Israeli border policeman Ben Deri has been sentenced to just nine months in prison for ‘negligent homicide’ after shooting dead 16-year-old Nadim Nuwara on Nakba Day four years ago, in 2014.
Under a plea deal, Deri was today ordered to pay 50,000 shekels ($13,960) in compensation for Nuwara’s death, and will only serve seven months in prison as the sentence includes time served.
16 year old #NadimNuwara was Shot by #Israel from behind, bullet went thru his backpack into his heart. His crime? pic.twitter.com/0dFlgSEOph
— Malice (@malicemagic) June 1, 2014
Nadim and another Palestinian teenager, Mohammed Abu Daher, were killed during an unarmed Nakba Day protest on May 15, 2014, in the Palestinian town of Beitunia, near Ramallah.
After a video of the shooting emerged, clearly showing Israeli occupation forces targeting unarmed teenagers, who didn’t pose a threat, the US State Department called for the incident to be investigated.
The prosecution also noted that Deri “has expressed no regret and taken no responsibility”.
Few soldiers face repercussions of any kind; last year the Israeli military police announced that an army officer who opened fire on a car of Palestinian civilians returning from a swimming trip, killing a 15-year-old boy, would face no charges.
"The Israeli soldier and army officer who opened fire on a car full of teenagers coming home from an evening at the pool in the summer of 2016, killing a 15-year-old boy, will face no criminal charges" https://t.co/HZobaSNWnF via @972mag
— Natasha Roth (@NatashaRoth01) January 20, 2018
Siam Nuwara, the father of the victim, said that he wasn’t surprised by what he defines as a ‘ridiculous’ sentence.
“If Nadim had been the one to have killed Ben Deri, and if he had negligently killed him, would the court have treated Nadim the same way it has been treating Deri?”,
Nuwara’s father told the court earlier this year.
On the right the #Palestinian child #AhmedManasra, who was convicted by the court of trying to stab an Israeli settler, sentenced for 12yrs. he didn't kill, stab, or scratch anyone.
On the left an Israeli soldier killed PA student Nadim Nawara. school sentenced to 9 months. pic.twitter.com/l8t0wb7IEU— Shehab News (@ShehabAgencyEn) April 25, 2018
“It’s interesting that the boy Ahmed Mansara, who was convicted, gets 13 years in prison,” said Nuwara, referring to a 14-year-old Palestinian boy who was sentenced to 12 years in prison (then reduced to nine-and-a-half years by the Supreme Court), for allegedly trying to stab a Jewish settler.
(MEMO, PC, Social Media)
