17th June 2013 | International Solidarity Movement, Rosa Schiano | Gaza, Occupied Palestine
Friday afternoon, June 14, 2013, Muhareb Abu Omar, a Palestinian farmer aged 48, was wounded by Israeli army fire in the Deir El Balah, in the center of the Gaza Strip.
Omar was irrigating his land in the village of Wadi As-Salqa, 600 meters from the barrier that separates Israel from the Gaza Strip.
Muhareb Abu Omar, 48 (Photo: Rosa Schiano)
Omar reported that Israeli jeeps moved along the border while he was working. Suddenly, after about 10 minutes into the job, at approximately 19:30, a bullet struck him in the right leg. The soldiers probably shot from a jeep hummer.
Omar was alone on his land while other farmers were working in adjacent lands.
“I didn’t hear any firing, the soldiers used silent bullets. Suddenly I found myself wounded. I ran for 50 yards, then I crashed and I cried to my cousins that I was wounded”, said Omar. His cousins transported him to Al Aqsa Martyrs hospital.
Omar’s family is composed of 14 members: Omar, his wife, 8 sons and 4 daughters. Five of his sons work with him on the family land. The whole family depends on the production on this land.
Two of his sons, Nedal and Tareq, reported that Omar was reported to have an intermediate wound in the right tibia.
Dr. Saleman Al Attar, Department of Orthopaedics of Aqsa Martyrs hospital, reported that the general conditions of Omar are good. “The wound shot from a firearm always creates complications. The bullet hit the right thigh and there is the presence of fragments”, said Dr. Al Attar. In the emergency room, the doctors performed a cleansing of the wound, firstly a debridement followed by bandaging. After 3 days or 72 hours, Omar will be subjected to a further removal of devitalized tissue.
The doctors will not remove the bullet. “It is dangerous to remove the bullet as it is located in the neurovascular, where there are the arteries,” said Dr. Al Attar.
The wound is closed. The patient will then be given antibiotics and analgesics for about 4 weeks.
(Photo by Rosa Schiano)
Dr. Al Attar stressed the psychological effect on patients who are aware of the a bullet still inside the body. “The patient will always have the impression of experiencing pain in the area where the bullet is, even if the pain is not real. There are social workers who can provide psychological support for this. Every Palestinian suffering since birth suffers some psychological problems”, concluded Dr. Al Attar.
During the last military offensive of November 2012, the al-Aqsa hospital has received many victims. “The hospital was full, we were trying to save those who were in better condition while others were dying patients in serious condition,” said Dr. Al Attar.
The arrangements for the cease-fire of 21 November 2012 established that the Israeli military forces should “refrain from hitting residents in areas along the border” and “cease hostilities in the Gaza Strip by land, by sea and by air, including raids and targeted killings.”
However, Israeli military attacks by land and sea have followed from the day after the ceasefire, and Israeli warplanes are flying over the sky constantly in the Gaza Strip. Four civilians were killed by the end of the military offensive “Pillar of Defense” and more than 90 civilians have been wounded.
These attacks against the civilian population of Gaza continue to occur amidst international silence.
17th June 2013 | International Solidarity Movement, Rosa Schiano | Gaza, Occupied Palestine
During the night of Friday, June 7, 2013 there was an escalation of attacks by the Israeli navy against the fishermen of Gaza. The Committee of the fishermen of the Union of Agricultural Workers Committees had reported attacks along the coast of Gaza and the arrest of two fishermen, in addition to the destruction of fishing nets.
The two fishermen arrested, Khader Marwan Al-Saidi, 24, and Hassan Ali Murad, 27 years old (Photo: Rosa Schiano)
The two fishermen arrested, Khader Marwan Al-Saidi, 24, and Hassan Ali Murad, 27, were arrested around 3:00 am on Friday and were released the next day, but their boat was confiscated.
The two fishermen live in the Shati refugee camp.
Thursday afternoon, they had gone out into the sea around 15:00 and they were headed south, stopping to fish south of the coast of Shalihat.
The attack
Hassan Ali Murad told us that an Israeli military navy ship began to attack by shooting at the boat at 2:00 in the morning.
“With us there were another 6-7 Hasakas, we were fishing in a group. When the soldiers started shooting all the fishermen escaped, but the engine of our boat was dead and we were not able to escape. We tried to turn on the generator but we did not succeed. ” The fishermen were about 6 miles from the coast. We shouted to the soldiers, “Go away, we’re less than 6 miles!”, But the soldiers continued to shoot”, added Hassan.
