CNN camera catches Israeli soldier who fired at, killed Palestinian teen

Ali Abunimah Rights and Accountability 22 May 2014

CNN has an important break in the story of the deadly shooting by Israeli occupation forces of two Palestinians teenagers.

As this report by Ivan Watson shows, CNN’s cameras were apparently trained on the Israeli occupation soldier who shot one of the boys. (If you cannot view the video above, see the story on CNN’s web site.)

Nadim Siam Nuwara, 17, and Muhammad Mahmoud Odeh Abu al-Thahir, 16, were killed at a Nakba Day protest near the Ofer military prison in the occupied West Bank village of Beitunia on 15 May.

A screenshot from CNN shows the precise moment an Israeli soldier fires and Nadim Nuwara falls to the ground mortally wounded.

“At the precise moment when Nuwara was shot,” Watson says, “CNN’s camera was rolling, filming an Israeli soldier shooting his rifle at the Palestinians and then demonstrators carrying the mortally wounded teenager to the ambulance.”

Israel has continued to deny its occupation forces used live bullets, intimated that Palestinians might have shot the boys, and even suggested that the security camera footage capturing the boys deaths had been faked.

As Watson’s report also shows, Nuwara’s family recovered the live bullet from inside the back pack Nadim was wearing when he was shot. The bullet had passed through his body into the bag, spattering his school books with blood.

Palestine Center director and commentator Yousef Munayyer observes:

In addition to the two teens who were killed about an hour apart, two more Palestinians, one aged 15 and one in his twenties, were injured by live fire at the same location that day.

Israeli human rights group B’Tselem has said it has “obtained medical opinions regarding the entry and exit wounds found in the bodies of all four victims, which are completely consistent with injuries caused by live fire and could not have been caused by rubber-coated metal bullets – especially not when fired at a relatively long range, as was the case here.”

The evidence, B’Tselem said, raised “grave suspicion” that occupation forces “willfully killed two Palestinians” and “injured two others” and demanded investigation by Israel’s Military Police Investigations Unit “into the military’s highly incorrect version of the incident conveyed to the media.”

CNN’s footage offers further clear proof that Israeli authorities are lying.

Ultimately, the type of weapon the Israelis used is irrelevant. The fact is that day after day, year after year, Israel uses all manner of weapons to occupy and suppress millions of Palestinians with the result that thousands are dead including, just since the year 2000, more than 1,400 Palestinian children.

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Comments

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Gaelic Neilson replied on

I think a lot of people want to hear more than just that they were teens. Could we find out what their dreams were, what they did, and what they are missing now that their precious lives were taken so ruthlessly.

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CT replied on

They always do. The shooting was planned, as you can see from the CNN video. The "squad leader" immediately and casually took the rifle to prevent any possible forensic test. Israel's media then plastered doubt as to which side did it. If you critically listen to the even the CNN commentary, you'll hear blatant lies like, "the teenager was heading toward the soldiers".

Israel does these things to provoke anger, and any revenge response will be presented as just "Palestinian violence".

Let's just hope that the totality of Israel's actions will make all their whitewashing obvious and moot. Keep spreading truth!

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CT replied on

You are saying that time-synced videos of both the shooting and the hit is DOUBTED??!!

Slap yourself, and say 20 Hail Mary's for lying.

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Ric replied on

It may well be that "CNN don't know shit" but the video footage that they captured provides fairly conclusive evidence of a Palestinian teenager being deliberately shot by an IDF soldier. It doesn't particularly matter which side of the Palestine-Israel debate you are on, the events remain unchanged.

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Jil Jennewein replied on

Have you lived there? Have you even visited the West Bank? I have. This has been going on for a long, long time. The kids throw stones and Israel uses MILITARY force against Palestinians. Israel is backed by $$$$ Billions of US tax dollars each year.....Palestine has NO military.

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mlk replied on

Massacre of innocent civilians by israel must be stopped in a joint effort from all world powers. This type of ethnic cleansing has been allowed by the UN for way too long now

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Richard replied on

The shooting in the foot of the two.Palestinian footballers by the occuparion forces depressed and repulsed me. This is equally barbaric and cruel. Why does the world do nothing? Why must civil society protest amd yet government remain silent?

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Larry Saltzman replied on

More disgusting behavior by the Israel forces of the occupation. I blame my country, the U.S., as much as Israel for failing to take action against the rogue state of Israel. We must end our support of Israel..

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D R Long replied on

I suppose they could convict the soldier from the camera footage. But will they? Or will any thing happen. Probably not! It's kinda like politics in America. But no one dies,but every one gets hurt.

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hicham replied on

This murders occurs everyday in the occupied Palestine, while the entire world is busy with champions league and worldcup. Shameful

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Alaa replied on

Israeli state is the largest and most cruel terrorist organization that has ever existed in the history of humanity. Shamefully, it is the most defended and supported state by world leaders!

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Adrian Masters replied on

In the CNN-footage one indeed sees that A soldier takes a gun from another soldier, questions come from that moment!

1. A gun is personal to a soldier, the soldier is personally responsible for the gun that has been issued to him/her , WHY is that specific gun taken from that specific soldier at that specific moment by another soldier?

2. Who is the soldier taking that specific gun from that specific soldier?

3. What happened to that specific gun? Was it brought to a place were it is inspected, was there a ballistic investigation on evidence etc. etc.? Were is the gun at this moment? Can it be investigated by independent researchers?

4. At the moment of the gun being taken away from the soldier the camera pans away from what seems to be the roof of the house the shooting soldiers are on.
Why? The footage shown after the panning away of the camera shows no images of interest, there is no (shot) body visible, there is no other view then a number of people walking/running around, so, was the cameraman panning away from the shooting soldiers because he/she knew what had happened?

And finally,
5.a. has the cameraperson been questioned on the matter?
5.b. has the footage been investigated by investigators, or made part of the investigation into the death of these two young men?
5.c. have the soldiers been questioned by police? Or the military police?

Question I have, and am putting forward!

Ali Abunimah

Co-founder of The Electronic Intifada and author of The Battle for Justice in Palestine, now out from Haymarket Books.

Also wrote One Country: A Bold-Proposal to End the Israeli-Palestinian Impasse. Opinions are mine alone.