San Francisco Examiner · 3 January 1996

CP-1996-008

Israel rejects blanket damages

Cabinet approves committee to hear Arabs’ claims

Examiner News Services

Transcribed from the clipping

“Israeli leaders decided Wednesday against blanket compensation for Arabs claiming damages from Israeli army actions during the Palestinian uprising in the occupied West Bank and Gaza… Government officials said Prime Minister Shimon Peres and the ministers of justice and finance met to discuss the issue and decided legislation should be proposed in parliament giving the state blanket immunity to the claims. But they accepted a compromise proposal by Justice Minister David Libai for the establishment of a special committee to deal with exceptional cases.… Israelis killed more than 1,000 Palestinians between the start of the uprising on Dec 9, 1987, and the end of the official government tally on Nov. 2, 1994. In that same period, Palestinians killed more than 100 Israelis. According to Israeli army figures, 17,987 Palestinians and 7,137 Israelis were injured… But Leah Tsemel, an Israeli lawyer who represents several Arab claimants, said travesties had been committed against Palestinians, beyond what courts would consider a legal armed response by soldiers or police to anti-Israeli violence.”

Photograph caption

Palestinian Ali Fanoun, 20, who was paralyzed when Israeli troops opened fire on rioters six years ago and a bullet smashed his spine, is suing Israel for $1.7 million. Fanoun is one of more than 1,000 disabled Palestinians who have filed suit in the last two years.

Context added by this archive

The answer, the same morning, in a different paper: no blanket compensation, a bill offering the state blanket immunity, and a committee for exceptional cases. The body of the story calls him Palestinian Ali Fanoun. The headline printed over his photograph calls him a paralyzed Arab.

Cite this item

"Israel rejects blanket damages," San Francisco Examiner, 3 January 1996. Covering Palestine archive, CP-1996-008. https://coveringpalestine.org/archive/cp-1996-008

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• 1987-1995 tallySydney Morning Herald · 13 January 1996 · the same year
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