Jewish Settler Found Guilty of Killing West Bank Shepherd
A Jewish settler was found guilty Wednesday of killing an Arab shepherd in the occupied West Bank--the first such conviction by an Israeli court since the start of a Palestinian uprising nearly a year ago.
Palestinians say Israeli settlers, a frequent target of Arab stone-throwers, have been involved in a dozen killings and numerous other shooting incidents this year.
The Jerusalem district court convicted Israel Zeev of killing Judah Abdullah Awad outside the settlement of Shiloh on May 5 after the shepherd refused to move his flock off disputed grazing land.
The court ruled that it was not premeditated murder. Zeev, who is originally from Philadelphia, will be sentenced on Sunday.
Earlier this week, the state attorney’s office rejected a police recommendation to prosecute a militant settlers’ leader, Rabbi Moshe Levinger, alleged to have shot to death a Palestinian merchant in Hebron two months ago.
The state attorney said there was insufficient evidence against Levinger, who said he opened fire after Arab protesters stoned his car.
Another leader of the settlers’ movement, Pinchas Wallerstein, is currently on trial charged with killing a Palestinian demonstrator at a roadblock last February. He says he acted in self-defense.
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