Here is the video of the IDF shooting Bassem Ibrahim Abu Rahmah that I mentioned earlier:
Isabel Kershner has reported on the protest for the New York Times. She offers a version of Abu Rahmah's death "according to other demonstrators," but then counters this with a quote from an Israeli military spokeswoman who says "security forces had been trying to disperse a violent demonstration during which demonstrators threw stones and other objects." A reader who sent this on said "all she has to do is watch the video to see how [expletive] ridiculous this is." The reader added:
In the video the soldiers are strolling about casually, not ducking
rocks. There's no rock throwing visible. The troops are not behaving like they perceive themselves to be under threat. Yet, Kershner gives primacy to
the IDF's version: "An Israeli military spokeswoman said security
forces had been trying to disperse a violent demonstration during which
demonstrators threw stones and other objects." Two paragraphs later
she quotes activists, but no one about what happened in this specific
incident. Compare her to Ynet, who quotes an Israeli protester saying
no stones were thrown.
While it is possible that the protest could have been violent before this video began (although having been in Bil'in during a weekly protest, I doubt it), it is clear that it was not violent when Abu Rahmah was shot. This is the video that has been distributed by Reuters. Is is possible that Kershner didn't see it? Would she have qualified the Israeli military's false account if she had?
