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Israeli Navy Awards Unit Responsible for Killing Nablus Professor and his Son
Family of Professor Khaled Salah is Still Demanding Justice from US officials

(APRIL 10, 2005) – According to a recent article in the Jerusalem Post, the Israeli Navy has just given commendations to members of a military unit for their `bravery' in Nablus during a mission in which serious breaches of the IVth Geneva Conventions were perpetrated. The July 6 2004 incident included the cold-blooded sniper killings of An-Najah National University Professor Khaled Salah, a US resident, and his 16-year old son Mohammad.

We call on people of good conscience to read the following description of the incident, consult the attached links, and follow the concrete steps at the bottom of this email to lodge protest against such an outrageous insult to the people of Nablus and to the Salah family. It is imperative that these war crimes be investigated and dealt with appropriately and not be allowed to be passed-over in silence.

The operation in question, conducted in the pre-dawn hours of July 6, involved the use of Israeli helicopter gunships, missiles, tanks, APCs, and armored jeeps deployed to the `jabaal shamali' (north mountain) in Nablus. The raid included participation by the Shayatet-13 commando unit (the ones rewarded last week for their participation in the mission). Two PFLP activists were also killed by this unit on that night. According to eye-witnesses in the neighborhood one of the PFLP militants killed in the operation, Yamin Ali Farj, was extra-judicially executed by the commandoes while trying to surrender after having sustained injuries. Following the raid Israeli military bulldozers demolished the homes of both PFLP activists in Beit Furik village, leaving dozens homeless, as well as the building in Nablus in which the militants were holed up during the raid. Due to the intense military response in such a heavily populated civilian location, many of the surrounding buildings also sustained considerable damage, including the Salah home.

It should be noted that Prof. Salah and his son were killed after the cessation of hostilities between the Israeli military and the local armed resistance. Furthermore, according to the family and medical volunteers on the scene that night, Dr. Salah's son Mohammed died because Israeli military officials refused to allow medical personnel access to the boy, who lay bleeding on the floor of the family home. The killings of Dr. Salah and his son constitute a willful, deliberate and disproportionate use of force by the Israeli military – and in particular by the Shayatet-13 commandoes – against Palestinian civilians. According to a Press Release that was issued the day of the assault by the Palestinian Ministry of Education, "Such [murderous Israeli] attacks on our communities have, since September 2000, caused the death of 34 educators and 696 students."

An-Najah National University also issued a statement the day of the killing which "appeals to the international community's associations, local and international human rights [organizations] as well as…academic institutions all over the world to put pressure on the Israeli government to stop such aggressions against Palestinian citizens." During a press conference held by the surviving victims of the Salah family, the daughter Diana ended her testimony with the following assertion: "If I am Palestinian they will kill me...If I am an American they will kill me…should I be Jewish to be safe?"

According to a recent article by Genevieve Cora Fraser, of the Birzeit University Right to Education Project, Amr Salah, the eldest son in the family who is currently living in the United States, called for international solidarity with the family and demanded that the US government investigate the incident. Despite a call placed to the US consulate the night of the attack, neither Consul General David Pearce nor any other US diplomatic officials have investigated the Israeli military's targeting of a family with US resident and citizenship status. The family has asked that a direct appeal be made to the State Department and the US Consul General in Jerusalem demanding that US officials investigate this incident and that they censure the Israeli Navy for rewarding war-crimes.

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For further information on the case of Prof. Khaled Salah please consult the following sources:

An-Najah Mourns Passing of Prof. Khalid Salah (An-Najah University Website)
http://www.najah.edu/khalid_salah/khalid_eng.htm

`Death in a Cemetery' (Gideon Levy, Ha'aretz - 23 July 2004)
http://www.fromoccupiedpalestine.org/node.php?id=1355

Demand US State Department Investigate Israel's Killing of an An-Najah University Professor (Genevieve Cora Fraser, Birzeit University – 4 March 2005)
http://right2edu.birzeit.edu/news/article267

Blog entries by an ISM volunteer who was in Nablus during the killings (July 2004):
http://intothemiddleeast.civiblog.org/blog/_archives/2004/7/7/104352.html
http://intothemiddleeast.civiblog.org/blog/_archives/2004/7/18/115254.html

The Jerusalem Post article on the commendations for the unit can be found at the following URL:
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1112494794483

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1) All letters should be sent to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to request a formal investigation into the killing of Dr. Kahled Salah and his son Mohammed Salah. Letters should be addressed to:

Attn: Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice
U.S. Department of State
2201 C St. NW
Washington, DC 20520

The State Department can also be contacted by phone +1 (202) 647-4000 and email: http://contacts.state.gov/ask_form_cat/ask_form_secretary.html

2) Letters and petitions requesting that Secretary of State Rice conduct a formal investigation should also be sent to US Senators and Congressmen, heads of state and legislators throughout the world and by contacting the USA's Jerusalem Consul General:

Attn: Consul General David Pearce
P.O. Box 290
Jerusalem 91002
Email: jerusalemACS@state.gov

-AND-

The US Office of Israeli and Palestinian Affairs
Email: nea-ipa@state.gov

3) Statements should also be prepared and directed to the Israeli Navy, condemning them for awarding the behavior of Shayatet-13 Commandoes during an operation in which serious breaches of the IVth Geneva Convention were made. The Israeli Navy can be reached at:

Attn: Major General David Ben-Ba'shat
Israeli Navy Head
Public relations department
IDF Spokesman
Millitary Post 01025
Fax number: 972-3- 6080343
Email: info@mail.idf.il

- OR -

Israeli Navy Contact Page (in Hebrew), which can be found at the following URL:
http://www1.idf.il/NAVY/Site/Templates/controller.asp?lang=HE&fid=44028&cp=1

This is more of an information page for potential candidates. But it is still possible to register complaints and will probably be passed on if they receive a substantial number of these (after all, there is an "other" category in the topic field...)

Instructions:

Fill in just the mandatory fields, with the little red square. They
are, in order:

1. Topic (White Field: choose the bottom option in the menu)
2. First Name (yellow field)
3. Last Name (yellow field)
4. email (yellow field)
5. School Year (choose the top option, which means "unrelated to
conscription")
6. Larger box for content

- AND ALSO -

Shaul Mofaz
Minister of defence
Tel - 03-6976663
Fax - 03-6976218
Email -  sar@mod.gov.il.

Moshe Yaalon
Chief of Staff
Kaplan St.
Tel-Aviv
Fax: 03-5695594

Please when writing/calling these officials make sure to condemn the permissive attitude towards war-crimes in the IDF and demand that the Navy launch a full investigation into the incident and that the perpetrators of this atrocity be held to account.