CNN camera catches Israeli soldier who fired at, killed Palestinian teen

“At the precise moment when Nuwara was shot,” Watson says, “CNN’s camera was rolling, filming an Israeli soldier shooting his rifle at the Palestinians and then demonstrators carrying the mortally wounded teenager to the ambulance.”

by Ali Abunimah                           The Electronic Intifada

CNN has an important break in the story of the deadly shooting by Israeli occupation forces of two Palestinians teenagers.

As this report by Ivan Watson shows, CNN’s cameras were apparently trained on the Israeli occupation soldier who shot one of the boys. (If you cannot view the video above, see the story on CNN’s web site.)

Nadim Siam Nuwara, 17, and Muhammad Mahmoud Odeh Abu al-Thahir, 16, were killed at a Nakba Day protest near the Ofer military prison in the occupied West Bank village of Beitunia on 15 May.

“At the precise moment when Nuwara was shot,” Watson says, “CNN’s camera was rolling, filming an Israeli soldier shooting his rifle at the Palestinians and then demonstrators carrying the mortally wounded teenager to the ambulance.”

Israel has continued to deny its occupation forces used live bullets, intimated that Palestinians might have shot the boys, and even suggested that the security camera footage capturing the boys deaths had been faked.

As Watson’s report also shows, Nuwara’s family recovered the live bullet from inside the back pack Nadim was wearing when he was shot. The bullet had passed through his body into the bag, spattering his school books with blood.

Palestine Center director and commentator Yousef Munayyer observes:

on Twitter

In addition to the two teens who were killed about an hour apart, two more Palestinians, one aged 15 and one in his twenties, were injured by live fire at the same location that day.

Israeli human rights group B’Tselem has said it has “obtained medical opinions regarding the entry and exit wounds found in the bodies of all four victims, which are completely consistent with injuries caused by live fire and could not have been caused by rubber-coated metal bullets – especially not when fired at a relatively long range, as was the case here.”

The evidence, B’Tselem said, raised “grave suspicion” that occupation forces “willfully killed two Palestinians” and “injured two others” and demanded investigation by Israel’s Military Police Investigations Unit “into the military’s highly incorrect version of the incident conveyed to the media.”

CNN’s footage offers further clear proof that Israeli authorities are lying.

Ultimately, the type of weapon the Israelis used is irrelevant. The fact is that day after day, year after year, Israel uses all manner of weapons to occupy and suppress millions of Palestinians with the result that thousands are dead including, just since the year 2000,more than 1,400 Palestinian children.

Special thanks to Ali Abunimah and The Electronic Intifada