11 apr 2015
Next week will mark six years since Bilin resident Bassem Abu Rahmeh was killed by Israeli forces, and six years of "foot dragging" by the Israeli justice system in properly closing a case on his death, says family and Israeli rights groups.
Abu Rahmeh, 30, was struck in the chest by a tear-gas canister on April 17, 2009 at a protest in the village of Bilin, and died shortly afterward from his wounds.
The Abu Rahmeh family, joined by village residents and international activists, will visit his memorial next Friday before the weekly demonstration against the separation wall, which cuts across Bilin residents' land, Bassem's cousin Jaber Abu Rahmeh told Ma'an.
"Abu Rahmeh was killed by shooting carried out by IDF soldiers that was negligent at best," attorneys Emily Schaeffer Omer-Man and Michael Sfard wrote in their petition against a court decision to close the case, according to Israeli human rights group B'Tselem.
"The case file of the investigation of the circumstances of his death has been wallowing for years under unpardonable foot-dragging by the investigative and prosecutorial authorities."
In response to the attorneys' argument that basic investigative acts have never been carried out in the six years since Abu Rahmeh's death, Justice Menny Mazuz determined April 1 that the State must submit its response to the petition by May 25.
Israel's military prosecutor general decided to close the investigation into his death in September 2013 for lack of evidence, despite the fact that three video segments filmed during the protest prove that Abu Rahmah did not act violently and did not endanger the soldiers in any way, B'Tselem says.
Other soldiers in the same video can be seen firing tear-gas canisters directly at protesters in the presence of senior officers and in complete contravention of the open-fire regulations.
The army had decided to open an investigation into Abu Rahmeh's death in 2010 after a team of international experts found its forces had fired the tear gas in violation of regulations.
History of resistance
Bilin has long been one of the most active villages in organized opposition against the Israeli occupation and confiscation of Palestinian land.
This year marked the tenth consecutive year of weekly marches against the Israeli separation wall in Bilin, which was constructed on Palestinian land in 2005.
As a result, the village is a target of frequent invasion and arrest by Israeli forces.
Israeli forces have begun entering Bilin village on foot every Friday in recent months, Jaber Abu Rahmeh told Ma'an.
"In the last few months, they've started entering the village. Just yesterday they were going between houses, looking to arrest people."
Witnesses said that four Israeli military vehicles raided the village at midday Friday, arresting Samir Mohammad Burnat, 40, and taking him to an unknown destination.
"It brings me back to the past," sad Abu Rahmeh, referring to the period of heaviest clashes between Israeli forces and residents between 2007-09 when Israeli forces would enter the village nearly every day.
Last Friday Israeli forces entered the village before demonstrations began, cornered a Bilin resident, and shot him from close range, Abu Rahmeh told Ma'an.
In 2011, the separation wall in Bilin was rerouted in response to international condemnation.
However, weekly demonstrations continue every Friday as the wall still cuts through village lands, separating residents from their property, and nearby settlements continue to grow at the village's expense.
Abu Rahmeh, 30, was struck in the chest by a tear-gas canister on April 17, 2009 at a protest in the village of Bilin, and died shortly afterward from his wounds.
The Abu Rahmeh family, joined by village residents and international activists, will visit his memorial next Friday before the weekly demonstration against the separation wall, which cuts across Bilin residents' land, Bassem's cousin Jaber Abu Rahmeh told Ma'an.
"Abu Rahmeh was killed by shooting carried out by IDF soldiers that was negligent at best," attorneys Emily Schaeffer Omer-Man and Michael Sfard wrote in their petition against a court decision to close the case, according to Israeli human rights group B'Tselem.
"The case file of the investigation of the circumstances of his death has been wallowing for years under unpardonable foot-dragging by the investigative and prosecutorial authorities."
In response to the attorneys' argument that basic investigative acts have never been carried out in the six years since Abu Rahmeh's death, Justice Menny Mazuz determined April 1 that the State must submit its response to the petition by May 25.
Israel's military prosecutor general decided to close the investigation into his death in September 2013 for lack of evidence, despite the fact that three video segments filmed during the protest prove that Abu Rahmah did not act violently and did not endanger the soldiers in any way, B'Tselem says.
