Kidnapped Palestinian teen was burned to death, autopsy shows

Ali Abunimah Rights and Accountability 5 July 2014

Mourners carry the body of Muhammed Abu Khudair, 16, during his funeral in the Shuafat neighborhood of eastern occupied Jerusalem, 4 July.

Saeed Qaq APA images

The Palestinian teenager Muhammad Abu Khudair who was kidnapped and murdered in Jerusalem early on Wednesday morning was burned to death by his killers.

The news of the horrifying manner in which Muhammad was killed came on the same day that thousands of people turned out for his funeral in the Shuafat neighborhood of eastern occupied Jerusalem where he lived.

Palestinian Authority Attorney General Muhammad Abdul Ghani al-Aweiwi told the official Palestinian news agency Wafa that the preliminary autopsy report states that the remnants of a burned substance (soot) was present in Muhammad’s respiratory passages and lungs, indicating he had inhaled the substance while being burned alive.

Burning and complications stemming from it were the direct cause of death, according to the autopsy report.

The autopsy was carried out at the Israeli Abu Kabir Forensic Institute in the presence of an official Palestinian pathologist, Dr. Sabir al-Aloul.

Muhammad’s body was ninety percent covered in burns varying from first to fourth degree in severity and he also had a head injury, al-Aweiwi stated.

He said that samples taken from the teen’s body would allow more in-depth analysis of the circumstances of his death.

Israeli authorities have imposed a strict gag order on reporting details regarding the investigation into Muhammad’s murder, which was an apparent reprisal for the killings of three Israeli teenagers who were abducted in the occupied West Bank on 12 June and whose bodies were found last Monday.

Meanwhile, Human Rights Watch has accused Israel of “serious violations” in a large-scale assault on Palestinians since the Israeli teens’ abduction which the group said amounts to “collective punishment.”

Funeral

Instagram user Zalameh posted this brief video of the moment Muhammad’s body was brought to the mosque for the funeral prayer today:

This video, though of poor quality, shows the vast numbers of people joining the funeral march to the cemetery where Muhammad was laid to rest:
In this image from Zalameh, Shuafat youth stand on the roof of the Jerusalem light rail stop that was destroyed in days of protests over Muhammad’s killing:
Zalameh reported through his @BDS4Justice Twitter account that protests and violent Israeli efforts to suppress them resumed in Shuafat after the funeral, but that the numbers of people involved were in the dozens – much fewer than in previous days:
Local media report that more than 170 Palestinians have been injured by Israeli occupation forces, who have used tear gas and rubber-coated steel bullets and are shown on video brutally beating a youth since Muhammad’s killing.

Collective punishment

In a 3 July statement, Human Rights Watch condemns Israel’s collective punishment of Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, including punitive home demolitions, mass arrests and deadly shootings:

Israel’s military operations in the West Bank following the abduction and killing of three Israeli teenagers have amounted to collective punishment. The military operations included unlawful use of force, arbitrary arrests, and illegal home demolitions. During raids on Palestinian towns, refugee camps and villages, Israeli forces have shot and killed at least five Palestinians and arrested and detained at least 150 more without charge.

The release adds:

Human Rights Watch investigated two of the deadly shooting cases and found that while some youths were throwing stones, there was no evidence that the victim or anyone in the line of fire posed an imminent threat to the lives of Israeli soldiers or others.

Human Rights Watch also notes the atmosphere of intense incitement, cries of “Death to the Arabs” at Israeli rallies, and attacks on Palestinians by settlers.

“Israeli settlers, in two separate incidents, reportedly ran over a 28-year-old Palestinian man near Hebron and a 9-year-old girl near Bethlehem in the West Bank on June 30, shortly after Israeli forces discovered the three Israeli teenagers’ bodies,” the group reports.

Human Rights Watch calls on Israel to “take all feasible measures to prevent reprisal attacks.”

Israeli occupation forces have arrested approximately 700 Palestinians since 12 June and are currently detaining at least 450, the group says.

At least 150 have already been given “administrative detention” orders under which they can be held for prolonged periods with charge or trial.

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Comments

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Nida Ahmed replied on

This is sickening, saddening, the war is over a bit of land yet innocent lives are being taken away, a mother without her child, a child without her mother why? Do we not bleed the same blood? She'd the same tears, we are all Humans we have a right to live in Peace, not fear.
This wasn't a fair act it was wrong may he be put to rest and granted a very high rank in jannah, Insha'Allah ameen

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Stan Squires replied on

I am from vancouver,canada and I wanted to say that the canadian gov and the gov. of the usa are complicit in the brutal death of Muhammed Abu Khudair.Israeli apartheid should be condemned not supported.The Palestinian People are been segregated and brutalized by the apartheid Israeli gov. with full support of western govs.I attened a rally here in Vancouver on July 3th in support of the Palestinian people.People in all parts of the world should show their support for the heroic Palestinian people in their fight against Israeli apartheid.

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gay o'connor replied on

I agree entirely with your comments, Stan Squires, except to add that the Australian Government is equally complicit. Complicit because they ignore the plight of the Palestinians, hoping no-one here will notice. Various members of our government have been given a tour of Israel, at the invitation of the Israeli government, and are shown just what the Israelis want them to see. They swallow, hook line and sinker the "we are surrounded by enemies" apologists, without asking why they are surrounded by enemies - and don't even ask which of those surrounding countries have Israel not invaded over time, and in the case of Lebanon, many times. It seems no-one in our government reads anything of the history of Palestine, and of the devastation to the lives of Palestinians created by Jewish terrorism in the 1930s, 40s and continuing today. Our very shallow government ignores international law by decreeing the "occupied" territories are no longer occupied, but rather disputed. This ignores totally the fact of pre-ownership of those areas which Israel has actually stolen to build settlements on, and ignores entirely the fact that there is a military occupation in control. If that is not "occupied" what is? Makes me ill, this pandering to the Zionists at the expense of a whole population of Palestinians, which will carry on to their children, and their children, and so on . . .

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John Dickerson replied on

RE: "Kidnapped Palestinian teen was burned to death, autopsy shows"

MY COMMENT: I consider Netanyahu personally responsible due to his repeated calls for vengeance*. He should be indicted for murder.

* SEE -
● "The Aftermath: Home demolitions and dead Palestinian teen follow Netanyahu call for revenge", by Allison Deger, Mondoweiss.net, 7/02/14
LINK - http://mondoweiss.net/2014/07/...
● "After repeated calls for vengeance, Netanyahu urges Israelis to be ‘cool-headed’ and seek ‘justice’", by Allison Deger, Mondoweiss.net, 7/03/14
LINK - http://mondoweiss.net/2014/07/...

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Peter Loeb replied on

I am unable to comment. Were the Israelis like other lynchmobs in the past
filled with "joy" after their acts of hate? "Kill an Arab"?

So similar to the lynchmobs in North America...

There is more than teens here. This is the product of systemic Israeli
hatred...and many Israeli policies and actions.

Peter Loeb, Boston, MA

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.