A Palestinian
minister died on Wednesday shortly after an Israeli
border policeman shoved and grabbed him by the
throat during a protest in the West Bank, an
incident Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas
described as barbaric.
Ziad Abu Ein, 55, a minister without portfolio, was
among scores of Palestinian and foreign activists
who were confronted at an Israeli checkpoint while
heading to a demonstration against Jewish
settlements in the occupied territory.
Around 30 Israeli soldiers and border policemen
fired tear gas and sound grenades at the group
and a scuffle ensued in which a border policeman
pushed Abu Ein and grabbed his neck firmly with one
hand. Footage of the incident and pictures taken
by Reuters do not show Abu Ein responding with any
violence.
Minutes later the minister began to look faint and
fell to the ground clasping his chest. He died on his
way to hospital.
It was not clear what caused his death. An
autopsy is being carried out with Palestinian,
Israeli and Jordanian pathologists present, with
the results expected later on Wednesday.
The incident comes at a time of heightened tension
between Israel and the Palestinians, following
months of violent unrest in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv
and the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
Hoping to head off any escalation as well as a
possible erosion of security cooperation with
Abbas's forces, Israel reinforced troops in the
West Bank. It also issued an apology.
"We are sorry about his (Abu Ein's) death," Defense
Minister Moshe Yaalon said in a statement. He said
Israel was investigating the incident as well as
taking part in the autopsy. "Security stability is
important for both sides and we will continue
coordinating with the Palestinian Authority."
PROTESTS
Clashes broke out in a refugee camp near Ramallah
and an Israeli soldier shot and critically wounded a
Palestinian youth, Palestinian medics said. Ramallah
shops were shuttered for the day in protest at
the minister's death.
Israel's army spokesman said the march toward the
settlement involved "approximately 200 rioters"
and was stopped by its forces using "riot dispersal
means." Footage shows the marchers moving
peacefully toward the demonstration, although at
one point an Arab man struck an Israeli soldier with
a flag.
Abbas described the incident as "a barbaric act
which we cannot be silent about or accept". He
announced three days of national mourning and said
"necessary steps" would be taken after an
investigation, but did not elaborate on whether
security ties with the Jewish state would be
affected.
Abu Ein, who was convicted of killing two young
Israelis in a bomb attack in 1979 and released as
part of a prisoner swap in 1985, was a vocal
opponent of Israel's settlement expansion in the
West Bank, which Palestinians want as part of an
independent state together with Gaza and East
Jerusalem.
A leader of Palestinian civil society groups for
decades, Abu Ein was a regular attendee of non-
violent protests and was appointed this year to
head a government-backed protest group, the
Committee to Resist Settlements and the Wall.
Shortly before his death, Abu Ein spoke to
television reporters, sounding hoarse and short of
breath.
"This is the terrorism of the occupation, this is a
terrorist army, practicing its terrorism on the
Palestinian people," he told the official Palestine
TV. "We came to plant trees on Palestinian land,
and they launch into an attack on us from the
first moment. Nobody threw a single stone."
Ten Israelis and a foreign visitor have been killed
by Palestinian assailants over the past three
months, while more than a dozen Palestinians have
also been killed, including most of those who carried
out the attacks.
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