The arrest and interrogation
A zodiac boat with a crew of 6 Israeli soldiers approached them. The soldiers ordered the two fishermen to undress, dive into the water and swim to the Israeli navy boat. “The soldiers shot at us while we were swimming”, said Hassan. On board the boat the two fishermen were blindfolded and handcuffed. The soldiers then confiscated the boat of fishermen and all the equipment. Hassan explained that the generator cost about $6,000, the boat cost about $3,000, the equipment about $ 1,000. For a total of $10,000, that fishermen will still continue to pay because they are already indebted to deal with these expenses.
“We were held for about 30 minutes on the Israeli gunship, in the cold, while the soldiers carried on driving the navy boat away. We were lying on the ground and they hit us with their feet behind our heads, then we were hooded. I could not breathe, after half an hour I was dying for the lack of air “, said Hassan. The fishermen were transported to the port of Ashdod in Israel, given a shirt and a pair of trousers and remained handcuffed and blindfolded until 12.00 the next day. Hassan also told us that the soldiers laughed at them and beat them. A doctor then visited them, and informed Hassan he was suffering from various health problems. Hassan replied to him: “What do you want from us? You have taken our boat, you have taken our lives, and now you want to check my health?” The doctor replied that it was his responsibility to check his health. Hassan told him: “I’m not angry about my health, I am angry because I cannot feed my children.” The two fishermen were detained in a room for four hours before being interrogated. An officer asked Hassan if he knew members of Hamas, if they were involved in armed groups and other questions of this kind. Hassan replied to him: “You’re destroying my life and you’re giving me these questions?”. The officer said: “Our concern is to destroy the lives of fishermen,” meaning that this was their mission.
Two years ago, Hassan had already been arrested by the Israeli navy along with his cousin, who had been wounded by a bullet in the leg. “Who will feed our children now? We do not have any other means. Who will pay our debts?” Hassan added.
While listening to the testimony of Hassan, another member of the family intervened, saying: “Every fisherman would rather die and be shot in the head rather than lose their own boat. The boat is our source of life.”
Hassan added that during the interrogation in Ashdod, the officer said, “You can ask a lawyer to get back the boat but its doubtful we’ll return the generator.”
Hassan replied to him: “The lawyer needs a big fee, and I have no means to pay it.” The officer replied: “It’s not my business, it’s the lawyer’s business.”
Back in Gaza, Hassan asked for help from a lawyer but he was told that the procedure would cost a sum of money equivalent to the purchase of a new boat.
Khader Marwan Al-Saidi then intervened, saying that the officer told him, “I must watch over you at sea night and day, and this bothers me. For this reason we destroy the boats.” Khader added that Israeli officials know all about their lives. Khader has recently become a father. The officer told him during questioning: “How’s your boy?”
The official also told him, “You are bringing with you internationals for protection. If international go with you the next time we will strike your boat. We are not afraid of you and we are not afraid of the internationals. Did not think that international accompaniment can protect you. Can we shoot when we want, no one can stop us. “
In addition to the drama represented by the loss of the boat and all their means of subsistence, fishermen also continuously undergo psychological violence. Hassan showed us the pants that the Israeli army had given them. The soldiers said they have the same value of the boat and generator.
Towards Erez, the Release
After the interrogation, which lasted about 30 minutes, the two fishermen were detained two hours before being taken to Erez. The soldiers also shackled the legs of the fishermen and forced them to bend over to pick up a box which contained their work clothes. Then they were forced to walk for 500 meters with hands and feet tied up to a military jeep that brought them to Erez. In Erez two fishermen have were forced to walk another 500 meters.
The Erez crossing was closed. A soldier wanted to bring the fishermen back to Ashdod, while another soldier insisted on allowing them to cross the border. Hassan said that fortunately an elderly Palestinian woman who was returning from an Israeli hospital had reached the border. The woman asked the soldiers to open the pass to go home. After about 10 minutes the soldiers opened the pass. The two fishermen then walked for about 2 miles to get to the Palestinian office, where they were interrogated by the internal security. After interrogation, the two, exhausted and no car, were sitting in the street. The old woman who had passed through the crossing offered them a ride in the car. “You cannot imagine what happened. Even if you saw it on television you would not believe it,” said Khader.
Economic Difficulties
Hassan is married and has four children. In his small home, the bathroom and the kitchen in one room, live 6 people. Hassan has been fishing since he was 10 years old. His father was ill and could not work, so after school Hassan assisted the family fishing.
Khader Marwan Al-Saidi is married and has a child. 14 people live in their house, while the whole family has 70 people in all.
Approximately 24 people depended on the boat that has been confiscated, of which the father is the owner.
The continued attacks against the fishermen and the appeal to the international community
As we listened to the testimony of the two fishermen, we learned that the Israeli Navy was attacking fishing boats off the coast of Soudania in the North of the Gaza Strip. Zakaria Baker, head of the Committee of the fishermen of the Union of Agricultural Work Committees told us that Israeli forces were opening fire on Palestinian fishermen and one of the boats had been surrounded about 2 miles from the coast. Zakaria, who was on the phone directly with those under attack, could not hear them well enough because of the gunfire.
