IDF to probe death of Palestinian protester at West Bank rally
Military Advocate General back-pedals, orders probe into death of protester who was killed by a tear gas canister at a demonstration in Bil'in in April 2009.
By Anshel PfefferThe Military Advocate General on Monday ordered the army's criminal investigations unit to investigate the death of a Palestinian protester who was killed by a tear gas canister at a demonstration in Bil'in in April 2009.
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The West Bank separation fence that runs through Bethlehem. |
| Photo by: Tess Scheflan |
The Military Advocate General had refused to open a criminal investigation into the death of Bassem Abu-Rahma, but on Monday changed its mind after expert testimony showed that the tear gas canister was aimed directly at Abu-Rahma and was fired in violation of military orders.
The Military Advocate General notified Abu-Rahma's family and human rights lawyer Michael Sfard, who had planned to petition the High Court of Justice over the case.
The Israel Defense Forces first said Abu-Rahma was in a group of Palestinians hurling rocks at troops. But video footage showed him shouting, not throwing rocks, when he was shot.
Video footage filmed during the April 2009 protest against the separation fence in the Palestinian village of Bil'in also showed IDF troops firing tear gas canisters directly at demonstrators while in the presence of commanding officers.
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Bassem Abu-Rahma after being hit by a tear gas canister in April 2009. |
| Photo by: Lazar Simeonov |
Abu-Rahma's family welcomed the decision. "We are extremely happy that an investigation is finally being opened," said Ahmed Abu-Rahma, the victim's brother.
"This should have happened on the day [he was killed], and it is clear that the army opened the investigation because it was forced to, and that in the past year and a quarter it has tried to cover up the shooting of a non-violent protester that it had no reason to harm, let alone kill," Ahmed Abu-Rahma continued.
The original decision not to investigate Abu-Rahma's death ignored the video footage and relied on IDF solders' testimony that the tear gas canister hit wire along the separation fence and then ricocheted, striking Abu-Rahma. However, experts said that had the soldier who fired the canister followed IDF instructions, it would have landed hundreds of meters past where Abu-Rahma was standing.
Rights groups B'Tselem and Yesh Din said they were satisfied by the decision to probe the events surrounding Abu Rahma's death, but stressed that the delay in reaching the decision was unjustified.
"We hope the amount of time that has passed since the event won't affect the effectiveness of the investigation, and that today's decision by the Military Advocate General will bring justice to Abu-Rahma's family and the village of Bil'in," the groups said in a statement.
Sarit Michaeli of B'Tselem said the military informed the group on Monday of the decision. The military had no immediate comment.
Michaeli said there was no justification for the army taking 15 months to investigate the death, which she said was recorded on three video cameras.
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The MAG didn't have a sudden epipheny because it heard that "expert testimony showed that the tear gas canister was aimed directly at Abu-Rahma". That is nonsense. The MAG had an epiphany when it heard that "human rights lawyer Michael Sfard, who had planned to petition the High Court of Justice over the case" i.e. the MAG does *not* want this issue going to the IHCJ, and the best way to do that is to open an internal investigation. NOTHING will come of that investigation, but while it is ongoing then the court will simply refuse to hear that petition.
"The Military Advocate General" ... "on Monday changed its mind after expert testimony showed...." Hahahahah! May I suggest that what REALLY changed his mind was this: "...human rights lawyer Michael Sfard, who had planned to petition the High Court of Justice over the case." i.e. the MAG's "investigation" is an attempt to head off the IHCJ asking any questions about this case, rather than any attempt to find the truth.
Stop slandering the dead accusing the killed man of throwing stones or rioting when there has been a long video of the rally and shooting on the internet for over a year which everyone can watch and see that the demonstration was totally peaceful. Even the Israeli army has now accepted that there was no violence so why are people here still fantasising about riots which never happened?
I have attended many rallies and we never threw rocks at the police or army. What these Arabs engage in is rioting. This young man was active in a riot, so he did not have rocks in his hand, but if a rock killed a innocent bystander or a policemen those present would be accomplices for cheering them on and not trying to stop the attack on the authorities from taking place. If this guy was home studying instead of attending a riot, he would still be alive.
If "this guy" was not forced to live under cruel occupation, he would have been at home studying instead of attending a rally to protest injustice.
The IDF were behind a wire-fence so rocks would not have touched them. Maybe you should look at the videos of this murder.
then he wouldn't be out their defending to get it back.
were at home working, rather than enforcing an illegal occupation, he would still be alive.
We had the G20 in Toronto last month and there was some violence, but no one died from it, while in Israel, you read about Palestinians getting shot or killed during demonstrations all the time, maybe its a fundamental and systematic flaw in the way you treat the Palestinians.
What does any of that have to do with the fact that the IDF deliberately tried to maim or kill the demonstrators. You would scream to the heavens if another country did that to Jews. Are you so sick you can't find any reason to protest against ANYTHING Israel does?
Why is it that when Palestinians throw stones they are 'deadly projectiles' , the person throwing them is easily identified and lands in detention but when Israeli settlers throw stones they are never identified- never detained or charged and the feedback would have us believe that the stones they throw are no more than snow flakes?
