Israeli soldiers who detained 80-year-old Omar Assad at a checkpoint in his West Bank hometown of Jiljilya will not be prosecuted in an international court, as Palestinian leaders had called for. Assad’s tragic encounter with the soldiers resulted in his death, leaving Palestinian officials demanding justice.
Israel’s Military Advocate General, the chief legal body of the Israeli army, announced on Tuesday that the soldiers involved would only face disciplinary measures, rather than criminal charges. This decision has sparked outrage and frustration among those seeking accountability for the incident.
According to a Palestinian autopsy, Assad, a former resident of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, had a history of heart problems and suffered a cardiac arrest caused by stress, likely resulting from the rough treatment he endured at the hands of the Israeli soldiers. The soldiers had stopped Assad at the checkpoint, forcibly dragging him from his car, binding and blindfolding him, and leaving him unresponsive on the ground overnight.
An Israeli military investigation revealed that the soldiers assumed Assad was asleep when they removed the cable binding his hands, failing to offer him medical assistance despite his critical condition. Shockingly, they left him lying on the ground without checking if he was still alive. Assad was later discovered dead in the early morning, with a plastic zip-tie still around one wrist.
While Israeli investigators acknowledged the soldiers’ misconduct and recognized that their actions did not meet the expected standards, they claimed that no causal link was found between the soldiers’ errors and Assad’s death. The decision not to prosecute the soldiers was based on this assertion, alongside the argument that they were unaware of Assad’s preexisting medical condition.
In response to the news, Nawaf Assad, Omar’s brother living in Virginia, expressed his lack of surprise and criticized Israel for evading accountability. He believed that the soldiers’ actions were criminal, highlighting the perceived impunity of Israeli forces.
This case, along with the killing of Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, another US citizen, has ignited outrage within Arab-American communities. The failure of the US President Joe Biden administration to hold Israel accountable and its unwavering support for the country have been significant points of contention. Arab-Americans have called for justice, expressing frustration over the unequal treatment of American citizens and the need for equal protection and rights.
The decision not to file charges in Omar Assad’s case has renewed concerns about the Israeli military’s treatment of Palestinians. A report by Israeli rights group Yesh Din revealed that Israeli forces were prosecuted in less than 1 percent of the hundreds of complaints filed against them for alleged offenses against Palestinians. Even in rare cases where soldiers were convicted, the sentences were exceptionally lenient, suggesting a systemic reluctance to address crimes committed by soldiers against Palestinians.
American Muslims for Palestine, a Washington, DC-based advocacy group, took to social media to express their disappointment with the Israeli investigation. They stated that a government involved in criminal acts cannot be trusted to prosecute its own crimes, emphasizing the need for independent and impartial accountability mechanisms.