Ilham Fathi: "I was on the roof of my house, which is located a few
meters from where Jawaher stood. When the cloud of tear gas moved in our
direction, I went downstairs in order to close the windows. While I was
closing one of the windows, I saw her lose consciousness from the gas
and ran over to her, together with Islam Abu Rahmah, in order to pull
her away. We picked her up together and carried her to my garden. We
called for help and she began to vomit and foam at the mouth."
Islam Abu Rahmah: "I was standing with Jawaher, her mother and my
grandmother in order to watch the confrontation that was going on just
in front of us, in the area of the fence. The wind moved the gas in our
direction, making our eyes itch and tear up. After that she [Jawaher]
began to cough and foam at the mouth. Soon after that she became weak
and lay down on the ground. I succeeded in carrying her as far as the
Abu Khamis home, about 40 meters in the direction of her house, but then
she became terribly weak, vomited violently and foamed at the mouth.
She was having difficult breathing and lost her sense of direction. We
got a few women to help her by waving a paper fan over her face in order
to provide some oxygen. After that she was taken to the hospital."
Saher Bisharat, the ambulance who evacuated Jawaher: "We received
Jawaher near the entrance that is parallel to the fence, which is where
the demonstration was taking place. She was still partially conscious,
answered questions, and said that she had choked on gas. I took her
straight to the hospital" (
See the Palestine Red Crescent Society report).
The army has also claimed that the reports about Abu Rahmeh's injuries
started to arrive only several hours after the incident, in the evening.
That claim is contradicted by a tweet sent by the nongovernmental
organization Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP), which reported the injury of
Jawaher, including her name, in real time (
see JVP's Twitter feed).
The tweet was sent at 2:36pm (4:36 am on the West Coast of the United
States). Wafa, the Palestinian news service, published a report that
includes the injury of Jawaher Abu Rahmah shortly after the event (
Four civilians injured and Israeli journalist arrested in Bilin march").
Also according to "army sources," which remain anonymous, Jawaher Abu
Rahmah suffered from a serious illness, possibly leukemia; the "sources"
postulate that she died from a pre-existing condition rather than tear
gas inhalation. Several sources reject that claim.
Dr. Uday Abu Nahlah: "Jawaher Abu Rahmah was employed in my home on a
regular basis. On Thursday she was at work as usual, healthy, only one
day before her death."
Jawaher had an inner ear infection, which affected her balance, for
which she was recently given a CT scan. The radiologist who performed
the CT scan, Dr. Hamis Al Sahfi'i, confirmed that the brain scan was
normal (
see the CT scan results).
Jawaher had a minor health issue involving fluids in her inner ear. Her
physicians insist that she did not suffer from any illness or from any
symptoms that might, if combined with tear gas, lead to her death.
There is not, nor could there be, any indication that Abu Rahmah had
cancer; in fact, she was in good health. The director of the hospital
refutes the claim that she died from a pre-existing condition:
Mohammed Aida, director of the Ramallah health center where Abu Rahmah
received her care: "Jawaher Abu Rahmah died from lung failure that was
caused by tear gas inhalation, leading to a heart attack. She arrived at
the hospital only partly conscious, and then lost consciousness
completely" (See the hospital's
official medical report [PDF]).
Mohammed Khatib, a member of Bilin's Popular Coordinating Committee:
"The army is trying to evade its responsibility for Jawaher's death with
lies and invented narratives that have no basis. They are spreading
these lies and invented narratives via the media, which is not bothering
to do basic fact checking. Our version is supported by named sources
and with medical documents. In a properly functioning society, the
army's version, which has been spread by anonymous sources, would not be
considered worthy of publication."
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Since yesterday, [Jan. 3, 2011] the Israeli army has been promoting in the Israeli media a mendacious version regarding the events that led to 
