Activists Blast IDF For Shooting Down Iranian Drone Instead Of Granting Asylum

“This is a violation of the drone’s human rights,” declared Amnesty International.

Credit Amirhosseinrostamy75ir via Wikimedia Commons

Tel Aviv, February 12 – Advocates of offering full residential rights to illegal migrants criticized the Israeli military today for shooting down an Iranian unmanned vehicle Saturday, arguing that the aircraft should have been given all the legal protections due someone escaping oppression to another country.

Activists demonstrating and petitioning on behalf of tens of thousands of Africans who entered the country by unlawful means made similar contentions in the case of the Iranian drone, and claimed that the military violated its rights by shooting it down from an Apache attack helicopter instead of providing it with free housing, food, medical care, and jobs.

“Those who come to Israel undocumented do so for various reasons,” explained Mista Nenn, who holds weekly rallies in South Tel Aviv on behalf of Eritrean, Sudanese, and other migrants whom Israel seeks to deport. “They are looking for a better life – some because the economy in their native country is dismal, and some because they face persecution if they return. In the case of this drone, we will never know, because the military, typically, shot first and won’t even ask the questions later.”

“This is a violation of the drone’s human rights,” declared Amnesty International. “While not every undocumented migrant is a refugee, all must be provided the opportunity to apply for asylum, and plainly, that opportunity was not provided here. We call on the international community to take measures that ensure Israel respects the rights of of all foreign aircraft, especially those that might be escaping the carnage in Syria.”

The activists plan to hold a rally tomorrow to protest the shooting down of the drone. “The government cannot violate these norms with impunity,” charged Nenn. “They must be held to account. The people have grown tired of the trampling of humanitarian norms by Bibi and his Likud and fanatic right-wing cronies, and we will put a stop to it once and for all. The people are against Bibi, they just don’t realize it, and we have to force them to realize it by whatever means necessary. Democracy demands it.”

Other activists have launched an initiative to shelter other potential drones from authorities seeking to deport them or shoot them down. “These vulnerable craft need our protection from the fascists in power,” asserted Meretz MK Ilan Gilon. “I call on Israelis of conscience to open their homes to any Iranian drones they encounter, and to shield them from the clutches of the enemies of freedom now in the government.”

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