We continued to listen to the terrible testimony of the two fishermen while the tension continued to rise in the atmosphere because of what was happening at the same time.
Hassan sent a message to the international community: “We ask the international community to support the Palestinian fishermen. Israeli authorities have communicated through the media that they will now allow Palestinian fishermen to reach 6 nautical miles from the coast, but in reality are attacking fishermen within this limit, 4-5 miles from the coast. We call on the international community to help and for once hold Israel to account. The people who are most affected are the fishermen in Gaza. Already the situation in Gaza is difficult, we are under siege, we are fishermen attacked every day and while I’m talking to you now the soldiers are attacking other fishermen. Ask the international community to stand by our side. “
The fishermen think that the NGOs could help in covering the costs of the boat confiscated.
Background
Israel has progressively imposed restrictions on Palestinian fishermen’s access to the sea. The 20 nautical miles established under the agreements of Jericho in 1994 between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), have been reduced to 12 miles below the Bertini Agreement in 2002. In 2006, the area consented to the fishing has been reduced to 6 nautical miles from the coast. Following the Israeli military offensive “Cast Lead” (2008-2009) Israel has imposed a limit of 3 nautical miles from the coast, preventing the Palestinians from access to 85% of the water to which they are entitled according to the Jericho agreements of 1994.
Under the agreements reached between Israel and the Palestinian resistance after the Israeli military offensive in November 2012, “Pillar of Defense,” they consented that Gazan fishermen can again fish to 6 nautical miles from the coast. Despite these agreements, the Israeli navy has not stopped attacks on Gaza fishermen, even within this limit. In March 2013, Israel imposed once again a limit of 3 nautical miles from the coast, saying that the decision had been taken following the sending of some Palestinian rockets towards Israel. On Wednesday 22nd May, the Israeli military authorities announced through some media outlets the decision to extend the limit again to 6 nautical miles from the coast.
16th June 2013 | The Electronic Intifada, Joe Catron and Patrick Strickland | Occupied Palestine
Activists demonstrated internationally on Friday as part of efforts to focus attention on Israel’s aggression against Palestinians in Jerusalem.
Global March to Jerusalem participants called for solidarity with political prisoners, an end to the occupation and for national unity. (Dylan Collins)
The international mobilization followed the first Global March to Jerusalem on 30 March — the date marking Land Day, commemorating Israel’s killing of six Palestinian citizens in 1976 — last year.
“Clear vision”
“Gaza deserves all the support we can give,” said Zaher Birawi, Global March to Jerusalem’s international committee member and spokesperson. Birawi arrived in Gaza last week with the aid convoy Miles of Smiles 21’s international delegation for the event. “But it should be in the context of fighting the occupation, with a clear vision toward Jerusalem.”
Birawi, who is a London-based television producer from Asira al-Shamaliya in the West Bank, added, “Gaza alone is not the issue … Jerusalem, and the whole occupation, is the issue.”
While associated with Islamic movements, primarily in Palestine and other Arab countries, the event does not restrict its appeal or participation, Birawi said. Jerusalem, he said, “is not a Palestinian duty only. It is for Palestinians in a political context, maybe. But in a cultural and religious context, Palestinians are not the owners of the city. It is for all people and all religions, and should be protected by the whole world.”
This year’s march came amid rising tensions between Jerusalem Palestinians and Israeli occupation forces. Israeli soldiers and settlers have repeatedly invaded the al-Haram al-Sharif complex, which contains the Dome of the Rock and al-Aqsa Mosque.
And a 4 May attack by Israeli police on worshipers celebrating Holy Saturday outside the Church of the Holy Sepulchre prompted a rare public rebuke by the heads of Christian churches in Jerusalem (“A statement regarding police measures on Holy Saturday,” Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem, 13 May 2013).
The movement urging boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) against Israel has targeted many of the companies that support Israel’s occupation and settlement of Palestinian land in Jerusalem. Some, like the French corporation Veolia, have suffered painful losses as a result. Others, such as the British-Danish security company G4S, face growing campaigns.
In Jerusalem, nearly a hundred Palestinians, accompanied by a handful of international activists, assembled at the Damascus Gate in the Old City following Friday prayers last week.
“One homeland”
Although the demonstration was peaceful, a larget contingent of Israeli police quickly moved to block exits in the Damascus Gate area.
Demonstrators of all ages were draped in Palestinian flags, and chants were led by a group of older women. They called for solidarity with political prisoners, an end to the occupation and for national unity. “One homeland from Gaza to the West Bank,” several chanted.
As the march began, Israeli officers on horseback cut the line in half. Dozens of police in riot gear immediately poured into the area.
