PRESS STATEMENT

11 December 2014

Abu Ein, who was among the peaceful and unarmed protesters along with foreign activists, lost consciousness after being directly shot in the chest with a gas canister by an Israeli soldier and was transferred to hospital where he was pronounced dead shortly afterwards.

Prior to that, three soldiers had grabbed Abu Ein and hit him in the chest, an AFP photographer confirmed.

The assassination by Israeli occupying forces of Abu Ein while leading a peaceful demonstration near Ramallah yesterday is another example of Israel's vicious and arrogant actions committed against the Palestinians. It clearly demonstrates that Israel is responding to Palestinian non-violent resistance with acts of violence, terror and crimes against humanity.

Israel’s actions are nothing short of state-sponsored terrorism, war crime in all the meaning of the word. It is barbarism and savagery of the Israeli occupation

Israel’s use of excessive and indiscriminate violence against Palestinians constitutes war crimes under international law. Israel habitually uses extreme violence, especially against non-violent resistence.

Abu Ein was guilty of nothing more than planting olive trees on Palestinian land that Israel is attempting to steal. The assault on Abu Ein is intolerable and barbaric act that cannot be tolerated nor accepted.

Abu Ein was born in 1959, and was first arrested at the age of 18 in November 1977. In August 1979, he was rearrested by the American CIA and was ‘extradited’ to Israel two years later, where he received a life sentence.

He was released in a prisoner swap in May 1985 and rearrested in July 1985 and held several times later under administrative detention, which means imprisonment without trial.

The UN General Assembly passed several resolutions, including Resolution 36/171, in favor of Abu Ein. The UN General Assembly said Abu Ein was ‘illegally detained’ in a US prison for over two years and that “the sole basis for probable cause against Mr. Ziad Abu Ein was a statement in Hebrew extracted from a person who had no knowledge of the Hebrew language and who was in Israeli custody, whose statement was later withdrawn.”

He assumed several key Fatah positions, including a member of the Fatah Revolutionary Council while previously he served as deputy minister for prisoner affairs.

He was member of Fatah Mobilization and Organization Commission from 2003 to 2007, Deputy Minister of Prisoners’ Affairs in 2006, and his current position is Minister in the President’s Office and Head of the Anti-Wall and Settlement Commission.

With the murder of Minister Abu Ain, Israeli occupiers would fabricate stories in order to clear itself, as they always do. However they bear full responsibility for the killing of Minster Abu Ein and the systematic crimes committed against the Palestinian people.

This new assassination will have severe consequences, for we are determined to continue popular resistance until the Zionist occupation and settlements in the land of Palestine are removed.

The people of Palestine are sure to succeed as did the people of South Africa. This is evident from the movement of boycott, divestment and sanction against Israel (BDS) that is gaining momentum by the day, as well the global solidarity and recognition of the State of Palestine

Embassy of the State of Palestine
612 United nations Road
Dar es Salaam
[email][email protected]