Click here to view video of the interview with the boy’s father mentioned below. Click here to download it.
by ISM Hebron and Tel Rumeida Project
At 1:15pm on September 1, 2006, in Tel Rumeida, Hebron, two Human Rights Workers (HRWs) were approached by a young boy of approximately six or seven years, and an older man, later identified as his father, Idris Zahadi. The boy lifted his shirt, displaying a contusion on his chest, and said something in Arabic that the HRWs were unable to understand. The young boy communicated that he had been injured, but did not speak either of the HRWs’ languages with sufficient fluency to describe the details to them since they did not speak much Arabic. With permission from Mr. Zahadi, one HRW photographed the victim’s injuries: a small contusion with broken skin on the left temple, and a larger contusion without skin breakage on the lower left chest. The victim then described the incident to his father, who related the events to the HRWs in a videotaped interview.
About one hour earlier, Mr. Zahadi’s son was walking to his home, which requires that he pass in front of the Beit Hadassah settlement on Shuhadah Street. An adult settler with a beard and glasses, possibly in his late twenties, began throwing stones at the boy, who was very afraid. He was struck by two of the stones, in his head and his chest. Mr. Zahadi was not at home at the time, and only found out about the attack upon his return.
Mr. Zahadi was obviously upset by the attack on his son. After finishing his description, he added, “Every day is like this; the soldier can’t do anything! Even if he has bullets it’s no good. You need a policeman here, not the soldiers.”