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| Lady Justice Holds Azarya's fate |
On March 3, 2017, the Ma'an News Agency
published an article titled "Israeli military court postpones Elor Azarya's prison sentence", which provided updates on the trial of an Israeli soldier
accused of murdering a Palestinian in cold blood. According to the New York
Times, Azarya was on duty at a checkpoint station in the city of Hebron in the
West Bank. While at the checkpoint two Palestinian nationalists approached and
stabbed an IDF soldier. In response, one of the nationalists was killed and the
other lay subdued face up on the pavement. The NY Times article goes on to say
that as the assailant, identified as Abdel Fattah al-Sharif, was lying on his
back, Azarya discharged his weapon into the al-Sharif’s head. This
incident, which occurred on March 24, 2016, was filmed and posted to YouTube,
and clearly shows Azarya shooting al-Sharif. This was after al-Sharif had
stabbed one of Azarya's fellow soldiers at a checkpoint in Hebron and was handcuffed on the ground., Now one year later after
deliberation from the Israeli military court, Ma'an reports that the 18-month
prison sentence which Azarya received will now be postponed while an appeal is
sought out by the defense. There seems to be a public support for Azarya by the
IDF, because approximately 90% of Israeli soldiers believe that Azarya should
be acquitted of the charges and released. Ma'an goes on to further say that the
general Israeli public does not share a similar opinion with the IDF, as only
47% of people felt that he should be acquitted. Members of al-Sharif’s family
called the preceding a “show trial”, as they felt that this was a way for the
Israeli military to publicly condemn the murder with a slap on the wrist, while
diverting public attention from the other more serious situations. This feeling
by al-Sharif’s family coincides with statistics from Ma’an, which states that
of the 109 cases of Palestinians being killed by Israeli forces, Azarya is the
only soldier on trial. According to an article from Ha'aretz, the judge
of the trial justified the prolonged sentencing based on the evidence provided
by saying that this was the first instance in which Azarya was faced with a
situation of terror. Ma'an also takes a concerted look at the viewpoints of the
family members of al-Sharif, who all agreed that the outcome of the trial thus
far was nothing more than expected due to the disparity and mistreatment
between the Israeli and Palestinian people. In an article from Independent
News, it is mentioned that high ranking police and military officials such as
the Jerusalem District Commander are advocating for the deaths of anyone who is
violent towards Jewish people.
Based on the information presented,
approximately 60% of the Ma’an article is factual, while the other 40% is
subjective. Ma'an cites the Human Rights Watch, which is a very well known and respected human rights activist
group. In these mentions, there are not only statistics on how many incidents
there were involving the deaths of Palestinians by Israeli soldiers, but also
statistics on how many of those soldiers were tried and of those, how many were
indicted. Ma'an also shares some personal testimonies al-Sharif's family, and
although they are opinions and not factual, they do help provide a critical
perspective on the events. One of the other more impactful sources that Ma'an
includes is the view of the judge who passed sentencing on Azarya, whose
statement reflects a feeling of leniency on the murder. This could be factual
based on information from the National Academic Press, which states that the response to crisis situations can be
varied based on personal preparedness to that situation. The information
provided had not only factually supported statements, but also several
subjective viewpoints of Palestinians that have been directly affected by
mistreatment from the Israelis.
My analysis on the article that was written by
the Ma'an staff can be summarized as a good mix between factual and subjective.
Ma'an does not seem to take a side when discussing the shooting committed by
Azarya or the sentencing that came down from the Israeli military court. The
writing team included a statement from al-Sharif’s family, while also providing
staggering statistics on the disparity between the Palestinians and Israeli
people. The shooting of al-Sharif, seems to highlight the division of not only
Israelis and Palestinians, but also the division between the Israeli
population. Although a majority of the IDF are in support of the violence
towards Palestinians, more than half of the Israeli general population believe
that this sort of violence should be condemned. Ma’an’s view on the Elor Azarya
shooting is one that uses facts in order to show the views of Palestinians on
the matter, and uses interviews to provide a sense of humanity. These
interviews show that although there may be conflict between ethnic groups, the
Palestinians are people and should not be subject to lawless behavior.
