GENOCIDE

Video shows that Israeli security forces were responsible for the
murder of
Kurdish demonstrators
by Stefan Steinberg

World Socialist Web-site (http://www.wsws.org)
Four Kurdish demonstrators, including an 18-year-old young woman, were
killed and up to 12 others severely wounded by Israeli security forces
during a picket of the Israeli Embassy in Berlin on February 17. The
group
of predominantly young Kurds was protesting the abduction of PKK leader
Abdulah Öcalan who had been arrested two days earlier. Immediately
following
the shooting a number of contradictory reports emerged.
The Israeli ambassador spoke of the embassy being besieged by a mob of
up to
200 demonstrators, some armed with iron bars and axes, who violently
broke
down the doors and forcibly entered the building. According to the
ambassador, two Israeli security officers shot in self-defence, inside
the
embassy, in order to protect staff and property. He said one "warning
shot"
was directed at protesters outside the building. An internal inquiry
organised by the embassy cleared its entire staff of any untoward
action.
The Israeli government officially supported this position. Two days
after
the incident both of the officials involved in the shooting were flown
back
to Israel.
The Israeli version of events was partially undermined by a police
report
released at the beginning of May which declared that in fact the
demonstrators had been let into the building by an Israeli security
official
who then proceeded to shoot in self defence at the crowd, with some of
the
shots landing outside the building. Seven police officers testified
that up
to 30 shots had been fired outside the building and the police had
recovered
many empty cartridges. The implication at that time was that the police
themselves feared they could become victims in the shoot-out. At the
same
time, the police version emphasised that some of the demonstrators were
armed with metal bars and axes and confirmed that the Israeli officials
had
reacted to a situation of emergency.
Last Thursday night, however, the newsmagazine Kontraste, broadcast on
one
of Germany's main television channels, played a police video that quite
clearly shows that the Israeli security forces were responsible for a
massacre.
The video shows a tightly-knit group of about 20 Kurds standing on the
steps
of the embassy, waiting with their backs to the door. Two of the group
are
seen holding branches from a tree. There is no sign of axes, metal bars
or
any other weapons. Suddenly there is the sound of pistol shots, with up
to
11 rounds fired. The origin of the shots is not visible but a number of
the
Kurds tumble down the stairs, having been shot in the back. The
Kontraste
magazine concludes that during this brief exchange three of the Kurds,
including 18-year-old Sema Alp, died on the spot in the hail of
gunfire. In
all accounts of the incident by police and the Israelis up until now,
Sema
Alp had been shot inside the building.
As the shots ring out the video shows a number of the Kurds fleeing in
panic
down the stairs, leaving dead and wounded behind them. As they run into
the
gardens of the embassy they are met with tear gas thrown by police who
had
limited themselves, up to that point, to observing and filming the
Kurdish
protesters.
Why a police video has been released to the media at this point is not
clear. A few days before the showing of the video, the tape of a
telephone
conversation between the President of the Police in Berlin, Hagen
Saberschinsky and the Berlin Interior Secretary Böse directly after the
arrest of Öcalan was also made publicly available. In the course of the
conversation Saberschinsky makes a dismissive comment in reply to
Böse's
request for extra security for the Israeli Embassy. Saberschinsky was
due to
testify last Friday at a Berlin Senate inquiry into the events.
The indications are that the release of the tape-recorded telephone
call and
the police video are part of a conflict inside the state apparatus
itself.
Irrespective of such differences, the video shown on Thursday makes
quite
clear that Israeli security forces were responsible for the
cold-blooded
murder of Kurdish protesters and that the massacre was covered up by
the
dissembling and misleading reports subsequently given by the Berlin
police.
http://www.kurdstruggle.org/international/articles/june1.html

June 1, 1999 " We are willing to accept lies
if
they make our lives easier. " Producer from the TV
series
"People's Century", opining on why Americans tolerate unjust and
inhumane
U.S. government policies, at home and abroad

arch/ive/ief (2000 - 2005)