Whitewashing Israeli Murder By Torture: Arafat Jaradat Is Israel's Latest Victim

07 March 2013

By Stephen Lendman

Torture is official Israeli policy. It's longstanding. Palestinian suffering explains best. Thousands every year are subjected to cruel and inhumane treatment. Their physical and emotional scars bear witness.

Accountability is long overdue. Arafat Jaradat is Israel's latest victim. Israel tortured him to death. His body bore clear signs. Autopsy evidence proved it.

Severe upper body bruising, blisters, and blot clots were visible. Multiple broken bones in his neck, ribs, spine, arms and legs were discovered.

Israel initially attributed his death to cardiac arrest. On February 28, Haaretz headlined "Death of Palestinian in Israeli jail not due to abuse or poisoning, autopsy finds."

Israel's Health Ministry said so. It lied. Alleged findings turned truth on its head. Institute of Forensic Medicine officials said Jaradat's cause of death remains undetermined.

Chief pathologist, Dr. Yehuda Hiss, conducted the autopsy. Israeli Health Ministry head, Arnon Afek, witnessed it.

PA chief pathologist, Dr. Saber Aloul was there at the time. His assessment was blunt. Jaradat's body bore clear signs of torture, he said.

Shin Bet interrogators tortured him to death. They were caught red-handed. They denied culpability. Lies and coverup define Israeli policy. They follow all Israeli crimes.

Jaradat was in good health when arrested. Days later he was dead. Israel bears full responsibility.

More tests are being conducted. Final results are expected in about another two weeks. Health Ministry officials claimed bruises and broken bones were "characteristic of findings of a resuscitation."

Israel Prison Service and Magen David Adom medical personnel spent "50 minutes in an effort to save" him.

Perhaps they beat him to death trying. Israel notoriously whitewashes truths. Officials are paid to lie. Death by torture killed Jaradat. He was murdered in cold blood.

"Who killed Arafat Jaradat," asked Gideon Levy? Knowing is as simple as saying Shin Bet. His death became "a national symbol." Hopefully he didn't die in vain.

West Bank anger's on the boil. More on that below. Prison conditions haven't changed. Gulag harshness continues. Palestinians are incarcerated for wanting to live free.

Israel calls them terrorists. Rogue states operate that way. Israel's by far the region's worst.

Palestinians mourn Jaradat's death. Flags on King Hussein High School's roof fly at half mast. His brother Mohammed was with him the night he was arrested.

He viewed his body in the morgue. He remembers ugly bruises on his forehead and legs, swollen wrists, and blood stains in his nose. He was told his ribs were broken.

"Is it possible a person suspected of (stone-throwing) was tortured to death under interrogation," asked Levy.

"Did he really die in the solitary confinement cell at Megiddo Prison, or had he been transferred there after his death in Jamameh in order to blur the fact that he died under interrogation, as his family suspects?"

He was strong and athletic. He hadn't been ill a day in his life. He was a third year Al-Quds Open University student.

He didn't resist arrest. Neighbors said soldiers beat him anyway. They heard him scream. Days later, his family learned he was dead. He's Palestine's latest martyr.

He won't soon be forgotten. Palestinians demand justice. They've been protesting for days. After Friday prayers, thousands rallied supportively. They did so across the West Bank.

Israel responded violently. Nonviolent demonstrators were attacked. Israel does viciously with tear gas, stun grenades, rubber bullets, skunk water, and at times live fire.

Dozens were injured. Clashes broke out near Ofer Prison. High-velocity tear gas canisters were fired. Some hit passing vehicles. Others hit two ambulances.

Calls for a third Intifada are heard. Some believe it started. It's long overdue. Liberation won't come otherwise. Confronting the Israeli beast takes courage. Ending occupation harshness is crucial. Living free matters most.

In February, Israel kidnapped 382 Palestinians. Women and children were included. Multiple neighborhood incursions occur daily.

Palestinians have no place to hide. Police state harshness terrorizes them.

