Two deaths and one big lie
Maureen Clare Murphy Rights and Accountability 10 June 2019
▻https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/maureen-clare-murphy/two-deaths-and-one-big-lie
The killing of math teacher Yaqoub Abu al-Qiyan during an early 2017 raid on a Palestinian village was in many respects a typical act of violence by Israel’s colonization project. A Palestinian was left dead, others injured and homes were destroyed – starting with those belonging to Abu al-Qiyan’s family – to make way for a Jewish settlement.
There are unique aspects to his case – he was killed in Israel, not in the occupied West Bank, for one. And thanks to the UK-based research group Forensic Architecture, a moment-by-moment breakdown of the events leading up to Abu al-Qiyan’s death and the state cover-up that followed has been made publicly available. (...)
(...) Israel’s official narrative soon fell apart, but Forensic Architecture “wanted to understand better what had happened in the moments leading to Abu al-Qiyan’s death.”
Mishandling of evidence
The research group has published a new video report ▻https://vimeo.com/337735829
that includes more documentation contradicting Israel’s claims. That documentation includes newly available footage from body and handheld cameras operated by police officers at the scene, a “partial and incomplete” police evidence file, the full recording of the thermal aerial video, and recordings of police radio channels.The body cam footage recorded by one of the officers indicated that Forensic Architecture’s earlier suspicion that Abu al-Qiyan was killed by a single bullet fired at close range while his car had come to a stop – to “confirm the kill” – was unlikely.
The research group also used reenactment at the scene of Abu al-Qiyan’s killing, as well as synchronization of audio and video documentation, 3D modeling and other methodologies, to reach its conclusions. (...)
