Israel votes for death penalty for Palestinians convicted of lethal attacks

Who are the multiple people defending it?

Most have said they are against capital punishment.

So Palestinians in the West Bank are the enemy too? That explains a lot about their treatment.

Maybe there would be less violence against them is there was a similar law to protect their right to live peacefully.

That misses the point regarding the claim this particular law is discriminatory. I havent made any point about the merits of capital punishment (which I oppose).

Perhaps Israel doesn’t want a death penalty for murder?

Perhaps they only want the death penalty for extreme terrorist activity?

I’m against the death penalty personally and think this law is wrong. But you can’t tell other countries what laws they are allowed to pass and which they aren’t.

Terrorism is classed differently from murder in this country due to intention. So Im assuming it would be the same in Israel. Plus they are at war with Gaza obviously so Palestinians would be treated as the enemy anyway. I suppose similar would have happened here during the War if German nationals committed terrorist offences which killed people in the UK.

Lol.

Palestinians are far more likely to be killed than to carry out attack. You’re just going to ignore that thousands have been killed in recent years, including many civilians and children.

And what about settler violence in the West Bank. Attacks on homes, land theft, assaults continue with little accountability.

So depends on whether you view attacks on Palestinians as terror attacks or not…?

I only keep mentioning the theoretical fact of it (as stated in the BBC link provided) because people keep questioning me on it as you have just done again.

I was correcting a previous person’s misinformation but happy to move on. It’s a small point because I have acknowledged that in practice this new law will discriminate against Palestinians because they will very likely be the only ones convicted of attacks that aim to negate the existence of the state of Israel.

Why not just have the death penalty for murder? All lives being equal.

Whats the difference between a Palestinian killing a Jewish Israeli and a settler killing a Palestinian? Both would be similarly extremist in their views.

Because Palestinians are most likely to commit deadly terrorist attacks in Israel killing others, presumably.

But it would be odd to not have a law just because a certain nationality are most likely to commit a particular crime (in this case deadly terrorist attacks which kill others). And because most other people in the country don't commit that crime does that mean the law is discriminatory?

But you were also quick to add in that Israelis could also be executed under the law. But given that no Israeli has been convicted of anything since 2020 not sure what the purpose of adding the line in was other than to try and soften what Israel was doing.

Its discrimination. There’s no practice about it. Nobody is stupid enough to believe that practice and reality will be the same thing.

The world sanctioned South Africa, time to do the same to Israel. They continue to stoop to new lows in their treatment of Palestinians, it’s time they were made to feel the heat for their actions.

Looking at the wording it says that anyone who wants to "negate the existence of the state of Israel" and commit deadly (so have killed other people) terrorist attacks would be executed. So as they are at war, those people are most likely to be Palestinian. That's not an issue of apartheid as Jewish people could also commit those attacks and be executed in theory. It's important to get these things right so that people know the facts. And then people can debate the rights and wrongs of the issues properly.

Having said that, I am wholheartedly against capital punishment in the first place, in any country that has it. It won't help anything at all. Unfortunately theres nothing we can do as I don't think Israel cares what the UK thinks or would take any notice of any petition.

How likely is that going to be though?

I am not sure why you keep pointing out a theoretical fact that is highly unlikely to be applied.

Even if there was an appropriate case, I can envisage differential treatment.

How many non-Palestinian kids have been arrested for throwing stones?

Thats why I said I agree it is discriminatory in practice.

Not a single Israeli citizen has been convicted of killing a Palestinian since 2020.

I agree that in practice it is discriminatory.

I was just pointing out that theoretically Jewish Israelis could also be executed under the law, as stated in the BBC link provided.

If Jewish Israelis carried out attacks where the intention of the attack was to "negate the existence of the state of Israel".

Pointing to Palestinian laws doesn’t make Israel look better. On the contrary, it actually raises the standard Israel should be held to.

Israel claims to uphold liberal, Western values. So why cling to one of the most widely condemned punishments in the world and use it so unfairly?

And let’s be honest about context: this isn’t happening in a vacuum. In a system where Palestinians are overwhelmingly the ones facing security charges, a death penalty law isn’t neutral. It’s predictable who it will be used against - even a PP on this thread who is staunchly pro Israel recognises that.

So no, this isn’t “both sides have blood on their hands” in some equal sense. One side is being judged against the standards it claims to represent, and failing them as it continues to show its true colours on how it treats Palestinians.

If you oppose the death penalty, oppose it everywhere. But don’t pretend it means the same thing in every context.

Any law that imposes the death penalty on a convicted person is abhorrent. Israel has had the death penalty for as long as the State has existed.
According to Palestinian law, there are 77 crimes that are punishable by the death penalty. From 1994 to 2022, approximately 260 death sentences have been issued: around 230 in Gaza and 30 in the West Bank. In total, during this period, 41 executions were carried out, with the vast majority occurring in Gaza.

Both Israel and Palestine have blood on their hands.

Or you could read it as being discriminatory as it doesn’t execute those who kill Palestinians to prevent creation of a viable two state solution by facilitating the take over the West Bank.

The downfall of Israel is more likely to come from within, than any outside threat. Netanyahu is fighting war after war, but ignores the fires being set alight within. Both by the extremist settlers and extremists in power. Israel cannot hold any form of moral highground when the state turns a blind eye to daily settler attacks against Palestinians and the routine ethnic cleansing they carry out in the occupied territories.

Hopefully that's true because it's very frightening the way it's been worded to ensure that once again the judicial system demonstrates extreme apartheid to Palestinians.