freepalestine
13th December 2011, 20:52
Thousands mourn protester killed at Nabi Saleh
Published Sunday 11/12/2011 (updated) 12/12/2011 17:34
http://www.maannews.net/images/345x230/157386_345x230.jpg
Relatives of Palestinian demonstrator Mustafa Tamimi mourn during
his funeral in the West Bank village of of Nabi Saleh, near Ramallah
December 11, 2011.(Reuters/Mohamad Torokman)
NABI SALEH (AFP) -- Thousands of Palestinians gathered in the West Bank village of Nabi Saleh on Sunday to mourn a man who died after being hit in the head by an Israeli tear gas canister.
Mustafa Tamimi's body was taken from the city of Ramallah in a funeral procession to the central Manara Square before being driven by ambulance to his home village of Nabi Saleh.
Tamimi was critically wounded in the village on Friday by an Israeli tear gas canister that hit him in the head after being fired at close range. He was evacuated to an Israeli hospital but died the next day of his wounds.
In Nabi Saleh, around 2,000 people gathered to receive the 28-year-old's body, which was draped with the Palestinian flag, his head covered with the black-and-white checkered kuffiyeh scarf.
"Our response will come tonight," some mourners shouted, warning that "no one will stop us."
Lawmaker Walid Assaf, head of the Palestinian Legislative Council's committee against settlements, told mourners that peaceful protests should continue despite the incident.
"They want to turn our unarmed struggle into an armed struggle," he said. "But this will not change our policy of peaceful struggle against settlements and against the occupation."
Tamimi's body was taken into his mother's house, where weeping relatives surrounded him for a final goodbye before his burial at the village cemetery.
http://www.maannews.net/images/PhotoViewer/157387.jpg
Mustafa Tamimi reacts after being hit by a tear gas canister
(Reuters/Haim Schwartzenberg)
After his burial, clashes broke out as a hundreds of mourners marched towards Israeli soldiers standing by near the funeral, some of them throwing stones at the troops, who responded with clouds of tear gas.
Five Israelis were detained at the funeral, an Israeli army spokeswoman said.
Popular Struggle Coordination Committee spokesman Jonathan Pollack said he and two others were injured by soldiers, and two international activists also detained.
Tamimi was hit by a canister during a weekly Friday protest against the nearby settlement of Halamish, which activists say sits on stolen village land and has blocked their access to the village spring.
A photograph distributed by activists purportedly showing Tamimi seconds before he was hit shows a tear gas canister flying towards him, apparently having been shot from the back of a military vehicle just meters away.
Tamimi was flown by helicopter to an Israeli hospital near Tel Aviv after the incident.
"He was shot from close range, around 20 meters, with a tear gas projectile that hit him in the eye," said Jonathan Pollak, a veteran Israeli activist who was at the demonstration.
Pollak said three other people sustained head injuries during the same demonstration.
A spokeswoman for the Israeli military told AFP on Friday that around 100 Palestinians had taken part in an "illegal demonstration, during which they hurled rocks at security forces, who responded with riot dispersal means."
She said the army provided initial medical care to Tamimi and evacuated him to hospital, but could not provide further details on the incident, which she said was being investigated.
The Israeli rights group B'tselem says Tamimi was the 20th person to be killed at similar West Bank demonstrations over the past eight years. He was the first person to be killed in Nabi Saleh demonstrations in two years.
B'tselem spokeswoman Sarit Michaeli said the group was calling for a full military probe into who shot the fatal round, who ordered the shooting and the practice of firing tear gas canisters directly at protesters.
"The most serious issue is that the military is regularly firing tear gas canisters directly at Palestinian demonstrators risking their death, contrary to their orders," she told AFP.
Shawan Jabarin, head of Palestinian rights group Al-Haq, condemned Tamimi's death as the result of Israeli practices "that violently deny the freedom of expression and assembly by any means necessary."
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=444045
Israeli Military Issues statement, Tweets On The Killing Of Non-Violent Protester
Monday December 12, 2011 09:42 by Saed Bannoura - IMEMC News
In an official statement by the Israeli military, regarding the shooting of a Palestinian protester in the head with a tear gas canister at on Friday, military officials claimed that the shooter, an Israeli soldier in a jeep “did not see” Mustafa Tamimi when he shot him in the face. On Twitter, Israeli military officials tweeted pictures of a slingshot that Tamimi allegedly had in his possession, along with comments implying that the killing was justified because of the slingshot.
http://imemc.org/cache/imagecache/local/attachments/dec2011/460_0___10000000_0_0_0_0_0_mustafa_tamimi_shot.jpg
Shahid Comrade Mustafa al-Tamimi after being shot in Nabi Saleh village (image by activestills.org)
Spokesperson Lt. Col. Avital Leibovich re-tweeted a comment made by Israeli army spokesperson, Major Peter Lerner, “What was Mustafa thinking running after a moving jeep throwing stones?”, along with the hashtag ‘#Fail’, and a link to a picture of Tamimi lying on the ground behind a fleeing Israeli army jeep. The major also tweeted a comment asking “Why on earth did Tamimi, a so-called ‘non-violent’ protester have a full-faced mask? What was he hiding?”
