By IBRAHIM Jaafar
An Israeli court has overruled the judgement of a Jewish settler filmed stoning Palestinian cars in Hebron, the occupied West Bank.
The Magistrate’s Court judge claimed that the decision was taken following a report by the probation officer claiming that the accused “takes responsibility for committing the crime”.
Instead of the regular punishment, the right-wing activist was sentenced to pay a compensation of 400 shekels ($112) to the two Palestinian car owners whose vehicles were vandalized.
Noam Federman, the settler activist and his son Oved had in 2014 “hurled rocks at parked Palestinian cars”, allegedly in response to having stones thrown at them by Palestinians.
As Israeli human rights group B’Tselem published video footage of the settlers’ attack, “the two were charged and Noam Federman was sentenced to 40 hours of community service”.
In the decision Monday, Judge Ilan Sela wrote: “The accused was almost a minor when he committed the crime…In this case, we should look at the future and not the past, and the convicted shall pay each of the owners of the cars 200 shekels.”
The judge added that from the report of the probation officer in the case, “one learns that the accused…would have acted otherwise today”, adding: “he explained his reasons for committing the crime, reasons that cannot be listed here in order to protect his privacy.”
The defendant’s attorney Itamar Ben Gvir – a notorious far-right activist – said: “The court undoubtedly took into consideration the circumstances surrounding the defendants’ heroic act of stopping their car and chasing a rock-thrower.”
While Palestinians can be shot to death or imprisoned by the Israeli soldiers for trowing stones, making a protest against oppression or resisting unjust demolition of there homes, the Israelis are free to oppress the Palestinians in their double standard laws, since they (Israelis) were always protected by the law or giving a light charges in rare circumstances.