From: Gila Svirsky <gsvirsky@netvision.net.il
To: Gila Svirsky <gsvirsky@netvision.net.il
February 13, 2001
Friends,
Over 4 years ago, in November 1996, a Palestinian boy named Hilmi was
killed. He was 10 years old at the time, and he was killed because
he and a couple friends were out on the road throwing stones at a car that
drove by. It was Hilmi's bad fortune that the car they chose to stone
was driven by a settler named Nahum Korman, who decided to show these Palestinians
that they couldn't get away with throwing stones at him. He chased
the boys up the hillside and finally caught up with Hilmi, the slowest.
Using the butt of his gun and well-aimed kicks, Korman beat the boy into
unconsciousness and then death.
I remember the condolence call to the home of Hilmi's family, together
with a group of Israeli peace activists. After sipping the traditional
bitter coffee outdoors, the women were led indoors and upstairs to a room
where a large photo of Hilmi had been hung on the wall. The photo
showed a boy of slight build, small brown eyes staring out, not comprehending
the sudden turn of events or the room full of women milling around awaiting
his mother's appearance. She entered the room also looking bewildered,
with red eyes and a very used tissue in her fist. She said nothing,
knowing no Hebrew. We all stood there for a long moment, knowing
no Arabic, wondering how to express ourselves to her. Suddenly, one
of the women approached her, took her hand, and kissed her on both cheeks.
Then each woman walked over to her, some embraced her, some kissed her,
some grasped her hands and stared intently into her eyes.
Afterwards, we sat down on the plastic stools in the room and listened
to her as she spoke in Arabic describing the terrible tragedy. A
family member interpreted for us. As she spoke, a young girl, a toddler,
perhaps 3 years old then, would not leave her side or her lap. This
is the sick child, explained the cousin -- the one who needs the bone marrow
transplant -- and Hilmi was the only match that was found. Oh my
god, we gasped. Never mind, said the cousin in that way that 'never
mind' is used to understate enormous woe in the Middle East. The
doctors can still use the bone marrow from Hilmi's body. 'Thank god'
seemed wanting.
Today, 4 years after this brutal killing, the protracted court proceedings
of Nahum Korman finally came to an end. It took years not because
the case was so complex, but because the court found Korman not guilty,
for insufficient evidence. Not that Korman denied kicking and striking
the boy with his gun, but that the judge felt that the coroner had not
proved beyond a doubt that Hilmi had died from the blows, and not from
a prior, unknown condition. This shocked the legal community sufficiently
so that the case was appealed to the Supreme Court, which ultimately did
find Korman guilty. The problem is, the Supreme Court returned the
case to the lower court for sentencing. Same courtroom, same judge
-- Ruth Orr. And suddenly a plea bargain was struck (why was a plea
bargain necessary at all?) and the sentence agreed upon was 6 months of
community service and $17,000 in 'damages' to be paid to Hilmi's parents.
Six months and $17,000. Is this the price of a Palestinian boy's
life?
A group of us -- organized by Rabbis for Human Rights, B'Tselem, the
Committee Against Torture, and Defence for Children International (Israel
chapter) -- protested outside the court today, holding signs that decried
the discrimination of the system. Some of us entered the courtroom
to hear the final stage of this sentence -- where the 'community service'
would be done. As the judge ended the hearing, two of our group unfurled
pictures of Hilmi and held them up for Korman to see. He didn't look,
and the police quickly confiscated the pictures. I shouted "How does
it feel to kill a child?" to Korman, but he didn't look at me either.
And then I shouted "Great judging, your honor" to the judge, and was ushered
out.
The Israeli court system has an abysmal record on prosecuting Israeli
settlers who harm Palestinians in the territories. To quote a B'Tselem
report about this very subject, "The [Israeli] authorities have adopted
an undeclared policy of absolution, compromise, and mitigation for Israeli
civilians who harm Palestinians." Recent settler violence, unpunished,
is a violent reminder that this is true.
Tonight, the man who killed Hilmi is sleeping soundly in his own home.
Hilmi's parents are not sleeping as well. And should Judge Orr have
a fitful night of sleep herself, I encourage her to open her bible to Exodus
16:19-20 and ponder the words "You shall not pervert justice; you
shall not show partiality...Justice, and only justice, shall you pursue."
And these words end "that you may live and inherit the land which the Lord
your God gives you." That connection is worth thinking about.
Bilal Ramadan, a 14-year-old from Gaza, was killed at 11 am this morning
with a bullet to the heart.
Gila Svirsky
Jerusalem