Preliminary Jaradat autopsy results are in. Dr. Saber Aloul conducted Palestine's examination. He said:

"Reason of Death: nervous shock as a result of extreme pain from the intensity of (his) injuries, which resulted from multiple direct and extensive acts of torture."

Signs of severe upper back, spine, chest, and arms bruising were visible. Blood was inside his nose. More was around his mouth. Multiple broken bones in his neck, spine, ribs, arms and legs were discovered.

His heart was completely healthy. No evidence of damage or weakness was found.

Injuries discovered were recent and severe. Torture caused them. Dozens of Palestinians died in detention. Others succumbed after release.

Thousands languish in Israeli gulag hell. Human rights defenders are targeted. Addameer legal researcher Mourad Jadallah said:

"This is a way to (break) the principle of solidarity between the Palestinian people and the Palestinian prisoners, and the case of the Palestinian prisoners in the conscience of the Palestinian people."

Collective punishment is enforced. No one's safe in Palestine. Children are vulnerable like adults. Stop the Wall's Jamal Juma says "Israel's drunk with power."

Its government reflects "right wing fascism." Total control is policy. Viciousness enforces it. Palestinian resistance is brutally targeted. He expects a third Intifada.

People only take so much before exploding. Perhaps it's soon. He and others want Israel challenged judicially.

They want sanctions, boycotts, and divestment imposed. They want long denied accountability.

Israel's whole system is corrupt. It's immoral, oppressive and lawless. Palestinians have a right to live free. They're committed to fight for it.

Last October, Addameer's Ayman Nasser was targeted. He was violently arrested and detained.

He's outrageously charged with supporting Palestinian prisoners. Israel accuses him of calling for their freedom. He spoke for others saying he "supports the prisoners issue even if the cost is my freedom."

Jadallah shares his sentiment. Liberating struggles will continue, he said.

"It's very emotional and sensitive for Palestinians all over the world. They look to the prisoners as the real leaders."

"The prisoners issue means that we are still in occupation and we still have to resist."

"We are ready to pay the price. Just like Ayman said, I am supporting the Palestinian prisoners and I am ready to pay my freedom as a price for my support."

Many others feel the same way. On February 27, Addameer headlined "The Prisons Will Be Gone, and the Shackles Broken."

On March 4, it commemorates its 20th anniversary. Everyone is welcome. Ramallah's Cultural Palace is host venue.

Palestinian art work will be displayed. A photo exhibit will be featured. Cultural performances will follow.

"Together we will bring the prisoners issue to the forefront of Palestinian sentiment." Doing so is vital for everyone to know.

A Final Comment

Eileen Fleming is an author, writer and activist. She's in the forefront of Mordechai Vanunu's liberating struggle.

Her new book is titled "Vanunu's WAIT for Liberty: Remembering The USS Liberty and My Life as a Candidate of Conscience for US HOUSE 2012."

It's the fourth in the series she began writing in 2005. She's been to both sides of Israel's Separation Wall seven times.

She founded the Public Service WeAreWideAwake.org. She did so after her first trip. She's written over 1,000 related articles. She provides information vital to know.

Pre-9/11, she had no interest in politics, she said. That event changed her. It compelled her to travel to Israel and Palestine.

In 2005, she met Vanunu. Israel imprisoned him for 18 years. He exposed its nuclear weapons program. He was released in 2004. He's severely restricted. He can't give interviews. Speaking to foreigners is prohibited.

Fleming was inspired to act. She's does so ever since. She does it honorably. She's supports right over wrong.

She challenges what needs to be exposed and changed. She struggles for what's vital to support. She inspires others to act the same way.

Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago and can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net.  His new book is titled "How Wall Street Fleeces America: Privatized Banking, Government Collusion and Class War" http://www.claritypress.com/Lendman.html Visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com and listen to cutting-edge discussions with distinguished guests on the Progressive Radio News Hour on the Progressive Radio Network Thursdays at 10AM US Central time and Saturdays and Sundays at noon. All programs are archived for easy listening. http://www.progressiveradionetwork.com/the-progressive-news-hour.

 

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