Mission & Justice

8/8/08

The Israeli army has removed an officer from his post over allegations he ordered a soldier to fire a rubber-coated bullet into the foot of a bound and blindfolded Palestinian. A military spokeswoman said a decision on legal proceedings against Lieutenant-Colonel Omri Borberg is expected soon. Borberg, a regimental commander, was suspended last month pending a military investigation. He could still face prosecution, but B’Tselem, an Israeli human rights group, said on Wednesday that a deal in which he could face the minor charge of inappropriate behaviour was “disgraceful”.

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21/7/08

The Israeli defence minister has condemned an incident, captured on video, in which an Israeli soldier shoots a Palestinian detainee. Ehud Barak vowed on Monday that the incident would be investigated, but Sarit Michaela, from rights group B’Tselem, told Al Jazeera that such incidents are usually ignored by the military. “Generally, there is very little accountability when it comes to Israeli security forces following up on cases we report - cases like the use of weapons, harassment charges, beating up civilians or killing children,” she said.

See: http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2008/07/ 200872154636332207.html

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1/6/08

The Israeli housing ministry has announced that it will build 884 more houses in East Jerusalem, an area that Palestinians want as the capital of their promised independent state. “We will invite tenders for the construction of 121 housing units in Har Homa and 763 others in Pisgat Zeev,” Eran Sidis, a ministry spokesman, said on Sunday. Both the settlements are part of Palestinian territories occupied by Israel in the 1967 war. Har Homa is built on Jabal Abu Ghnein in East Jerusalem. In 1968 Israel unilaterally annexed East Jerusalem - a move that was condemned as illegal by the UN Security Council. All settlements in both the West Bank and East Jerusalem are considered illegal under international law.

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