Other soldiers in the same video can be seen firing tear-gas canisters directly at protesters in the presence of senior officers and in complete contravention of the open-fire regulations.
The army had decided to open an investigation into Abu Rahmeh's death in 2010 after a team of international experts found its forces had fired the tear gas in violation of regulations.
History of resistance
Bilin has long been one of the most active villages in organized opposition against the Israeli occupation and confiscation of Palestinian land.
This year marked the tenth consecutive year of weekly marches against the Israeli separation wall in Bilin, which was constructed on Palestinian land in 2005.
As a result, the village is a target of frequent invasion and arrest by Israeli forces.
Israeli forces have begun entering Bilin village on foot every Friday in recent months, Jaber Abu Rahmeh told Ma'an.
"In the last few months, they've started entering the village. Just yesterday they were going between houses, looking to arrest people."
Witnesses said that four Israeli military vehicles raided the village at midday Friday, arresting Samir Mohammad Burnat, 40, and taking him to an unknown destination.
"It brings me back to the past," sad Abu Rahmeh, referring to the period of heaviest clashes between Israeli forces and residents between 2007-09 when Israeli forces would enter the village nearly every day.
Last Friday Israeli forces entered the village before demonstrations began, cornered a Bilin resident, and shot him from close range, Abu Rahmeh told Ma'an.
In 2011, the separation wall in Bilin was rerouted in response to international condemnation.
However, weekly demonstrations continue every Friday as the wall still cuts through village lands, separating residents from their property, and nearby settlements continue to grow at the village's expense.
12 july 2010
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Bassem Abu Rahme 30
Three videos prove the canister was fired directly at Bassem Abu-Rahmeh, but the army ordered the investigation only after threat of High Court petition. The Judge Advocate General (JAG), Maj.-Gen. Avichai Mandelblit, ordered the Military Police Investigation Unit to investigate the circumstances of the killing of Bassem Abu-Rahmeh, from the West Bank village of Bil'in , who was killed when a high-velocity tear-gas canister struck him during an anti-barrier demonstration in the village on 17 April 2009. Until today, the JAG's Office refused to order a criminal investigation into the incident. The JAG announced the change in his position in a letter to the Abu-Rahmeh family's attorney, Michael Sfard, who had threatened to petition the High Court of Justice, and after receiving the findings [PDF] of forensic special imaging experts, proving that the canisters were fired directly at the protester in violation of the open-fire regulations. 30 year-old Abu-Rahmeh was killed by an extended-range tear-gas canister that struck him in the chest. This is the same kind of canister that critically wounded American protester Tristan Anderson a month earlier in the village of Ni'lin . |
Immediately following the incident, B'Tselem conducted an extensive investigation, collecting and analyzing video footage and stills images of the incident, and demanded a criminal investigation.
Three video cameras that filmed the demonstration proved that Abu-Rahmeh was on the eastern side of the fence, was not acting in a violent manner, and did not endanger the soldiers in any way.
The footage also showed that during the protest soldiers fired additional tear gas canisters directly at demonstrators, in blatant breach of the open-fire regulations, in the presence of high-ranking officers.
The initial decision not to investigate the incident ignored the video footage and relied on the soldiers' statements given in the operational debriefing, which contended that the canister that struck Abu-Rahmeh had hit a wire on the Separation Barrier and changed direction.
The experts' opinion, which was based on a spatial analysis of all the video footage and on other material, refuted this claim.
It determined that all the scenarios that the army raised indicate that the canister had been aimed directly at the person.
Furthermore, the experts also analyzed the characteristics of the specific canister and concluded that, had the soldier who fired it acted in accordance with the binding regulations, the canister would have landed hundreds of meters behind Abu-Rahmeh.
Ahmad Abu-Rahmeh, Bassem's brother, speaking on behalf of the family, said that, "We are very pleased that an investigation will finally be opened. It should have been done the same day, and it is clear that the army opened an investigation only because it was forced to do so.
For a year and a quarter the army was trying to cover up the shooting of a non-violent demonstrator, who was shot for no reason at all, and certainly there was no reason to kill him".
