Army Finally Investigating Palestinian Protestor’s Death

Following petitions by lawyers and rights groups, Israeli Military Advocate General Avi Mandelblit has ordered an investigation into the death of Bassem Abu Rahma, more than a year after he was killed. The 30-year-old Palestinian activist was killed in April 2009, during the weekly demonstration in the West Bank village of Bilin, after being hit in the chest by a tear gas canister.

The canister was one of many fired by the Israeli army directly at demonstrators in Bilin that day, as showing in video footage from the protest.

The Military Advocate General previously refused to open a criminal investigation into Abu Rahma’s death, but on Monday changed his decision after expert testimony showed that the tear gas canister was aimed directly at Abu Rahma and was fired in violation of military orders, according to the Israeli news daily Haaretz.

After Abu Rahmah’s death, the Israeli State Attorney’s Office ordered Israeli Police to review its guidelines for dispersing demonstrators. Tear-gas canisters are meant to be used from a distance as a means of crowd dispersal, not shot directly at demonstrators, though this is common practice. The Israeli army has obviously continued violating military orders. Emily Henochowicz, a 21-year-old American citizen, lost her eye in late May 2010, when she was struck by a tear gas grenade at the Qalandiya checkpoint during a peaceful protest following the Israeli attack of the Freedom Flotilla aid convoy.

Video footage filmed during the April 2009 Bilin protest against the Separation Wall being built in the Palestinian village, showed Abu Rahma standing on the eastern side of the wall, and also showed Israel troops firing tear gas canisters directly at demonstrators while in the presence of commanding officers, according to Haaretz.

"Only the insistence of the petitioners, who provided the army with a professional opinion stating there is no doubt that Abu Rahma sustained a direct hit, brought about the decision to investigate,” said Israeli rights groups B'Tselem and Yesh Din. They added that while the news is good, there is no excuse for such a delay in the investigation.

"We hope the long time that has passed since the event won't affect the effectiveness of the investigation, and that today's decision by the Military Advocate General will bring justice to Abu-Rahma's family and the village of Bil'in," the groups said in a statement.

"We are extremely happy that an investigation is finally being opened," said Ahmed Abu-Rahma, the victim's brother, according to Haaretz.

"This should have happened on the day [he was killed], and it is clear that the army opened the investigation because it was forced to, and that in the past year and a quarter it has tried to cover up the shooting of a non-violent protester that it had no reason to harm, let alone kill," Ahmed Abu-Rahma continued.

The Military Advocate General notified Abu-Rahma's family and human rights lawyer Michael Sfard, who had planned to petition the High Court of Justice over the case.