These types of comments, posted before any investigation of the incident took place, are unusual for the Israeli military, which usually withholds comments on the killing of Palestinians by Israeli troops in the immediate aftermath of the incident.
Bloggers and online analysts have challenged the Israeli military’s commentaries on the killing of Tamimi. Phan Nguyen wrote on the Mondoweiss blog, “There’s something depressing about laying out a single slingshot for display as if it were a major arms or drugs cache at a press conference,” and questioning the way that Israeli military officials indicted the victim without any investigation of the incident.
Mustafa Tamimi, a 28-year-old Palestinian activist from the village of Nabi Saleh, was critically injured on Fiday, December 9th by Israeli Forces after he was struck in the face by a tear gas projectile. Mustafa was injured during Nabi Saleh’s weekly unarmed demonstrations against the Israeli settlements on village land. These weekly demonstrations are usually met with severe repression by Israeli Forces, who use excessive force resulting in the injuries of dozens, as well as mass arrests.
According to witnesses, Mustafa was critically injured with nearly half his face gone after being hit with the tear gas canister from close range. As medics attempted to evacuate him to a hospital, Israeli Forces initially prevented the ambulance from letting them leave the area.
At a recent military hearing on the shooting of civilians at Nabi Saleh’s weekly demonstrations against the Israeli Wall being constructed on their land, Major Michel Dahan testified that at each week’s demonstrations, after the initial march was dispersed, “a kind of game would begin between the people throwing rocks and the soldiers trying to apprehended as many of them as possible before sunset.”
Human rights groups have criticized the characterization by Israeli officials of their tactics as a “game”, noting that Palestinian lives are at stake.
http://imemc.org/article/62656
Published Sunday 11/12/2011 (updated) 12/12/2011 17:34
http://www.maannews.net/images/345x230/157386_345x230.jpg
Relatives of Palestinian demonstrator Mustafa Tamimi mourn during
his funeral in the West Bank village of of Nabi Saleh, near Ramallah
December 11, 2011.(Reuters/Mohamad Torokman)
NABI SALEH (AFP) -- Thousands of Palestinians gathered in the West Bank village of Nabi Saleh on Sunday to mourn a man who died after being hit in the head by an Israeli tear gas canister.
Mustafa Tamimi's body was taken from the city of Ramallah in a funeral procession to the central Manara Square before being driven by ambulance to his home village of Nabi Saleh.
Tamimi was critically wounded in the village on Friday by an Israeli tear gas canister that hit him in the head after being fired at close range. He was evacuated to an Israeli hospital but died the next day of his wounds.
In Nabi Saleh, around 2,000 people gathered to receive the 28-year-old's body, which was draped with the Palestinian flag, his head covered with the black-and-white checkered kuffiyeh scarf.
"Our response will come tonight," some mourners shouted, warning that "no one will stop us."
Lawmaker Walid Assaf, head of the Palestinian Legislative Council's committee against settlements, told mourners that peaceful protests should continue despite the incident.
"They want to turn our unarmed struggle into an armed struggle," he said. "But this will not change our policy of peaceful struggle against settlements and against the occupation."
Tamimi's body was taken into his mother's house, where weeping relatives surrounded him for a final goodbye before his burial at the village cemetery.
http://www.maannews.net/images/PhotoViewer/157387.jpg
Mustafa Tamimi reacts after being hit by a tear gas canister
(Reuters/Haim Schwartzenberg)
After his burial, clashes broke out as a hundreds of mourners marched towards Israeli soldiers standing by near the funeral, some of them throwing stones at the troops, who responded with clouds of tear gas.
Five Israelis were detained at the funeral, an Israeli army spokeswoman said.
Popular Struggle Coordination Committee spokesman Jonathan Pollack said he and two others were injured by soldiers, and two international activists also detained.
Tamimi was hit by a canister during a weekly Friday protest against the nearby settlement of Halamish, which activists say sits on stolen village land and has blocked their access to the village spring.
