***

Three soldiers pounce on a shepherd sitting outside his sheep pen. They knock him over and then one of them shoots him to death at point-blank range. Fakher Jaber, a father of four, was suspected of involvement in an incident that probably never happened

On the last day of his life, two and a half weeks ago, the shepherd and his wife got up at 5:30 A.M., as usual, and immediately went out together to milk the ewes. With their flock of 120 sheep, their work is never done. Maryam recalls now that they didn’t manage to eat breakfast before the daily Ramadan fast began. After about two hours they finished milking. Fakher took the sheep out to graze and she began to make cheese from the milk, which they sell in Nablus to help make their living.

After he returned the sheep to their pen, Fakher sat down near it, removed the Quran from his pocket and began to read from it. Maryam finished making dinner. She remembers that everything was normal and relatively peaceful that afternoon, in this beleaguered community, living under the constant threat of invasions by settlers. Suddenly Maryam heard shouting. She rushed outside and saw three Israelis in uniform yelling at and wrestling with her husband. One of the men was masked, which led her to believe that they were settlers – of the type that frequently assault the shepherding communities, graze their livestock on the residents’ lands and water their flocks from their wells.

  • dan1101@lemm.eeEnglish
    61·
    7 months ago

    The quoted article is a bit short on details of what the shepherd was supposed to have done.

    • melpomenesclevage@lemm.eeEnglish
      101·
      7 months ago

      Because it probably never even happened.

      Do you really still care about their made up pretense?

      Could their possibly be any excuse for what they’re doing other than what they’re doing and nobody else is?

    • Cosmic Cleric@lemmy.worldEnglish
      8·
      7 months ago

      The quoted article is a bit short on details of what the shepherd was supposed to have done.

      Not sure if you mean to warrant an investigation by the three troops, or to trigger the actual shooting.

      If it’s the actual shooting, from the article (highlighted parts)…

      The panicked Maryam and her children watched Fakher, who was on the ground. According to B’Tselem field researcher Salma a-Deb’i, who investigated the case, he grabbed a stone, evidently for self defense. It never left his hand. To his family’s horror, one of the troops pointed his rifle at Fakher – a man probably the age of that soldier’s father, laying on the ground. No fewer than three bullets were fired directly into the shepherd’s body. Maryam screamed in terror and apparently fainted. The eldest son, Qusay, tried coming to his father’s aid but the soldiers threatened to shoot him too. Little Ibrahim also saw his father slain before his eyes. “My father is gone, my father is gone,” the boy shouted, again and again.

      • Knock_Knock_Lemmy_In@lemmy.worldEnglish
        13·
        7 months ago

        “Following receipt of a report of the assault of an Israeli boy by two Palestinians near the Gitit roadblock on March 19, forces from the Jordan Valley Brigade rushed to the scene. A disturbance involving some 30 Palestinians developed, which included throwing of stones at the forces. The troops acted to disperse the disturbance and fired at one of the suspects. A hit was detected. The circumstances of the incident are under review.”

        https://archive.is/qLqQB

    • Linkerbaan@lemmy.worldOPEnglish
      94·
      7 months ago

      It’s West Bank colonists that israel now employs as soldiers to terrorize Palestinians. They make up any story they want and the IDF will claim it as the truth and declare the soldiers innocent