http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/12/10/us-mideast-israel-palestinians-idUSKBN0JO10720141210 http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2014/12/10/Palestinian-minister-dies-after-confrontation-with-Israeli-troops-in-West-Bank-protest.html
After Netanyahu removed all more or less moderate ministers from his government so that he can continue his ever more dictatorial course, this is the latest provocation. The right to protest is one of the most fundamental democratic rights, but clearly, not in Israel. We have been seeing extreme cases of police brutality in the US and, to a lesser extent, in Europe, but the murder of a foreign minister is quite beyond the pale.
During the protest, Israeli soldiers beat up the minister, resulting in his death very soon afterwards. The whole thing was witnessed by a Reuters photographer and a medic.
Netanyahu has to go, Israel needs to be reigned in. If the Israeli far-right is allowed to maintain its hold on power, a peaceful settlement is not possible. The Israeli far-right has vested interests in the maintenance of the armed conflict - many Likud officials earn vast amounts of money from the defense industry. Hamas and Likud are equally threatening to stability in the Middle East. Netanyahu is every bit as dangerous as Khalid Mashal, and he has repeatedly shown his utter contempt for national and international law.
I saw the footage on Ch4 news tonight. It doesn't look like the soldiers "beat up" the man. He was involved in a scuffle in which, at one point, a soldier had his hand on his neck pushing him away. It then looks a little later that the man had trouble breathing, either from tear gas, or more likely from a heart attack. The soldiers did, very brutally, push one other old man around though. Very bad PR for the Israelis once again. Not that they really care that much.
Egh, it's frustrating that Likud has been allowed to keep this up for so long. If only Netanyahu hadn't won in 1996, we might have actually seen the peace efforts of the early 90s reach real fruition. Undoubtedly, there'd still be fundamentalists, but the conflict would probably be nowhere near what it is today.
Does Israel actually have any international support left? My understanding was that the US was their last big one, and now their relationship's pretty strained.
Holly2003 wrote: I saw the footage on Ch4 news tonight. It doesn't look like the soldiers "beat up" the man. He was involved in a scuffle in which, at one point, a soldier had his hand on his neck pushing him away. It then looks a little later that the man had trouble breathing, either from tear gas, or more likely from a heart attack. The soldiers did, very brutally, push one other old man around though. Very bad PR for the Israelis once again. Not that they really care that much.
He had heavy bruising to his chest. Both the medic and the Reuters photographer stated that he was repeatedly hit in the chest with the butt of a gun. COD was a combination of tear gas inhalation and internal injuries. I think that "beat up" is an accurate description of repeatedly being hit with a rifle butt.
That's not what is shown in the video. Of course the video may not have captured everything. But of course the eye witness footage may not be entirely reliable either. Best to wait for the autopsy before jumping to conclusions.
Holly2003 wrote: I saw the footage on Ch4 news tonight. It doesn't look like the soldiers "beat up" the man. He was involved in a scuffle in which, at one point, a soldier had his hand on his neck pushing him away. It then looks a little later that the man had trouble breathing, either from tear gas, or more likely from a heart attack. The soldiers did, very brutally, push one other old man around though. Very bad PR for the Israelis once again. Not that they really care that much.
He had heavy bruising to his chest. Both the medic and the Reuters photographer stated that he was repeatedly hit in the chest with the butt of a gun. COD was a combination of tear gas inhalation and internal injuries. I think that "beat up" is an accurate description of repeatedly being hit with a rifle butt.
as Holly said - best wait for the autopsy before jumping to conclusions...for starters chest bruising is also very consistent with resuscitation attempts.
thomasquinn 32989 wrote:
And multiple eyewitness reports about repeatedly hitting a person in the chest with a rifle butt can be dismissed offhand, right?
Multiple witnesses said Michael Brown had his hands up when the cop shot him, yet autopsies proved otherwise.
for once in your life try taking a step back and being objective.
1] there are no independent witnesses are there? try keeping that in your line of vision before making global condemnations of things.
2] i saw the footage and the guy who died was as aggressive as his "assailant"
3] as i said wait for the autopsy - that "neck hold" is not strangulation or constriction -it's a push more than anything
4] people will always take sides in an argument and often in the heat and emotion of a situation people tell lies out of loyalty.
5] have a look at the video Ziad Abu Ein actually confronts the soldier 00:03 - 00:08, and that "choke hold is no such thing. a choked man would not be able to return to his assailant so soon after 00:26 (13 seconds later) link
ps - If Palestine ever really wished to be "heard" then the time has come to stop having Govt Spokespersons making inflammatory statements preempting and presuming their own autopsy outcomes. doing so screams of nothing but cover-up and smear campaign.
The only way forward is either a fully independent autopsy or an autopsy involving examiners form BOTH sides with a mutually agreed finding/press release. anything else is NOT worth the time of day