Israeli forces have killed a Palestinian couple and two of their children as they drove in the occupied West Bank, according to the Palestinian health authorities, with the Israeli military saying the incident is under review.
Ali Khaled Bani Odeh, 37, his 35-year-old wife Waad, and two of their children – Mohammad and Othman, aged five and seven, respectively – were shot in the head in the village of Tammun on Sunday. Two of their other children were wounded by shrapnel, according to Palestinian health authorities.
Speaking to the Reuters news agency at the hospital, Khaled, 12, one of the two surviving boys, said he heard his mother crying, his father praying, but no voice of any of his other brothers before silence prevailed after shots sprayed the car.
“We came under direct fire; we didn’t know the source. Everyone in the car was martyred, except my brother Mustafa and me,” the boy said.
He said soldiers, who pulled him out of the vehicle before beating him, shouted: “We killed dogs.”
Yeah, it’s not okay to commit atrocities on war criminals, or any other criminals, either. There are more humane ways to kill people if that’s what is going to be done. Torturing them before or during isn’t necessary or helpful.
I’m more than okay with using necessary force to deal with bad actors. But do you honestly think if you say to Putin or Netanyahu, “If you don’t stop we’re going to strip you of wealth, power and freedom,” is going to have noticeably less impact than saying, “If you don’t stop we’re going to strip you of wealth, power and freedom, as well as torture you when we kill you?”
As for the German surrender, 1.5 million Axis soldiers surrendered in a single month before Germany surrendered. 800k German soldiers surrendered in the four months prior to Germany’s surrender. How likely do you think that would have been if word got out (and it would) that surrender led to summary execution, let alone torture?
Again, I’ve never said force, war, or death aren’t options for dealing with atrocities. I said atrocities shouldn’t be. And atrocities start with dehumanizing your enemies.