Yesterday evening, just in time to make the eight o'clock news, the IDF has presented another "official" version for the death of Bi'lin's Jawahar Abu-Rahmah during a protest against the security barrier near her village on December 31st. This is from Haaretz: Abu Rahmah, 36, was taken to the hospital after she inhaled tear gas fired by IDF forces during a demonstration in Bil'in against the West Bank security barrier at the end of December. According to the IDF investigation, Rahmah's condition deteriorated at the hospital after she received an incorrect diagnosis and inappropriate treatment. The IDF findings, which were…

The IDF keeps offering new versions regarding the death of Jawaher Abu Rahmah – and is contradicted by its own spokesperson Several major Israeli media outlets published yesterday a new IDF “investigation," which claimed that Jawaher Abu Rahmah – who died after inhaling CS (tear) gas in Bil’in – did not die as a result of the gas itself , but rather as a result of the treatment she received at the hospital. This is the IDF’s fourth version of the events. In previous versions she was not present at the demonstration, then she was present; she died of cancer;…

Sarah Palin, an American conservative celebrity, has used the term 'blood libel' to tar critics of her incendiary rhetoric, following a deadly shooting in the US. Did she borrow the phrase from Israeli discourse? Here, it stands for the idea that any accusation against Israel must be a lie. To admit any wrong is to justify violence against Israeli civilians, and the denial of their right for self-determination. After all, does not Israel itself justify violence against civilians and the denial of Palestinians' right for self-determination, on the basis of wrongs committed by its neighbors? Israel, like many other countries…

The death last week of Bil'in resident Jawaher Abu Rhamah, after she inhaled tear gas at a demonstration, has received a great deal of publicity, making her into a symbol of the violent means the Israeli army uses to maintain its control over the West Bank. Many commentators are parsing the incident as if it were an isolated one, but the truth is that violence and brutality are the norm. And while there is plenty of documentation to support that statement, most Israelis would prefer not to know. A few months ago, at a Friday demonstration in Nabi Saleh, a…

Jawahar Abu-Rahmah of Bil'in was rushed to Ramallah hospital last Friday during an unarmed protest against the fence in her village. She passed away Saturday morning.  Her death gained relatively  wide publicity, and the IDF scramble to  pushing its own version of the story, first claiming that Abu-Rahamh took part in a violent riot, and later saying she wasn't even there, and the whole thing was a Palestinian hoax. As it happens, I was in Bil'in on Friday, so I got the opportunity to compare the IDF's version with what I saw with my own eyes, and with what I…

The following is a detailed response to the army's claims regarding the death on 1 January 2011 of Jawaher Abu Rahmah, who was taken to the hospital on 31 December after inhaling tear gas at the weekly demonstration against the separation barrier in Bil'in, a small Palestinian village near Ramallah. The response was written by Jonathan Pollak, media coordinator of the Popular Struggle Coordination Committee. * Contact details for all the eyewitnesses listed below are available upon request for journalists. The evidence surrounding the events leading to the death of Bil’in resident Jawaher Abu Rahmah disproves completely the army spokesperson’s…

By Jerry Haber A female protester dies at a Bil'in protest from tear gas inhalation. The army is not only faced with a public relations nightmare, but also with the real possibility that there will be pressure to change its mode of operations, and to use a less effective (from its standpoint) tear gas. There may even be pressure to conduct a military investigation, which the army certainly doesn't want. So the only thing that it can do is to attack the credibility of the woman's family and witnesses. So this is how they do it: With the willing help…

Visually, the protest yesterday  veered from the Italian cinema Through the violent The contextual And the chique: But the overwhelming sensation - despite the tension and the occasional violent flare-up - was that of an almost good-natured surrealism. After trying to clear the road - using, I should note, only hands* - no clubs, hoses or horses, though few people were hurt and  a few horses were brought it for the show- the policemen give up, and actually block a segment of the street for us; partly out of fear of being blamed for any harm that might come the…

Last night I went to the demonstration in Tel Aviv to protest of the killing of Jawaher Abu Rahmah in Bilin on Friday. Being a family man, it’s hard to be as active as I once was. But I really wanted to go to this one. To put it simply, Jawahar’s death disgusted me. The ease in which non violent protesters in the territories are killed and injured is revolting. I stood last night in front of the Defense Ministry to point a finger at the man responsible, Ehud Barak, for the death of Jawahar. I joined the chants, “Ehud…

Hundreds of Israelis rallied in Tel Aviv Saturday night to protest the death of Bil'in resident Jawaher Abu Rahmah, who died on Saturday morning after inhaling tear gas fired by Israeli forces during the weekly anti-fence demonstration. The 36 year-old woman was evacuated to a Ramallah hospital on Friday afternoon, after losing consciousness. Doctors attached her to a respirator and treated her for exposure to toxins found in the tear gas, but the patient did not respond. She died at 9 o'clock  on Saturday morning, without regaining consciousness. Bil'in has been the site of weekly demonstrations on Friday afternoons since…

The killing of Jawahar Abu Rahmah would have been harder to carry out, without the silent cooperation of most Israelis. During an unusually large demonstration in Bil’in yesterday, IDF gunmen fired unusually large amounts of tear gas at the demonstrators, according to them. Bloggers Lisa Goldman and Joseph Dana reported that the tear gas was fired at the non-violent demonstrators, even at people who weren’t even close to the fence. As a result, Jawaher Abu Rahmah, age 36, died this morning of gas inhalation. The IDF claims it did not use unusual amounts of gas; then again, they used to…

Bil'in, West Bank - Jawaher Abu Rahmah, 36, who died this morning (Saturday) after inhaling massive amounts of tear-gas during the weekly protest in Bil’in yesterday, was buried today next to her brother, Bassem Abu Rahmah, who was killed from a direct hit to his chest during an unarmed protest in Bil'in last April. The following images were taken at Jawaher's funeral. Related stories: Female protester killed by Israeli tear gas in Bil’in Y-NET reporter slurs non-violent movement

There's lies, damn lies, and then there's the following kind of journalism. As Joseph reports, Jawaher Abu Rahma, who lost her brother Bassam Abu Rahmah to tear gas just 18 months ago, died this morning from tear gas poisoning. The single most important thing about movement both siblings belonged to, and paid with their lives to sustain, is that it is a non-violent movement, of exactly the kind prayed for by liberals wishing for a Palestinian Ghandi or Mandela. YNET's Yair Altman reported the response of Mohammed Khatib, a member of the Bil’in Popular Committee, and it seems to fall…