The investigation file is transferred to the Military Advocacy for Operational Affairs, which is guided by considerations that almost inevitably dictate closing the file with no further action. Many cases are closed for “absence of guilt”, since the MAG Corps simply assumes that the accounts given by soldiers suspected of committing an offense are reliable – usually with no supporting evidence. In addition, the decision of the MAG Corps – which accompanies the investigations from the very start and oversees them – has done nothing to improve or make them more rigorous, instead finding the lax MPIU investigations sufficient for making decisions in cases. Under these circumstances, the fact that many cases are closed for absence of evidence is no surprise. Since no serious effort is made to obtain evidence, it clearly could not support a criminal case.

n many other cases the Military Advocacy for Operational Affairs elects not to launch a criminal investigation at all. Sometimes, it justifies its decision on the grounds of “absence of guilt”. Here, too, it does so on the basis of soldiers’ accounts of events. Sometimes, in cases in which there are Palestinian fatalities, the grounds are that the deaths were in “combat situations”, an exclusion that grants sweeping immunity to soldiers from criminal investigations, far above and beyond that granted by international humanitarian law.

The military law enforcement system also draws legitimacy from the ostensible existence of oversight mechanisms within the civilian system in the form of the Attorney General and the Supreme Court, saying they are meant to oversee the work of the MAG, who wields extensive authorities, as well as the work of the MAG Corps as a whole. However, the Attorney General elects to delegate most of his powers to the MAG and refrains from intervening in his decisions. As for the Supreme Court, it is not meant to serve as an oversight mechanism, and in the few cases in which it was asked to do so, for the most part it preferred not to intervene.

The military law enforcement system is plagued by a host of issues in the basic way it is run: The system is inaccessible to Palestinian complainants, who cannot file complaints with the MPIU directly and must rely on human rights organizations or attorneys to file the complaints on their behalf. The processing of each complaint lasts months, and even years, so that often enough soldiers who are the subject of the complaint are no longer under military jurisdiction. Both the MPIU and the MAG Corps act without transparency, and getting information from them – both about a complaint filed, as well as with general information about their work – requires repeated requests.

This is the system that officials bring as proof – to Israel and the world – of their claim that the military does everything in its power to investigate complaints against soldiers responsible for harming Palestinians and to prosecute the offenders. Top officials boast of the system’s effectiveness and values, discounting any substantive criticism, despite the fact that the system’s operation and the outcomes of its work are well known to senior officials both inside and outside the military.

While changes have been made to the military law enforcement system over the years, they mostly served to reinforce the impression that efforts were being made to get at the truth, and did not resolve the system’s substantive problems.

The deliberations and recommendations of the Turkel Commission ought to be considered against this backdrop. The Commission, which published its conclusions already three years ago (February 2013), recommended a number of improvements to the military law enforcement system. The following were among the Commission’s recommendations: amendments to legislation that would include legislation against war crimes and address the criminal responsibility of commanding officers for the actions of their subordinates; improving MPIU and MAG Corps work methods – including setting shorter schedules for processing time; establishing an MPIU unit designated for handling complaints by Palestinians; greater transparency in the work of the MAG Corps; and a number of measures meant to enhance the MAG’s independence. The implementation of these recommendations, which has already begun, may improve appearances of the current system, but it will not remedy the substantive flaws plaguing the military law enforcement system.

After the Turkel Commission published its recommendations, the government appointed another committee to implement them – the Ciechanover Committee, which submitted its own recommendations in August 2015. In its report, the Ciechanover Committee advocated the implementation of some of the Turkel Commission recommendations verbatim, stated that the implementation of others would require allocation of additional resources, and suggested some minor changes in yet other recommendations. The Ciechanover Committee concluded by stressing that its report is not the final word on the subject, and that some issues still require more work. It recommended the establishment of another agency that would follow up on the implementation of its recommendations.

Read the rest here http://www.btselem.org/publications/summaries/201605_occupations_fig_leaf

Published on 15 Feb 2016

An Israeli Border Police officer flipped over a man in a wheelchair. It happened moments after a teenage girl accused of stabbing a soldier was shot.

Published on 14 May 2016

The Zionist lobby has launched a huge offensive in the West to equate anti-Israel activism with anti-Semitism. But this is just a cover for criminalizing criticism of the Zionist entity!

The “anti-Semitic” label is conveniently and consistently applied by British power-brokers to silence any criticism of the illegitimate Zionist entity of “Israel.”

