Protesting the revolting death of Jawaher Abu Rahmah

Ami Kaufman By Ami Kaufman January 1, 2011 | Edit
Last night I went to the demonstration in Tel Aviv to protest of the killing of Jawaher Abu Rahmah in Bilin on Friday. Being a family man, it’s hard to be as active as I once was. But I really wanted to go to this one. To put it simply, Jawahar’s death disgusted me.

The ease in which non violent protesters in the territories are killed and injured is revolting. I stood last night in front of the Defense Ministry to point a finger at the man responsible, Ehud Barak, for the death of Jawahar. I joined the chants, “Ehud Barak, Defense Minister, how many female protesters have you killed so far?” The words were not easy to say. I felt uncomfortable. But I said them. And then I said “Democracy is not built on the bodies of protesters”, and it rang true just as well.

And then I saw the police brutality saved for left wingers. I’ve been to my share of demos. When I was a teenager demonstrating against religious coercion, I never saw such force. When I was a student on strike at Tel Aviv University, I never saw such force. When I witnessed the disengagement from Gaza in Gush Katif, I never saw such force. What I did see was the disrespect, maybe even the hate, in the eyes of the policemen.

Below is an unedited video of the footage I took with my pocket camera last night. After 30 seconds, the blocking of the road begins, and some of the arrests start at 5:00. At 9:57 a violent arrest takes place.

Ami Kaufman

Ami Kaufman was chief night editor for Haaretz, for the prominent Israeli financial daily Calcalist, and correspondent on Israeli affairs for 93.6 RAM FM, a joint Palestinian-Israel radio station. His interest in food and cooking led to culinary studies at the "Israeli CIA" (Tadmor, Herzliya) and a brief stint in the restaurant business. Born in Tel Aviv, Ami lives in Bat Yam with his wife and two daughters. In his spare time he blogs at Half & Half.

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