West Bank Killing: 'Self-Defense' From The Occupier's Playbook
The Palestinian Health Ministry confirms Bahaa Abdel-Rahman Rashid, 38, was killed by Israeli fire in Odala. The Palestinian Red Crescent observed 'critical head injury.' Meanwhile, the Israeli military is 'looking into the incident' – a phrase often preceding an anodyne statement about 'self-defense' against 'terrorists' for simply existing under occupation. This isn't an isolated 'incident';
it's a structural reality of military occupation. Since 2021, over 500 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank by Israeli forces and settlers, according to UN figures. There is no 'conflict' in the West Bank between two equal sides; there is an occupier using the full force of a modern military against a largely defenseless population. One might wonder if the media's framing truly reflects
this power imbalance, or if it merely sanitizes the predictable consequences of military rule.