B'Tselem and Yesh Din expressed satisfaction with today's decision but noted that the delay was inexcusable , saying, "We hope that the lengthy period that has passed since the incident will not negatively affect the investigation, and that the Judge Advocate General's decision of today can provide justice for the Abu Rahmeh family and the village of Bil'in".
The footage also showed that during the protest soldiers fired additional tear gas canisters directly at demonstrators, in blatant breach of the open-fire regulations, in the presence of high-ranking officers.
The initial decision not to investigate the incident ignored the video footage and relied on the soldiers' statements given in the operational debriefing, which contended that the canister that struck Abu-Rahmeh had hit a wire on the Separation Barrier and changed direction.
The experts' opinion, which was based on a spatial analysis of all the video footage and on other material, refuted this claim.
It determined that all the scenarios that the army raised indicate that the canister had been aimed directly at the person.
Furthermore, the experts also analyzed the characteristics of the specific canister and concluded that, had the soldier who fired it acted in accordance with the binding regulations, the canister would have landed hundreds of meters behind Abu-Rahmeh.
Ahmad Abu-Rahmeh, Bassem's brother, speaking on behalf of the family, said that, "We are very pleased that an investigation will finally be opened. It should have been done the same day, and it is clear that the army opened an investigation only because it was forced to do so.
For a year and a quarter the army was trying to cover up the shooting of a non-violent demonstrator, who was shot for no reason at all, and certainly there was no reason to kill him".
B'Tselem and Yesh Din expressed satisfaction with today's decision but noted that the delay was inexcusable , saying, "We hope that the lengthy period that has passed since the incident will not negatively affect the investigation, and that the Judge Advocate General's decision of today can provide justice for the Abu Rahmeh family and the village of Bil'in".
28 apr 2010
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Moaweya Hassanein 19
A Palestinian teenager has been shot dead by the Israeli army that opened fire on a group of Palestinians protesting against a buffer zone being built on the border between the east of the Gaza strip and Israel. Moaweya Hassanein, 19, was shot in the abdomen and carried to a hospital, where he died of wounds. An Israeli human rights group has released video footage which showed a non-violent crowd of Palestinian protesters being taken surprise by a gunshot fired by an Israeli soldier on the other side of a nearby security fence. |
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Ahmad Salem Deeb 21
Demonstrators carry the wounded man away from the protest site to a waiting ambulance on 28 April 2010 A 21-year-old man protesting Israel's no-go zone in Gaza was killed on Wednesday, after Israeli forces opened fire on the march and hit the young man in the leg. Medics said he died in hospital. The man, identified by activists as Ahmad Salem Deeb, was the fourth to be injured in three days as protests against the enforcement of the no-go zone continue. Reports from members of the International Solidarity Movement in Gaza |
said Deeb was shot 30 meters away from the Gaza-Israel border. A statement from the activist group said protesters were waving flags and chanting slogans demanding the cessation of Israeli control over the no-go area when shots were fired.
The young man had joined in a protest that left from the Ash-Shuja'iyya neighborhood east of Gaza City, and marched toward the border area. Areas of the no-go zone were expanded from 150-meters to 300 meters in some places, and are regularly patrolled by Israeli forces, who term the area a "combat zone," citing "terrorist activity" in the area.
Muawiya Hassanein, chief of emergency and ambulance services in Gaza, the unidentified young man sustained moderate injuries, and was transferred to the Ash-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City for treatment. Hours later the official said Deeb had succumbed to his wounds and died.
An Israeli military spokeswoman said the man's death was under investigation, but confirmed that forces fired shots when a group approached the border area.
The official said a violent and illegal riot preceded the fire, and that participants threw rocks at the Nahal Oz crossing and set small fires nearby. Forces fired warning shots to distance them from the fence, she said.
The military considers the area a combat zone, the spokeswoman added.
In the video, filmed by Muhammad Sabah, B’Tselem’s Gaza field researched, a group of Palestinians and internationals is seen walking from the Ash-Shaj'iya neighborhood, east of Gaza City, toward the Israeli border fence. The youths reach a distance of a few dozen meters from the border, facing an Israeli military post. A soldier is seen near the post, observing events. None of the protesters are armed.
