Why is the UN telling Palestinians to protect their occupiers?

A Palestinian holding a sign denouncing “security coordination” between Israeli occupation forces and the Palestinian Authority takes part in a Land Day protest near Ofer prison in the occupied West Bank on 30 March.Hamza ShalashAPA images

Ali Abunimah-4 April 2016

Last week, the office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights said it was “extremely concerned” about the apparent extrajudicial execution of a Palestinian youth by an Israeli soldier.

But the statement left me wondering why the UN body also expects Palestinians to protect the army that is occupying them and helping Israeli settlers steal their land.

Abd al-Fattah al-Sharif and Ramzi al-Qasrawi, both 21, were shot dead after Hebron on the morning of 24 March.

allegedly stabbing a soldier, who was lightly injured, in the West Bank city of

A video filmed by a human rights worker showed an Israeli soldier, later identified as Elor Azarya, aiming his rifle and shooting al-Sharif in the head as he was lying on the ground injured and incapacitated.

With depressing predictability, Israeli leaders and the general public have rallied around Azarya, many hailing him as a hero.

Azarya, who is facing charges of manslaughter – downgraded from murder – has been ordered freed on bail.

Unanswered questions

Rupert Colville, the spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Prince Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, called for a “prompt, thorough, transparent and independent investigation” into the slaying of al-Sharif and other killings in similar circumstances.

“A major concern is that such cases appear not to have been systematically subjected to criminal investigations,” Colville stated.

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