This symbolic gesture, of course, is not the same thing as actual punishment. Until the Israeli Government actually prosecutes the practitioners of this illegal activity, they stand in tacit acceptance of it.
IDF commander rebuked over 'human shield procedure'
Brigadier General Yair Golan faces freeze in promotion following investigation on use of Palestinian civilians
Hanan Greenberg Published: 10.18.07, 21:32 / Israel News
IDF Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Gabi Ashkenazi decided on Thursday evening to rebuke the commander of former West Bank Division, Brigadier General Yair Golan, and to freeze his promotion, due to the findings of a Military Police investigation launched following various reports of the use the 'human shield procedure' in the West Bank.
During the procedure, Palestinians are asked to try and convince neighboring suspected terrorists to give themselves up.
Golan was a leading candidate to soon receive the rank of major general, and he was linked with the role of the prime minister's military secretary. But his promotion was put on hold until the investigation ends.
The investigation is focused on operation 'Hot Winter' carried out by the IDF in Nablus in April 2007. Investigators are checking to see whether soldiers used Palestinian civilians as human shields. A video clip from the Associated Press shows soldiers leading a Palestinian to a home with their weapons pointed at him.
Military Police investigators attempted to see whether senior officers in the Central Command, and perhaps higher up, authorized the use of the procedure despite knowing that the IDF had forbidden it.
The IDF Military Advocate General, Brigadier General Avi Mandelblit, decided that there was no basis for submitting a charge against Golan, but materials collected during the investigation suggested that as commander of forces in the area, failures did occur under his watch, including the use of the 'human shield procedure'.
The procedure was outlawed by the High Court, a decision also adopted by the IDF.
Golan today serves in a temporary position as project manager in the IDF's operational branch.
www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3461591,00.html
Top IDF officer censured over use of 'human shields' in Nablus
By Amos Harel, Haaretz Correspondent
Israel Defense Forces Brigadier-General Yair Golan was censured on Thursday for allowing soldiers to use Palestinian civilians as "human shields" during military operations in the West Bank.
IDF Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi decided to reprimand Golan - who formerly served as commander of forces in the West Bank - following a probe by the IDF's criminal investigation division into the army's use of human shields during raids in the town of Nablus.
Golan was the most senior officer to be questioned in the probe, which the army launched last March after IDF soldiers were filmed forcing a young Palestinian man at gunpoint to lead them from house to house during an arrest sweep in Nablus.
The army said in a statement that Golan would be passed over for promotion for at least the next nine months.
In a landmark 2005 decision, Israel's Supreme Court banned the use of
Palestinian civilians as human shields in general, and specifically outlawed taking Palestinian civilians on searches. Before the decision, the army would often have Palestinian civilians knock on the doors of houses where militants were believed to be hiding and ask them to surrender.
The army said the practice - known as the neighbor procedure - prevented
violence by encouraging militants to give themselves up. But in August 2002, a 19-year-old Palestinian student was killed in a gunfight that erupted after he was forced to knock on the door of a building where a Hamas fugitive was hiding.
Since the Supreme Court decision, Palestinians have accused the army of
continuing the practice, but proof was elusive. Human rights groups say the use of civilians in military operations has dropped sharply since the Supreme Court ban, but has not disappeared.
The Israeli rights group B'tselem, which monitors human rights violations in the West Bank, on Thursday praised the army's decision to reprimand Golan.
"We welcome the fact that the army took this seriously and investigated the case and took action," B'tselem spokeswoman Sarit Michaeli said. "Golan was a senior officer who broke the law, and we hope that this will send a message to officers that they cannot give orders like this to soldiers."
www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/914568.html
Brigadier General Yair Golan faces freeze in promotion following investigation on use of Palestinian civilians
Hanan Greenberg Published: 10.18.07, 21:32 / Israel News
IDF Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Gabi Ashkenazi decided on Thursday evening to rebuke the commander of former West Bank Division, Brigadier General Yair Golan, and to freeze his promotion, due to the findings of a Military Police investigation launched following various reports of the use the 'human shield procedure' in the West Bank.
During the procedure, Palestinians are asked to try and convince neighboring suspected terrorists to give themselves up.
Golan was a leading candidate to soon receive the rank of major general, and he was linked with the role of the prime minister's military secretary. But his promotion was put on hold until the investigation ends.
The investigation is focused on operation 'Hot Winter' carried out by the IDF in Nablus in April 2007. Investigators are checking to see whether soldiers used Palestinian civilians as human shields. A video clip from the Associated Press shows soldiers leading a Palestinian to a home with their weapons pointed at him.
Military Police investigators attempted to see whether senior officers in the Central Command, and perhaps higher up, authorized the use of the procedure despite knowing that the IDF had forbidden it.
The IDF Military Advocate General, Brigadier General Avi Mandelblit, decided that there was no basis for submitting a charge against Golan, but materials collected during the investigation suggested that as commander of forces in the area, failures did occur under his watch, including the use of the 'human shield procedure'.
The procedure was outlawed by the High Court, a decision also adopted by the IDF.
Golan today serves in a temporary position as project manager in the IDF's operational branch.
www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3461591,00.html
Top IDF officer censured over use of 'human shields' in Nablus
By Amos Harel, Haaretz Correspondent
Israel Defense Forces Brigadier-General Yair Golan was censured on Thursday for allowing soldiers to use Palestinian civilians as "human shields" during military operations in the West Bank.
IDF Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi decided to reprimand Golan - who formerly served as commander of forces in the West Bank - following a probe by the IDF's criminal investigation division into the army's use of human shields during raids in the town of Nablus.
Golan was the most senior officer to be questioned in the probe, which the army launched last March after IDF soldiers were filmed forcing a young Palestinian man at gunpoint to lead them from house to house during an arrest sweep in Nablus.
The army said in a statement that Golan would be passed over for promotion for at least the next nine months.
In a landmark 2005 decision, Israel's Supreme Court banned the use of
Palestinian civilians as human shields in general, and specifically outlawed taking Palestinian civilians on searches. Before the decision, the army would often have Palestinian civilians knock on the doors of houses where militants were believed to be hiding and ask them to surrender.
The army said the practice - known as the neighbor procedure - prevented
violence by encouraging militants to give themselves up. But in August 2002, a 19-year-old Palestinian student was killed in a gunfight that erupted after he was forced to knock on the door of a building where a Hamas fugitive was hiding.
Since the Supreme Court decision, Palestinians have accused the army of
continuing the practice, but proof was elusive. Human rights groups say the use of civilians in military operations has dropped sharply since the Supreme Court ban, but has not disappeared.
The Israeli rights group B'tselem, which monitors human rights violations in the West Bank, on Thursday praised the army's decision to reprimand Golan.
"We welcome the fact that the army took this seriously and investigated the case and took action," B'tselem spokeswoman Sarit Michaeli said. "Golan was a senior officer who broke the law, and we hope that this will send a message to officers that they cannot give orders like this to soldiers."
www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/914568.html