Update
According to B’Tselem, the video shows a group of youths, some of them throwing stones at the military post. There is a sound of one shot. The injured youth is seen evacuated to receive medical treatment. He died later of his wounds. A previous shot, which was fired approximately 10 minutes earlier, was not captured on tape. The video was edited for length, B’Tselem noted.
Eating up 20% of Gaza's arable lands, farmers and civilians have demanded access to the area, which lies insude the 1967 boundaries, and from which Israel said it unilaterally withdrew in 2005.
Palestine People's Party politburo member Walid Al-Awad told Ma'an that hundreds of residents participated along side the victim, and marched toward the buffer zone waving Palestinian flags.
On Monday, a woman from Malta and three Gaza residents were wounded, one seriously, when Israeli forces fired on a protest near Khan Younis.
The young man had joined in a protest that left from the Ash-Shuja'iyya neighborhood east of Gaza City, and marched toward the border area. Areas of the no-go zone were expanded from 150-meters to 300 meters in some places, and are regularly patrolled by Israeli forces, who term the area a "combat zone," citing "terrorist activity" in the area.
Muawiya Hassanein, chief of emergency and ambulance services in Gaza, the unidentified young man sustained moderate injuries, and was transferred to the Ash-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City for treatment. Hours later the official said Deeb had succumbed to his wounds and died.
An Israeli military spokeswoman said the man's death was under investigation, but confirmed that forces fired shots when a group approached the border area.
The official said a violent and illegal riot preceded the fire, and that participants threw rocks at the Nahal Oz crossing and set small fires nearby. Forces fired warning shots to distance them from the fence, she said.
The military considers the area a combat zone, the spokeswoman added.
In the video, filmed by Muhammad Sabah, B’Tselem’s Gaza field researched, a group of Palestinians and internationals is seen walking from the Ash-Shaj'iya neighborhood, east of Gaza City, toward the Israeli border fence. The youths reach a distance of a few dozen meters from the border, facing an Israeli military post. A soldier is seen near the post, observing events. None of the protesters are armed.
Update
According to B’Tselem, the video shows a group of youths, some of them throwing stones at the military post. There is a sound of one shot. The injured youth is seen evacuated to receive medical treatment. He died later of his wounds. A previous shot, which was fired approximately 10 minutes earlier, was not captured on tape. The video was edited for length, B’Tselem noted.
Eating up 20% of Gaza's arable lands, farmers and civilians have demanded access to the area, which lies insude the 1967 boundaries, and from which Israel said it unilaterally withdrew in 2005.
Palestine People's Party politburo member Walid Al-Awad told Ma'an that hundreds of residents participated along side the victim, and marched toward the buffer zone waving Palestinian flags.
On Monday, a woman from Malta and three Gaza residents were wounded, one seriously, when Israeli forces fired on a protest near Khan Younis.
5 june 2009
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Yousef 'Akil' Tsadik Srour 36
Shot in the chest with 0.22 calibre live ammunition during a demonstration against the Wall in Ni'lin. It took a single shot from an Israeli sniper to kill Yousef “Aqel” Sadeq Srour . A popular community leader in Ni’lin, Yousef’s only crime was to demand what was rightfully his. Last Friday the father of three became the fifth person to be killed during non-violent demonstrations against the Israeli Apartheid Wall in the West Bank village. Eyewitness Hindi Mesleh saw the shot that killed Yousef. |
“A 16 year old boy was in front of him, he got shot and fell to the ground, when Yousef saw this, he ran to pick him up and take him to the ambulance,” Meshel said. “But he didn’t make it, as he reached the boy he was shot in the heart,”
Yousef died on the way to hospital in Ramallah.
It was not the first time that Yousef was shot in the year that he had been attending the protests against the wall in Ni’lin.
“He was shot 13 times with rubber bullets and once with a tear gas canister, he was also arrested by the Israelis twice for taking part in the Friday demonstrations”.
For the people of Ni’lin, Yousef was special, as one of the organisers of the weekly protests in village he was well liked and respected.
“For sure when others were killed, the village was sad, but for Yusef they were more down…Yousef had a special and unique character, he was a happy guy. His death is something that the people will feel…he will be missed for sure”, said Mesleh.
