Israeli Border Police Cleared In Case of Emily Henochowicz, Who Was Blinded In One Eye

Israeli border police have been cleared of any wrongdoing in the incident that left Emily Henochowicz blinded in one eye:

The Judea and Samaria district police found no criminal wrongdoing in the actions of the Border Police soldiers who left an American art student without an eye after getting hit in the face with a tear gas canister at a protest in Qalandiyah six months ago.

The incident took place on May 31, when Emily Henochowicz, a student at Cooper Union College in New York, took part in a small protest against the Israel Defense Forces raid on the Turkish flotilla to Gaza that morning.

Video footage of the incident shows Henochowicz, who carried a Turkish flag, injured from a tear gas grenade. She lost one of her eyes, and suffered several other fractures. Henochowicz has since returned to the United States to complete her studies.

The family lodged a complaint, claiming that the cannister was actually fired directly at their daughter, while the Border Police say it ricocheted off a barricade.
The Henochowicz lawyer, Michael Safard, claimed that the investigation was insufficient:

Attorney Michael Sfard, representing the Henochowicz family, slammed the police investigation, dubbing the Judea and Samaria police "a sewage treatment plant for the Border Police." He said the investigation was negligent, pointing out that investigators did not bother to speak to Haaretz reporter Avi Issacharoff and photographer Daniel Bar-On, who were present at the scene and captured the incident in print and photos.

NGO Monitor describes Michael Sfarad as a political activist as well as a lawyer:

He is the legal advisor for the NGO known as Yesh Din, is on the legal team for Al-Haq’s Shawan Jabarin [with alleged ties to terrorist group PFLP], as well as for Peace Now and other groups.

More to the point, while Sfarad insists that print and photos be consulted, the fact is that there is a video of what happened--showing in slow motion that the cannister did in fact ricochet off of a barricade:



In any case, the case now goes to the central district attorney who will decide whether charges should be filed.

Technorati Tag: Emily Henochowicz.