ELOR AZARIA'S CRIME SHOULD NOT DEFINE THE ARMED FORCES OF ISRAEL! PART 1.

One of the biggest problem which contemporary societies are having to confront, is that of the predominantly men, who have been tasked with vital job or service of upholding the laws of their countries, behaving in unlawful ways and abusing and negating the very law which they should be upholding.

We have seen this being done on a significant scale in the United States, to the extent where it has provoked millions of people into demonstrating against police and state violence, and has also led to rioting. We have seen it over the years taking place in Britain, although not resulting in anything like the many cold-blooded execution of young black Americans by the police. 

The modus operandi of many within some of the police forces in the United States seem to be that of, 'we have guns and we are not afraid to use them as a first resort.'  Many American police officers, it seems, while resorting the professed fear of harm to themselves, as a justification to shoot and take the lives of other people, demonstrate an attitude which suggests that they do not sufficiently value the lives of others. They are too quick to take their lives.

And this leads me to the somewhat unseemly dilemma which many in the State of Israel are now debating and running the 'law and morality gauntlet' over.

A young Israeli soldier, Elor Azaria, has pointedly and coldly shot and killed a seriously wounded Palestinian man involved in a knife attack on Israeli citizens. Sgt. Azaria was a 19 year old medic in the Israeli army at the time of killing Abdel Fatteh al-Sharif. Being a Sgt., it might have been expected that Elor Azaria would have provided some leadership to the soldiers of lesser rank on how to deal appropriately  with a potentially heated situation. 

Being a medic, notwithstanding the fact that the badly injured man was one of the attackers, it might even have been expected that Sgt. Azaria's hypocratic oat and humanity might have kicked in, and moved him to examining the attacker and see what, if anything he could do for him. Not so on that unfortunately occasion, because, what Sgt. Azaria did, was to assume the role of judge and  executioner of al-Sheriff, by pointing his Army issued gun at his head and shooting him.

And, for having been the perpetrator of such a cold-blooded and cowardly act, Sgt. Azaria is being portrayed by his family and supporters as an "hero." So, what is it about Sgt. Elor Asaria and/or his action which could lead any reasonable human beings to characterise his killing of a man who might very well have died from the injuries he sustained, before he was shot in the head by 'our hero'? 

Is it that Abdel Fattah al-Sheriff was suffering too much and Azaria was concerned to put him out of his 'misery'? Probably not, considering that Azaria, based on the pictures I have seen of him, did not look like a young man feeling any remorse or contrition for his action. It has also been reported that that one of the Judges who heard the case noted that Azaria felt that Abdel Fattah deserved to die.

To be continued