Israel Convicts 2 Youths in 2014 Killing of Palestinian Teen

The court found the two Israeli minors guilty of killing Mohammed Abu Khdeir, who was kidnapped, beaten unconscious and then burned alive in July 2014.

Sixteen-year-old Muhammad Abu Khudair was kidnapped and killed in the early morning of 2 July 2014, the day after the funeral for three Israeli teenagers who had been kidnapped and killed while hitchhiking in the occupied West Bank.

A court in Jerusalem convicted two Israelis on Monday over the 2014 death of a Palestinian teenager.

However, the main suspect, Yosef Haim Ben David, 31, is expected to escape conviction as the judge agreed to reconsider his insanity plea.

The Daily Mail ran a similar headline, albeit at a greater length: “Jerusalem’s streets run red with blood: Israeli police shoot dead man who stabbed border guard at Damascus Gate – the 99th Palestinian to die in latest wave of violence”.

While adult murder convicts generally get lengthy jail terms in Israel, comparable sentences are not mandatory for minors.

Outside the court a group of Abu Khdeir family members were holding posters with Mohammed’s image on them as the verdict was delivered.

The father, who has attended the court proceedings, wondered aloud why the Israeli army had not destroyed the houses of the minors and Ben-David as Israel does with suspected Palestinian terrorists. “It’s like they burned him again”, Suha continued between resting her head in her hands, “This court is worthless”.

He said: “How can the defendant, two days ago, a year-and-a-half after the crime, bring a document claiming insanity?”

An adviser to the Palestine Liberation Organization, Xavier Abu Eid, tweeted that the Abu Khdeir case was “an example of how cheap Palestinian lives are for Israel”.

He held the Israeli government “fully responsible for the ongoing crimes committed against the Palestinians”, and called on the United Nations Human Rights Council to delegate a committee to investigate the reality of the situation in the Palestinian territories. “It’s all lies and I worry that the court will free them in the end”.

Two Israeli youths have been convicted of the murder but a ruling has been postponed on the alleged organiser of the crime pending a mental health review.

Prosecutor Uri Corb said yesterday that the Abu Khdeir case was a stain on Israeli society.

The public defender for Ben-David said real reasons existed for the delay in submitting the evaluation but did not explain further. In July, the Knesset increased the punishment for Palestinian rock-throwers to up to 20 years in jail, and the Defense Forces have returned to a policy of frequently demolishing homes of Palestinian suspects’ families.

“The kids, who are clashing on a nightly basis with the Israeli police, aren’t being whipped into a frenzy by charismatic people like [Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas]”.

Violence since October 1 has left 101 dead on the Palestinian side, including an Arab Israeli, as well as 17 Israelis, an American and an Eritrean. Zaban said it would be examined separately later this month.