Friday, September 18, 1998
Palestinian teen killed in drive-by
Details from Associated Press

EITUNIA, West Bank-- A Palestinian teenager on his way home from school with his classmates was killed and another boy was seriously wounded by a group of Jewish settlers who opened fire from a car on the high school students heading home from class.

The teenager's fatal shooting occurred in the West Bank village of Beitunia. A 35-year-old man from a Jewish settlement in the area turned himself in to the police. The two teenagers, both wounded in the stomach, were taken to a hospital, where 17-year-old Iyad Hashem later died. The second boy was in serious condition.

This is the second case of Jews murdering Arabs this week. Both incidents have occurred as President Clinton's peace envoy, Dennis B. Ross, is in the region continuing efforts at ending months of stalling by Israel over the long-overdue troop withdrawal required by the Olso Agreement.. The earlier murders were the executions by the Israeli Army of two Hammas leaders suspected of terrorism. These murders have resulted in threats by Hammas of renewed suicide bombings against Israeli civilians.

This week's repeated instances of murder, along with the Israeli Security Forces' use of excessive violence against stone-throwing youths and the closing off of the West Bank and Gaza, contradict the often-repeated claims by Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu that Israel suffers from a lack of security. It appears that it is the Palestinians who need protection from the Jews.