14 October, 2023 | International Solidarity Movement | Tulkarm
By Diana Khwaelid
The martyr Qassim Hakam Qassim, 24, was one of the young people who answered the call to participate in a mass demonstration in solidarity with Gaza in the city of Tulkarm, in the West Bank.
The martyr Qassim, who grew up in the Tulkarm refugee camp and who has 6 siblings, did not neglect the blood of the martyrs who were killed for Palestine and came out to express solidarity with the people of Gaza, holding the flag of Palestine.
Since the beginning of the demonstration, which took place on Friday 13th of October 2023, Qassim tried to place the flag of Palestine close to the Sanaoz Israeli checkpoint, near the apartheid wall, to affirm the existence of the Palestinian people and their right to reclaim the lands occupied and controlled by the Israeli occupation.
Qassim did not survive the bullet of an Israeli sniper who was watching him from the very beginning. He was hit directly in the head area and died instantly.
An atmosphere of anger and sadness prevailed in the Tulkarm refugee camp, for the funeral of the body of the young man. His family and friends took one last look at him.
He was prayed for at the Al-Salam mosque in the camp, as Palestinians chanted angrily, condemning the continuing murders committed by the Israeli occupation forces in the West Bank and Gaza.
Qassim’s message is not gone: other young Palestinians will follow his path. The message and the voice of liberation do not die when the body dies.