It's almost been a week since Bassem Abu Rahmeh was murdered in the village of Bil'in, and since then, his funeral has taken place, Israel has tried to come up with some sort of statement regarding it, and Bil'in has begun its fourth annual non-violent resistance conference;
The fourth annual Bil'in nonviolent resistance conference started on Wednesday, with over 150 Palestinians, internationals and Israelis participating.
Bil'in, a small village near the central west Bank city of Ramallah, has been conducting weekly nonviolent demonstrations against the Israeli wall for the last four years. Eyad Burnat of the head of the village committee against the Wall and settlements and an organizer of the conference told IMEMC:
"Over 150 people from around the world took part in the conference today; our objective for this conference is to support and expand the nonviolent popular resistance in Palestine."
the villages of Bil'in, Ni'lin, and Saffa, and illegal Separation Wall
but first to the funeral,
Hundreds of Palestinians have marched through the West bank town of Bilin to mourn the death of a Palestinian man killed by Israeli troops during a peaceful protest. Al Jazeera's Clayton Swisher reports on what some observers say is an increase in the level of force Israel uses against unarmed civilians
And of course, the Israeli military has made it's statement via Haaretz;
IDF: Protester's death likely due to unauthorized fire
Israel Defense Forces sources said Saturday a tear gas canister that killed a Palestinian demonstrator Friday at a protest against the West Bank separation fence was likely fired in violation of orders. Bassem Abu Rahmeh, 31, was killed during a protest in the West Bank village of Bil'in, a flash point for confrontations between soldiers and anti-fence protesters.
while they simply can't lie too blatantly, as his murder was caught on film, the article does two things to muddy the waters. First, it keeps spreading lies about the protest- so whereas the PR campaign wants you to believe that
The Bil'in shooting occurred during a protest during which around 100 demonstrators hurled stones at soldiers and tried to destroy the fence, army sources said.
that's not what the video shows, nor what the demonstrators say happened, not at all
"Ibrahim was not even close to the wall when he was a shot from a distance of less than 20 meters. He was carrying a Palestinian flag and shouting that this was a nonviolent demonstration. The tear gas canister hit and entered his chest, killing him," a member of the Popular Committee Against the Wall Nasir Samara explained.
In their statement condemning the killing, the Israeli peace organization Gush Shalom noted:
"This escalation was not caused by the demonstrators' behavior, in which there had been no change, but to new instructions given to the military forces on the ground. Whether by explicit instructions or by a tacit nod and a new "spirit of the commander", the finger on the trigger was loosed and authorization given for the tear gas containers as lethal missiles."
more,
Abdullah was near Bassem when he was hurt."I can say for certain that there was no violence or provocation on the part of the protestors," he says. "The casualty's last words were to the soldiers and police officers: 'Stop firing, stop firing.' And then the grenade hit him and he was critically injured."
Abdullah claims that the increasing incidents of firing on demonstrators in recent weeks, and the growing number of protestors injured and killed in anti-fence rallies, show that the Israelis don't know how to handle the non-violent protests. "When the struggle is armed, the Israelis like it," he says. "They know that with their weapon, with one aircraft, one bombing, they can handle the struggle. But when the struggle is non-violent, and when peace activists from Israel and the entire world are taking part in the demonstrations, it's harder to conceal the truth, to hide the robbery and violence. "We're noticing that they're losing their senses, and this why, over time, they run wilder and become more violent."
According to Abdullah, "We know that what worries the Israelis more is that this style of a non-violent struggle might spread from Bilin, Naalin and other numbered centers and become a wide model. So they are seeking to suppress this model before it spreads even more, because they know our struggle is justified and that they are losing. "Moreover, Bassem was killed when we were trying to enter land which an Israeli court ruled we are allowed to enter."
and then there are the videos, of course;
And in the wake of this murder, the village of Bil'in remains steadfast in its struggle, hosting its fourth annual non-violence conference;
The fourth annual Bil'in nonviolent resistance conference begins
The fourth annual Bil'in nonviolent resistance conference started on Wednesday, with over 150 Palestinians, internationals and Israelis participating.
Bil'in, a small village near the central west Bank city of Ramallah, has been conducting weekly nonviolent demonstrations against the Israeli wall for the last four years. Eyad Burnat of the head of the village committee against the Wall and settlements and an organizer of the conference told IMEMC:
"Over 150 people from around the world took part in the conference today; our objective for this conference is to support and expand the nonviolent popular resistance in Palestine."
I wish them the best, and I wish I was there; for all interested, do go to Palestine, see it for yourself,