Abstract
Nidal Tamimi, a 23-year-old Palestinian, was shot dead by soldiers of the Israeli Defence Forces at a checkpoint in the West Bank town of Hebron on 22 October 1994. According to Israeli sources, Nidal Tamimi was shot while trying to stab a soldier. Eyewitnesses, however, say he was unarmed, that he was shot while on the ground, that a knife had been placed next to his body as he lay dead.
The killing of Palestinian civilians in the Occupied Territories by Israeli soldiers is not unusual. What gives the death of Nidal Tamini particular significance is that the whole episode was captured on videotape. It provided conclusive evidence that allegations, always denied, of summary execution by the IDF, do occur. Even so, it took the outrage of the foreign media, persuaded by the tape to report what has become a commonplace in the Occupied Territories, to persuade the Israeli government to open an inquiry. Bassem Eïd, a fieldworker for the Israeli human rights organisation, B'Tselem, tells the story of the investigation that unearthed the evidence.