http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/12/world/middleeast/palestinian-official-ziad-abu-ein-death.html 2014-12-11 13:54:05 Doctors Offer Contradictory Interpretations of Palestinian Official’s Death The Israeli pathologists said Ziad Abu Ein had died of a heart attack, but a Palestinian forensic expert told reporters that Mr. Abu Ein had died as a result of violence. === JERUSALEM — Israeli and The Israeli pathologists concluded that Ziad Abu Ein, 55, had died of a heart attack that could have been caused by stress. A statement on the preliminary autopsy report issued by the Israeli Health Ministry noted that Mr. Abu Ein might have been more susceptible to stress because he had heart disease. The Palestinian forensic expert, Dr. Saber Al Aloul, told reporters in the West Bank city of Ramallah that Mr. Abu Ein had died as a result of violence and not from natural causes, according to Wafa, the official Palestinian news agency. While the two sides agreed that Mr. Abu Ein suffered a blockage of the coronary artery because of hemorrhaging in the inner lining of the heart that was likely the result of stress, Dr. Aloul emphasized wounds to Mr. Abu Ein’s front teeth, bruises on the tongue, neck and windpipe. Ehab Bessaiso, the spokesman for the Palestinian government, said, “Today, based on the autopsy results, we hold the Israeli government accountable for the murder of Ziad Abu Ein.” Dr. Chen Kugel, the Israeli chief pathologist who participated in the autopsy alongside Palestinian counterparts and Jordanian doctors late on Wednesday, told Israel Radio that the mouth wounds and bruising “could have been caused by violence,” but in the Israeli doctor’s opinion, “this is more compatible with the results of resuscitation efforts.” Mr. Abu Ein, who held the rank of minister in the Palestinian Authority and whose portfolio was the struggle against the Israeli West Bank barrier and the settlements, died on Wednesday after being shoved by Israeli soldiers and border police officers trying to prevent demonstrators from reaching a patch of land where they intended to plant olive trees near an Israeli settlement outpost. Images from the scene showed a member of the security forces shoving Mr. Abu Ein while grabbing him roughly by the neck. Witnesses said one of the Israeli soldiers, wearing a helmet, head-butted Mr. Abu Ein in the chest. The security forces also fired tear gas at the protesters, who held olive branches and Palestinian flags, in an effort to disperse the demonstration. Thousands of Palestinians streamed to the Ramallah headquarters of President Mahmoud Abbas of the Palestinian Authority to honor Mr. Abu Ein, a senior member of Mr. Abbas’s party, Fatah, and of its Revolutionary Council, or parliament. Mr. Abu Ein was to be buried on Thursday in a nearby cemetery. After Mr. Abu Ein’s death, Mr. Abbas called for three days of mourning, and Israel bolstered its forces in the West Bank in anticipation of rising tensions and clashes. The episode has threatened to grow into a crisis between Israel and the Western-backed Palestinian Authority amid calls for a halt in security coordination between the two sides, a policy that is unpopular with many Palestinians but that serves as a foundation of Israel’s relations with the Palestinian Authority in the absence of peace talks. Mr. Abbas convened an emergency meeting of the Palestinian leadership in Ramallah on Wednesday night but decided to delay any decision on countermeasures against Israel.