Look up confimration bias. It applies heavily to you. Speaking as someone who had met Baseem on several occasions and has been to the Bil'in protests many times, Baseem was a peaceful man who did not support violence at the protests. He was one of the organisers and as such, targetted for assassination. I have seen him telling young residents of Bil'in that rock throwing even at armoured invaders with guns is counter-productive. He was always an advocate of memorable and peaceful protest. Once he ran up and down the lines flying a kite to demonstrate that the Palestinians are, like the jews, a people of passion and joy and happiness. These are the only generalisations worth making. I speak from first hand knowledge here. You do not You should hang your head in shame.
The real question is whether or not anyone will actually be charged with a crime and punished accordingly for this death.
The most cherished concept in Israel is their "deterrence". Israel wants to deter any protestors, critics, or attackers of any sort so others do not follow their example. This is normally done by killing a few. This is how Israel got a reputation for "disproportionate response" which was all the raqge a few years ago. Killing a bunch of Palestinian civilians never had the desired effect of making Hamas afraid to attack Israel. It hasn't had the desired effect against protestors either, even though enough have been killed. The highest profile case was when an Israeli bulldozer crushed Rachel Correy, a young American woman protesting Israels destruction of Palestinian homes. Anyway, this stuff has been going on for years and Israel has always gotten away with it. The message they want to send is, if you don't want to die, then don't protest our policies. America, as usual is Israel consenting silent partner in this murderous enterprise. Israel message to American politicians? Shut up and keep the weapons coming.
If it the level of reponse necessary to change behavior, then it's not disproportionate
Bravo B'tselem and Yesh Din. And this is the same"independent, trustworthy" mililtary establishment that is supposed to investigate the veracit of theGoldstone Report !
Seems the stationary - away from action - targets are the ones always getting hit with tear gas cannisters.
"experts said that had the soldier who fired the canister followed IDF instructions, it would have landed hundreds of meters past where Abu-Rahma was standing." Question: how would tear gas be effective against rock-thrower if it lands hundreds of meters away from them? It seems that rock-throwers want to conduct their potentially deadly game in perfect safety.
What a stupid argument. Tear gast does not need to land at your feet to be effective, you moron!!! It'll work even if it lands 50 yards from you. I'am ready to bet that if police threw tear gas canisters against protesters in Milwaukee you'd be jumping through the roof.
Jasper is a moron.
and they stole his heart
Bassam will live on in the struggle. He was dear to many Palestinians, Israelis, and International visitors.
which will kill when fired at close range.
Israeli soldiers who aim their gas canisters directly to peaceful protesters, while knowing how dangerous this is since they attend the IDF training, do not deserve to be Israeli. They are the shame of the country. They need to spend long years in jail. Such wild animals are not needed in Israeli society.
These are rioters, they are war like, not peaceful at all. Do not lie.
Protestors are not always wrong. At the lunch counter in Greensboro, North Carolina and in Selma Alabama, they made people everywhere decide to right a wrong. Nobody ever gets a fair shake without a fight.
We live in a society that invented Darwin Awards for people who killed themselves stupidly, and you assume that anyone who screw up under pressure is automatically a racist and a killer? Accusations often reveal more about ourselves than they do about those whom we accuse.
Read the article again, and note this bit: "....human rights lawyer Michael Sfard, who had planned to petition the High Court of Justice over the case" i.e. the MAG has opened this "investigation" to head off that petition, because now the court can - and no doubt will, with a great sigh of relief - decide not to hear the case while that "investigation" is underway.
The Palestinian jump in front of the bullet or canister, or the wind was too strong that day.
Too little too late.... a sham investigation by the IDF.
You are a hypocrite. you accuse the IDF of prejudice and you are bigot yourself.
How the HELL is he a hypocrite?! This article just shows how the IDF is the most immoral, lying piece of scumbags who claim victimhood after killing babies who they claim were giving them the evil eye!! You should be ashamed of your country and your government. Bunch of arrogant inhumans!! (And no, I ain't no Jew hater, anti-semite (cause I am semite) or other hollow word used in diverting the attention away from the truth!!!!)
You remind me of the Good Germans who after 1945 said they approved of what their government did because they had to support their state. The IDF deliberately fired weapons at Palestinians with the intent of seriously harming or killing them, but you claim they had no prejudice against those they were trying to kill.
The investigation is a sham, because the only reason why there is going to be any internal IDF investigation at all it to head off Michael Sfard's petition to the High Court of Justice. The threat of that petition forced the MAG to move, because without it the IDF would have continued to stonewall.
The IDF is not a race. Ram is Jewish.Stop crying anti-semitism against Jews who disagree with you or anyone. The IDF is not very credible when it comes to human rights. Everyone knows that. Why was the IDF so quick not to investigate? I am glad they changed their mind, but why didn't they ask for evidence and testimony and show they were concerned about justice? I guess they couldn't deny when they were embarassing by damning evidence. Are you sure Ram is simply bigoted or tired of the IDF's ways?