Israeli police cite reckless driving as cause for extrajudicial killing
Written by Alternative Information Center (AIC)
One Palestinian is dead, another is injured and in jail. The Israeli officers that shot both of them remain free.
Israeli forces shot and killed Mustafa Nimir, 27, in occupied Jerusalem's Shuafat refugee camp on Monday.
A dark, grainy video of the incident shows two Israeli military vehicles back up on a street. Behind them is a stationary civilian vehicle. An Israeli police officer walks toward the car before positioning him or herself in front of its windshield and shooting into the front seat.
Mustafa, who was in the passenger’s seat, was announced dead at the scene. Ali Tayser Nimir, 25, Mustafa’s brother-in-law and the driver of the car, sustained moderate injuries. He was evacuated to the hospital.
Israeli forces were raiding Shuafat refugee camp at the time of the shooting.
Initially, Israeli police maintained that Mustafa and Ali had attempted to run officers over with their car. They added that the officers only opened fire after the two had “ignored the orders.”
The day after Mustafa’s death, on September 6th, Israeli intelligence summoned his parents to a police station in Beit Hanina. There, Israeli intelligence officials redacted the police’s statement and told them that Mustafa and Ali had not been attempting to carry out an attack when they were shot.
“Their sorry will not bring back Mustafa,” Talal Namir told Ma’an News Agency on Tuesday. At the time, Israeli authorities had yet to return Mustafa’s body to his family for burial.
Ali remains in jail.
On September 7th, Israeli police accused Ali of “causing the death of the young man [Mustafa]” by driving negligently and prompting Israeli forces to open fire at his car.
Today, the Jerusalem Magistrate Court rejected the police’s allegation that Ali’s driving made him responsible for Mustafa’s death.
The court did, however, accept the Israeli police’s request to extend Ali’s detention, citing charges of driving under the influence of alcohol and drugs as well as past traffic violations.
Speaking with Israeli newspaper Haaretz after the court heading, Ali’s family accused the police of a cover-up. “These are not policemen, these are criminals,” Ali’s brother said, adding that Mustafa was killed for nothing.
According to the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO), as of September 1st Israeli forces have killed 239 Palestinians since the popular uprising began in October 2015.