A photograph distributed by activists purportedly showing Tamimi seconds before he was hit shows a tear gas canister flying towards him, apparently having been shot from the back of a military vehicle just meters away.
Tamimi was flown by helicopter to an Israeli hospital near Tel Aviv after the incident.
"He was shot from close range, around 20 meters, with a tear gas projectile that hit him in the eye," said Jonathan Pollak, a veteran Israeli activist who was at the demonstration.
Pollak said three other people sustained head injuries during the same demonstration.
A spokeswoman for the Israeli military told AFP on Friday that around 100 Palestinians had taken part in an "illegal demonstration, during which they hurled rocks at security forces, who responded with riot dispersal means."
She said the army provided initial medical care to Tamimi and evacuated him to hospital, but could not provide further details on the incident, which she said was being investigated.
The Israeli rights group B'tselem says Tamimi was the 20th person to be killed at similar West Bank demonstrations over the past eight years. He was the first person to be killed in Nabi Saleh demonstrations in two years.
B'tselem spokeswoman Sarit Michaeli said the group was calling for a full military probe into who shot the fatal round, who ordered the shooting and the practice of firing tear gas canisters directly at protesters.
"The most serious issue is that the military is regularly firing tear gas canisters directly at Palestinian demonstrators risking their death, contrary to their orders," she told AFP.
Shawan Jabarin, head of Palestinian rights group Al-Haq, condemned Tamimi's death as the result of Israeli practices "that violently deny the freedom of expression and assembly by any means necessary."
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=444045
Israeli Military Issues statement, Tweets On The Killing Of Non-Violent Protester
Monday December 12, 2011 09:42 by Saed Bannoura - IMEMC News
In an official statement by the Israeli military, regarding the shooting of a Palestinian protester in the head with a tear gas canister at on Friday, military officials claimed that the shooter, an Israeli soldier in a jeep “did not see” Mustafa Tamimi when he shot him in the face. On Twitter, Israeli military officials tweeted pictures of a slingshot that Tamimi allegedly had in his possession, along with comments implying that the killing was justified because of the slingshot.
http://imemc.org/cache/imagecache/local/attachments/dec2011/460_0___10000000_0_0_0_0_0_mustafa_tamimi_shot.jpg
Shahid Comrade Mustafa al-Tamimi after being shot in Nabi Saleh village (image by activestills.org)
Spokesperson Lt. Col. Avital Leibovich re-tweeted a comment made by Israeli army spokesperson, Major Peter Lerner, “What was Mustafa thinking running after a moving jeep throwing stones?”, along with the hashtag ‘#Fail’, and a link to a picture of Tamimi lying on the ground behind a fleeing Israeli army jeep. The major also tweeted a comment asking “Why on earth did Tamimi, a so-called ‘non-violent’ protester have a full-faced mask? What was he hiding?”
These types of comments, posted before any investigation of the incident took place, are unusual for the Israeli military, which usually withholds comments on the killing of Palestinians by Israeli troops in the immediate aftermath of the incident.
Bloggers and online analysts have challenged the Israeli military’s commentaries on the killing of Tamimi. Phan Nguyen wrote on the Mondoweiss blog, “There’s something depressing about laying out a single slingshot for display as if it were a major arms or drugs cache at a press conference,” and questioning the way that Israeli military officials indicted the victim without any investigation of the incident.
Mustafa Tamimi, a 28-year-old Palestinian activist from the village of Nabi Saleh, was critically injured on Fiday, December 9th by Israeli Forces after he was struck in the face by a tear gas projectile. Mustafa was injured during Nabi Saleh’s weekly unarmed demonstrations against the Israeli settlements on village land. These weekly demonstrations are usually met with severe repression by Israeli Forces, who use excessive force resulting in the injuries of dozens, as well as mass arrests.
According to witnesses, Mustafa was critically injured with nearly half his face gone after being hit with the tear gas canister from close range. As medics attempted to evacuate him to a hospital, Israeli Forces initially prevented the ambulance from letting them leave the area.
At a recent military hearing on the shooting of civilians at Nabi Saleh’s weekly demonstrations against the Israeli Wall being constructed on their land, Major Michel Dahan testified that at each week’s demonstrations, after the initial march was dispersed, “a kind of game would begin between the people throwing rocks and the soldiers trying to apprehended as many of them as possible before sunset.”
Human rights groups have criticized the characterization by Israeli officials of their tactics as a “game”, noting that Palestinian lives are at stake.
http://imemc.org/article/62656