Ahmed Risleh, a family friend says the entire village of Ni’lin is angry at Yousef’s death.
“It wasn’t an accident, they shot him because they knew him, they knew he was an activist and they knew he was a Hamas supporter”.
An Israeli military spokesman initially denied the soldiers used live ammunition to disperse the crowds during last Friday’s protest. But the army later issued a statement justifying Yousef’s death because he was a “Hamas activist central to the weekly anti fence protest”.
Risleh warns emotions in Ni’lin are running high and believes there could be more violence.
“Friday will be worse because the people are angry”.
It’s a sentiment shared by Mesleh who believes Yousef was specifically targeted.
“I guess Israel is worried about these popular, nonviolent struggles that are taking place in Palestine…Israel does not want this kind of resistance to spread around Palestine. Nonviolent resistance gets a lot of media and international attention, and it is something that Israel cannot argue against…it is not threatening the life of Israelis or Israeli soldiers.”
In the past Israel has violently suppressed non-violent protests often with deadly consequences. In April Bassam Abu Rahmeh died after he was hit in the chest by a teargas canister fired by an Israeli soldier in the nearby village of Bil’in. Weekly protests in both villages against plans to construct what Palestinians call the Apartheid Wall have become a common fixture.
Israel has seized over 50 000 dunams of Palestinian land in and around Ni’lin areas since 1948.
It was not the first time that Yousef was shot in the year that he had been attending the protests against the wall in Ni’lin.
“He was shot 13 times with rubber bullets and once with a tear gas canister, he was also arrested by the Israelis twice for taking part in the Friday demonstrations”.
For the people of Ni’lin, Yousef was special, as one of the organisers of the weekly protests in village he was well liked and respected.
“For sure when others were killed, the village was sad, but for Yusef they were more down…Yousef had a special and unique character, he was a happy guy. His death is something that the people will feel…he will be missed for sure”, said Mesleh.
Ahmed Risleh, a family friend says the entire village of Ni’lin is angry at Yousef’s death.
“It wasn’t an accident, they shot him because they knew him, they knew he was an activist and they knew he was a Hamas supporter”.
An Israeli military spokesman initially denied the soldiers used live ammunition to disperse the crowds during last Friday’s protest. But the army later issued a statement justifying Yousef’s death because he was a “Hamas activist central to the weekly anti fence protest”.
Risleh warns emotions in Ni’lin are running high and believes there could be more violence.
“Friday will be worse because the people are angry”.
It’s a sentiment shared by Mesleh who believes Yousef was specifically targeted.
“I guess Israel is worried about these popular, nonviolent struggles that are taking place in Palestine…Israel does not want this kind of resistance to spread around Palestine. Nonviolent resistance gets a lot of media and international attention, and it is something that Israel cannot argue against…it is not threatening the life of Israelis or Israeli soldiers.”
In the past Israel has violently suppressed non-violent protests often with deadly consequences. In April Bassam Abu Rahmeh died after he was hit in the chest by a teargas canister fired by an Israeli soldier in the nearby village of Bil’in. Weekly protests in both villages against plans to construct what Palestinians call the Apartheid Wall have become a common fixture.
Israel has seized over 50 000 dunams of Palestinian land in and around Ni’lin areas since 1948.
17 apr 2009
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Basem Abu Rahme 30
Shot in the chest with a high-velocity tear gas projectile during a demonstration against the Wall in Bil'in. Israeli soldiers killed Bassem Ibrahim Abu Rahme, a 30 year-old resident of the village. Bassem, who had been standing on a hill alongside several journalists, removed from the main body of the demonstration, was targeted directly and shot from a short distance with an “extended range” teargas projectile - the same kind that critically injured Tristan Anderson in Ni’ilin five weeks ago. Demonstration by village of Bil'in Friday April 17th 2009, Bassem Ibrahim abu-Rakhma ('Phil") mortally wounded. Bassem was buried in his village on Saturday, with over a thousand mourners in attendance, including Palestinians from neighboring villages as well as international and Israeli friends and activists. Later on in the evening, more than 400 people took part in a protest march through the streets of Tel Aviv, ending in front if the Ministry of Defense, where they called for an end to the occupation and the Apartheid Wall. |
