PNN/ Ramallah/

PLO Executive Committee Member Dr. Hanan Ashrawi on Wednesday described the Israeli court sentencing of Israeli border policeman Ben Dery who murdered unarmed Palestinian teenager Nadeem Nuwara in cold blood on May 15, 2014, was ludicrous.

“It is ludicrous that Palestinian child Ahed Tamimi who confronted an Israeli solider who invaded her home in the occupied West Bank has been forced to serve eight months in an Israeli jail cell. Meanwhile, Israeli border policeman Ben Dery who shot and murdered unarmed Palestinian teenager Nadeem Nuwara only received a ninth month prison sentence,” Ashrawi said in a statement.

Ashrawi said that such a conviction represents Israel’s deliberate dehumanization of its Palestinian victims, primarily children, which is the outcome of decades of the military occupation that holds an entire nation under captivity and employs an unremitting and lethal shoot-to-kill policy against Palestinians.

“Dery’s use of excessive violence and live ammunition against a child who posed no immediate threat constitutes a war crime and a crime against humanity under international law, Ashrawi said. “This unwarranted and unjust decision represents a double standard in Israel’s outrageous sentences passed against Palestinians by Israeli military courts while Israeli occupation forces and illegal and extremist settlers are given free license to act with complete impunity,” she added.

“As long as the international community remains silent, the injustice and oppression of the Palestinian people will continue unabated. Israel must be held to account for its unbridled violence and gross violations against the Palestinian people.” statement concluded.

Read more: Israeli officer who shot dead Palestinian teen gets nine months in prison