Sawalha, a senior leader in thePalestinian Jihad, who was suspected by Israel 
to be responsible for the suicide bombings of at least twoIsraeli civilan busses at the 
Megido and Karkur junctions, killing many innocent Israelis - was cold bloodedly 
murdered by an Israeli Execution squads. ( see detailed report bellow).
This was another illegal extrajudicial execution - one in a long series - committed by 
the Israeli Army, an act which constitutesa major War Crime and is in 
starkcontravention of the Iternational Law and ofbasic human values.
Being a suspect of whatever hineous crimes, does not give the right to executeone 
without a trial, moreover, when fortunately capital punishment does not exist in Israel.
Beyond the moral outrage - this execution came as many before it, at a 
verycarefully calculated timing, when Palestinian leaders from various factions 
including the Hammas are convening in Cairo in an attempt to sign an agreement to 
put an end to the suicide bombings and maybe even to the armed struggle as the 
majorvenue for the Palestinian Resistance.
It is clear that the Sharon - Mofaz - Eitam government are doing their best to 
undermine another important Palestinian effort to put an end to the indiscriminate 
killing of civilians and channel the Palestinian Resistance to the Israeli occupation into 
non violent venues. They simply cannot and won't allow this to happen as they have 
no answer to aCivil Palestinian Resistance. They cannot tolerate a non vilolent 
Palestinian Resistance movementthat can re-envigorate not onlythe world wide 
solidarity and support of the Palestinian people, but it can alsowake up the Israeli 
people and free them from the fascist Sharonian propaganda and 
brainwashing.Sharon needs more bloodshed of innocent Israelis and Palestinians to 
be the scapegoats for his coming election campaign. He needsthe escalation in 
orderto allow him to continue to oppress the Palestinian people, destroy whatever is 
left of their infrastructure and carry out his more dangerous schemes, including a 
possible large scale transfer of Palestinians under the "Umbrella" ofthe American 
war against Iraq.
In these difficult times We - Israelis and Palestinians who belive that we have one 
common future in this country, need to reach out to each other and defy the 
Sharonian power politics and the philosophyand practice bloodshed. We need to find 
ways to cooperate to stand up against all the above mentioned evil schemes and in 
orderto convince both our peoples that we have an alternative and that we can live 
together in this country in Full Equality and Peace.
Yehudith Harel

[If you decide to forward this message then, please, copy it and send it as a new mail 
- in order to avoid broken lines.]

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Lawsociety" <law at lawsociety.org>Sent: Sunday, November 10, 2002 1:26 PM
Subject: Extra-judicial killing in Jenin

Extra-judicial killing in Jenin
November 10, 2002

Yesterday, Saturday November 9, Israeli forces extra-judicially 
assassinated Iyad Sawalha (27) by using heavy fire upon his home while he 
hid within. 

According to information gathered by LAW, a large number of 
Israeli "Special Forces" surrounded a house in the al-Casaba area of 
Jenin's old city. They forcibly took Khalid Kamil (29) from a neighboring 
home as a human shield. He was forced to stand at the entrance of the 
surrounded home and use a megaphone to call Iyad Sawalha and his wife to 
leave the home. Sawalha's wife left the house with her hands raised. 

Following her exist, Israeli troops opened heavy fire from all directions 
upon the house, targeting windows and doors. Sawalha, was hit with more 
than 15 bullets all over his body and died immediately, according to 
sources at Jenin local hospital, where he was taken. His right hand was 
completely shot off, and the house was destroyed.

During the extra-judicial killing, Khalid Kamil (29) was seriously 
injured with a gunshot to the head, while he was forced to stand at the 
door's entrance as the Special Forces opened fire. 

Earlier, Israeli forces arrested on Friday November 8, Iyad Sawalha's 
mother, Najih (55) and her daughter, Arsline (26) from their house in 
Kufr Ra'i south of Jenin city. They were released on Saturday at around 
7pm after being forced to tell Israeli troops where Iyad and his wife 
were hiding.

At least 173 Palestinians have so far been killed in extra-judicial 
executions committed by Israel, including 63 Palestinian bystanders. This 
is the third extra-judicial killing to take place over forty-eight hours. 

LAW emphasizes that extra-judicial executions constitute willful 
killings, which are a grave breach of the Fourth Geneva Convention and as 
such constitute war crimes subject to universal jurisdiction. 

Extra-judicial killings cannot be reconciled with the Fourth Geneva 
Convention, which seek to protect the lives of protected persons, and 
violate human rights norms that affirm the right to life and the 
prohibition on execution of civilians. 

LAW strongly condemns Israel's assassination policy. Israel is legally 
responsible for the acts of its agents, and is under corresponding 
obligations to ensure that its agents adhere to the Convention and to 
prosecute those agents who commit grave breaches. 

All state signatories to the Fourth Geneva Convention have also the right 
and are under a positive obligation to seek out and prosecute individuals 
responsible for committing or commissioning grave breaches, wherever the 
perpetrators are. Article 148 of the Fourth Geneva states that 'no High 
Contracting Party shall be allowed to absolve itself or any other High 
Contracting Party of any liability incurred by itself or by any other 
High Contracting Party...' 

Israel's ongoing human rights violations further illustrates the need for 
the immediate deployment of an international protection presence to 
prevent violations of the Fourth Geneva Convention and to protect 
Palestinian protected persons within the Occupied Palestinian 
Territories. 

---
    Transcript of the war crimes panel available on the Gush site
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