Jawaher's mother holds her picture
Photo: Gil Yohanan
Bilin protest
Photo: Reuters
How did Abu-Rahma die?
Op-ed: Palestinians have tendency to make use of human tragedies in order to smear Israel
The circumstances of Jawaher Abu-Rahma’s death over the weekend are still unclear. The Palestinian version is full of holes and the Israel probe has not been completed yet. Yet despite this, ever since the Palestinian Authority decided to designate Abu-Rahma as a martyr, Israeli leftist groups adopted the Palestinian version as if it was the absolute truth.
Internal Criticism
Hanan Greenberg
IDF officers say army rused to conclude Jawaher Abu Rahma didn’t die of tear gas inhalation, never attended Bilin anti-fence protest. 'One must base claims on facts rather than assessments,' one officer says
The skepticism and criticism, which are holy in the eyes of the average democrat, were only directed at IDF soldiers and the army’s version.
However, the findings received in the days since Abu-Rahma’s death require us to ask questions and raise doubts. The documentation of her early hospitalization, the contradictory hospital reports, the mysterious medical report, the blood-filled shrouds, and the unusual funeral are incommensurate with the story of a healthy protestor who inhaled gas and died because of respiratory complications.
As opposed to the Pavlovian charges of far Left activists, the IDF in the past two years has looked into the anti-fence demonstrations in Bilin and tried to minimize the friction and harm to citizens. Until this past weekend, it worked well. Nonetheless, for the millionth time Palestinian Authority officials declared that Israel is a war criminal, and around here some Israelis immediately saluted and proceeded to launch protests.
Sunday morning, members of the far Left group Yesh Din issued an incisive statement charging that the writing has been on the wall: The IDF is operating aggressively; the IDF covers up and does not probe the harm done to protestors.
Another al-Durrah case?
Well, as far as the first part of the argument is concerned, they’re right. With “non-violent” rallies (that feature Molotov cocktails, stone throwing, and the cutting of fences) taking place on a weekly basis, the violent writing can be found on every wall and fence. Yet as to the other charges, the opposite is true.
Despite the provocations organized by “far Left adventurers” in Bilin with the open encouragement of Palestinian Authority officials, the rallies there have grown smaller in the past two years. From a mass event that brings together anarchy-loving nutcases from all over the world, Friday’s rallies turned into protests that draw few demonstrators.
Meanwhile, it’s important to keep in mind that Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad visited Bilin about a week ago. He prayed at the mosque, delivered a speech, and encouraged youngsters to protest. Later on, when it was time to go out to protest, he disappeared. This past Friday, Fayyad appeared again, and amazingly enough the number of participants in the rally swelled to 1,000 people. Far Left buses headed to the protest from across the nation, while local residents were urged to come out.
The Palestinians have already exploited human tragedies in the past in order to fabricate harm to residents supposedly done by Israel. Hence, it is no coincidence that security officials believe that the latest incident is the most up-to-date version of the Muhammad al-Durrah case.
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