You may recall the story of 7 year-old Ali Jawarish, killed when he was caught in the crossfire of Israeli soldiers as he was out buying pencils for school. I wrote one month ago that women from Bat Shalom had paid a condolence call to Ali’s family in Bethlehem. Especially poignant was that Ali’s parents had agreed to donate their son’s organs to Israeli children in need. Three children have a new lease on life as a result of his parents’ generosity of spirit, despite their grief.
I am writing today because the Knesset is about to pass a law that would virtually pardon the Israeli authorities for having brought death to Ali and 1,345 other Palestinians (276 of them children) since the beginning of the intifada, and to the many thousands of others who were injured. This is the so-called Compensations Bill.
The Compensations Bill denies compensation to Palestinians injured by Israeli security forces in the Occupied Territories on the grounds that the Israeli forces stationed there were engaged in “combatant activity”. This protects them from civil damage suits.
If this law passes, civilians who were negligently maimed, either in the past or the future, will not receive money for medical care, nor will the families of those killed be allowed to sue in civil courts. Even scarier, Israeli forces will hear the message that they will not be held accountable for future human rights violations of this nature in the Occupied Territories.
Although many human rights organizations around the world (and a coalition of seven in Israel) have vehemently protested the bill, the Knesset is likely to pass it because of the money it would save the government. Indeed, many members of the Labor Party are supporters of the bill, including Ehud Barak.
What can you do? Pressure from individuals – inside and outside Israel – is often a significant factor. If you would take a minute to write a brief fax, or use the example below, we believe the Knesset would ease the terms of this brutal legislation.
Ali’s parents deserve a better response from the Israeli government to the killing of their son.
