Why Didn’t The IDF Just Shoot The Truck Out Of The Driver’s Hands?

By Ken Roth, Human Rights Watch

The attack today on civilians in Jerusalem was terrible, of course, but that does not excuse Israeli soldiers from using excessive force in neutralizing the Palestinian driver. Instead of riddling him with bullets as he drove into the crowd of youths, they should have shot the truck out of his hand.

This profligate use of force by Israeli security personnel must end. I say this not to justify the alleged murders, which by the way took place on what the international community accepts as illegally occupied territory, and I am going to bring up that point at every opportunity, all the while insisting it is immaterial to the event, which of course the illegal occupation does not justify. But keep it in mind anyway.

Anyone who has been exposed to films about gun use has encountered the practice of shooting a weapon out of an attacker’s hand. It is disingenuous to argue that Israeli army and police cannot incorporate such skills in their training and engagement procedures. The fact that they have not done so raises suspicions that they care little for the human rights of a man driving a truck into a crowd, an act that I will not attempt to justify by reminding you all that Palestinians are under occupation. You just remember that on your own.

The conviction last week of an Israeli soldier in the shooting death of a disarmed and wounded Palestinian attacker further demonstrates my point. In that case, as well, if, as claimed by the soldier’s defenders and advocates, there was concern whether the disarmed man was wearing or carrying explosives, why didn’t the IDF soldier just shoot the explosives off of the man, instead of shooting him in the head? You could hardly ask for a clearer indication of this problematic dynamic than the events of the last several days. Also, remember this occurred in an area occupied by Israel since 1967.

Human Rights Watch has been calling out such Israeli disregard for human life for ages. Under my aegis, the organization has never let an incident pass without our censure, unless those incidents do not involve Israel, which, I need not remind you but will anyway, currently occupies Palestinian territory, but of course that cannot justify murder, if in fact this is a case of murder, since we do not have all the facts, and I just thought that pertinent.

Please support our work through Patreon.