Israel Offers Excuses After Video Shows Troops Killing Palestinian Teens

The deaths of two Palestinian teens during a Nakba Day protest near Ofer Prison was barely a story last week, shrugged off as the result of “clashes” with Israeli troops.

That’s changed today, as it turns out a security camera caught the whole thing on tape, showing a calm situation when suddenly one of the teens collapses, shot in the chest, and sparking a panic among the handful of Palestinians standing around nearby.

Israel’s government is, as ever, full of excuses, none of which make any sense and many of which conflict with others. Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon offered the most straightforward excuse, continuing last week’s narrative of a “riot” and declaring “it was a life-threatening situation, so the officers acted accordingly.

Which is absurd when seeing the video, and its conspicuous lack of riots. Ya’alon conceded he hadn’t watched the video at all yet. Other Israeli officials went on to say that the video was “biased” against them in some non-specific way.

Other officials offered further excuses, including claims that the protesters were “violent,” despite the video showing them standing around doing literally nothing, and perhaps most absurdly of all, claiming that no bullets were fired at all.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.