An autopsy conducted at a Palestinian Authority (PA) institute on one of the two Arab rioters who died during the "Nakba (Catastrophe) Day" clashes on May 15 alleges the rioter was killed by a live bullet.
PA Attorney General Abdel-Ghani Al-A'wewy claimed to Reuters that "a fragment from a live bullet was found inside the body of the martyr," adding a live bullet "was the only reason for the death."
The autopsy took place Wednesday at the Palestinian Institute of Forensic Medicine in Abu Dis, just east of Jerusalem. The Judea and Samaria-based Arab Ma'an News Agency cites a source saying the head of the institute, Saber al-Aloul, led the procedure, and that a report is to be published in the coming days.
AFP quoted the extreme leftist group B'Tselem, which coordinated the autopsy with three other leftist NGOs: Defense For Children International, Al-Haq and Physicians for Human Rights. The group stated that two Israeli forensic pathologists, one Palestinian Arab, a Danish and an American doctor took part in the post-mortem.
The rioter, 17-year-old Nadim Nuwara, was part of the 150 local Arabs besieging Ofer Prison, to the north of Jerusalem. The mob threw rocks and burning tires at police and soldiers in an apparent demand to free jailed terrorists, aside from the "Nakba" theme of demonstrating against Israel's very existence.
Arab activists and radical leftists released a CCTV video they claimed showed the two being shot by the IDF as they walked in the area, which the IDF has brushed off as being doctored, noting that only rubber bullets were used in the riots.
Nevertheless, a non-combat IDF soldier was suspended two weeks ago over allegedly shooting a rubber bullet around the same time the first rioter is seen collapsing on CCTV footage. Haaretz reports over the suspension added there was no proof the shot killed the rioter.
"The IDF has found no evidence proving that this soldier's bullet caused (Musaab) Nuwarah's death," the report added, noting that the suspended soldier was part of the communications division, a position that is not allowed to fire unless being attacked first.
The claims against the IDF on the basis of filmed footage has been showed as less than reliable by blogger Elder of Ziyon, who released some more of the CCTV that was not released initially by the leftist groups and Arab activists.
In one section of the video, the two rioters are seen falling but not a drop of blood is left behind, despite the claims that they were shot by bullets that went through their bodies. In both cases the collapsed rioters are removed, and leave behind perfectly clean pavement.
In another piece of the CCTV footage, a staged injury is revealed as obviously faked at the same exact area where the two supposedly were shot.
In the film, a rioter hops on one foot, but apparently his false leg wound was not deemed dramatic enough, as he is ushered to the side while walking normally. The ambulance called to the scene dramatically is sent back without having any role to play.
The common practice of falsifying injuries on film among Arab activists has reached the point where it has been termed "Pallywood."