Those who use anti-Semitism today as a political stick to beat their opponents do so because it has become such an effective tool to silence debate and detract away from Israel's crimes against the Palestinians.

This whole debate has been prompted by remarks made by labour members but Baroness Jenny Tonge thinks that it is not just a mere coincidence, that this huge attempt to conflate anti-Zionism and anti-Semitism began soon after the appointment of Mark Regev as Israeli ambassador to the UK.

Haim Bresheeth argued that as a Jew living with Britain, he believes that there is no problem with anti-Semitism within the U.K and certainly not among the British Labour party!

He concluded that this is a merely clever and a very effective tactic deployed to intimidate and silence Palestinian activists and those willing to give them a platform.

Press TV????

Run by nut job Iranians????

So you've quoted Electronic Intifada and now Iranians!!!!

Hahahaha

Electronic Intifada and Iranian owned TV.

And you think that's decent sourcing for stories on the state of Israel....

Press TV - owned by the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Led by a nutjob who declared that he wants Israel "wiped off the face of the Earth" and who are known to be funding the designated terrorist group Hezbollah.

Have you seen Iranian statements regarding the democratic state of Israel?
They directly fund terrorists. They've been subject to US sanctions for years for their support of terror.

Sorry I don't buy Jack sh:t that comes out of their mouths.

If they so much as threaten Israel. I hope the IAF strikes at them unilaterally.

Nobody threatens Israel again. We have had enough of Arab aggression the last decade.

May 26, 2016

JORDAN VALLEY, May 25, 2016 (WAFA) – Israeli occupation forces Wednesday ordered Palestinian locals in the northern Jordan valley area to vacate their homes for three days, under the pretext of conducting military drills in the area, according to a local official.

Mo’taz Bsharat, an official in charge of the Jordan valley’s file, informed WAFA staff from the Israeli civil administration, handed 12 Palestinian families notices ordering them to vacate their homes for three days, starting from May 30th till June 1st.

The army usually conducts drills in the occupied West Bank, especially in the Jordan Valley; Palestinian families often receive notices ordering them to leave their homes for various periods until the drills are over.

“It is extremely difficult for whole families, including children, to be evacuated on such short notice. With no properly arranged place to stay, they must find a way to ensure shelter, food and drink away from home in the intense, grueling heat of the Jordan Valley,” said B’Tselem, an Israeli human rights center.

According to B’Tselem, “The Jordan Valley and the northern Dead Sea make up approximately 30% of the West Bank and are the most significant Palestinian land reserves.”

Since 1967, Israel has pursued various measures to annex this territory de facto. It has prevented the development of Palestinian communities, systematically destroyed homes in Palestinian Bedouin communities, denied access to water and strictly ed Palestinians’ freedom of movement, noted the center.

B’Tselem said, “The frequent evacuations force residents to put their lives on hold. The evoke fear and uncertainty and involve a great deal of inconvenience.”

“In each such evacuation, the families must abandon their homes and some of their property. They must take along mattresses, blankets, and food and water for themselves and their livestock. They have to leave with their children and flocks and find shelter from the weather elsewhere.”

It noted that, some of the evacuations took place in the winter, in severe weather. In some cases the military training sessions damaged residents’ cultivated fields.

B’Tselem called on Israel to stop such actions, stating that, “Israel must immediately stop the temporary evacuation of Palestinian communities in the West Bank for the purpose of military training, and must cease all other actions taken in an attempt to force Palestinians out of the area.”

Palestinians living in these areas have to also worry about unexploded ordnance left behind by the Israeli army after the drills, which have led to the death of many Palestinians, including children, over the past years.

In 2014, three Palestinians were killed by unexploded ordnance left by Israeli forces in the West Bank’s Jordan Valley, while Gaza remains plagued with unexploded ordnance following the most recent Israeli aggression.

OCHA Protection of Civilian report, reporting period: 30 September – 13 October 2014, said that, “On 22 October 2014, a four-year-old child was killed when a [unexploded ordnance] UXO exploded east of Beit Hanoun, Gaza.

“The presence of unexploded ordnance (UXOs) continues to pose a high risk to civilians, particularly children. Following the July-August hostilities, the risk of UXO and Explosive Remnants of War (ERW) became significantly high.”

http://www.mofa.pna.ps/en/2016/05/26/israeli-army-orders-palestinians-in-jordan-...