Before the march could reach some 50 meters, the police officers attacked several protesters and bystanders alike. A female foreign national was snatched up, handcuffed and stuffed in the back of a police car, though it was not clear if she was part of the demonstration.
In one instance, an Israeli officer pushed a Palestinian photojournalist to the ground. Once he hit the pavement, he was kicked several times by officers until fellow journalists and demonstrators helped lift him up and drag him to safety.
Making no distinctions, officers on horses repeatedly charged in the direction of civilian bystanders, press and Palestinian medical services.
Seventeen-year-old Muath Abu Irshaid was arrested for “taking part in an unlicensed demonstration,” according to Raja Eghbariya of the secular Palestinian nationalist movement Abna al-Balad, which sent a bus of participants to Jerusalem.
In the northern Gaza Strip, a large demonstration was held at the Erez checkpoint in Beit Hanoun at the boundary with Israel. Buses from as far south as Rafah — on Gaza’s border with Egypt — streamed into the protest site after Friday prayers as protestors mingled on a road stretching from a stage near the closed crossing.
“The whole world must learn about the settlements in Jerusalem,” said government worker Mahmoud Kamel, who attended the march with his eight-year-old son Obeida. “This is the first thing. There are no reasons for the policies against civilians in Jerusalem. And they are taking place on land that has been ours since before our grandfathers and grandmothers.”
In Beit Hanoun, members of Hamas and Islamic Jihad held the majority of partisan flags and signs. Members of other factions also participated, albeit in smaller numbers.
“We want peace, freedom and security,” said Mahmoud Rouka, a Palestinian Democratic Union (FIDA) activist. “We want to be able to travel across our own country. The Global March to Jerusalem is a time for Palestinian people here, in the West Bank, in ‘48 [present-day Israel], and in other countries around Palestine to look toward Jerusalem.”
Palestine Liberation Organization member parties, including Fatah, endorsed the Beit Hanoun gathering but their members kept a low profile during it. In the West Bank, Fatah-affiliated media announced and reported local events.
Fear
Organizers suggested that Fatah’s increased participation this year may have stemmed from the success of last year’s march, as well as expectations of large protests inAlexandria and Cairo, where Egypt’s governing Muslim Brotherhood mobilized alongside the al-Asala, al-Nour, and al-Wasat political parties.
Compared to last year, the turnout was notably smaller in Jerusalem. Eghbariya said that “some activists, political parties, and even the Islamic movement [in Israel] declined to participate because of a rumor that the event was organized by Hamas and the fear that Israel would respond harshly.”
Dr. Sarah Marusek, a Global March to Jerusalem international committee member and spokesperson from Brooklyn, New York, who also arrived in Gaza with Miles of Smiles 21, confirmed these concerns. “There was a lot of fear to organize in Jerusalem — it’s very difficult right now, because there have been so many arrests in Jerusalem,” she said. “Many of the student leaders who were working with us before are now in Israeli prison. This political situation has made it hard to mobilize.”
One of the organizers of the West Bank events last year, according to Marusek, wasHassan Karajah, the 28-year-old youth coordinator of the Stop the Wall campaign who was arrested by Israel in January.
Marusek added that smaller numbers across the region stemmed from organizers’ late start planning this year’s events, due to the conflict in Syria.
“Daily aggression”
Tamer Khalefa, a local organizer of the Global March to Jerusalem, said the march would be staged again next year. “It’s important to mark the anniversary not just because of daily aggression at al-Aqsa [mosque] but also because of the general situation in Jerusalem,” he said. “This includes home demolitions, anti-Arab discrimination, land theft and all human rights violations.”
Clashes between protesters and the Israeli military also occurred across the West Bank, particularly in areas near Bethlehem and Ramallah.
In Bilin, a village featured in the acclaimed 5 Broken Cameras documentary film, Palestinian, Israeli and international activists were attacked by Israeli forces who fired rubber-coated steel bullets, tear gas and stun grenades near Israel’s wall in the West Bank.
Other Global March to Jerusalem events occurred in Argentina, Canada, Germany, Indonesia, Jordan, Malaysia, Mauritania, Norway, Pakistan, Russia, Tunisia, Turkey, the United Kingdom, the United States, and Yemen, according to the march’s organizers.
“Coordinating a global movement is really difficult,” Marusek said. “But it’s really inspiring.”
Contacts established during the 2012 Global March to Jerusalem made it easier to mobilize quickly this year, she said. “This is our second GMJ, so we had already created a structure of networks and relationships. We already had key contacts in place. We have national committees in Palestine, in Gaza and the West Bank.”
“We try to choose people who can work with all the parties” as local coordinators in the Middle East, she said. “It’s an international movement, but it’s also very much Palestinian-led. It can be a struggle working with Europeans and North Americans who are used to working on projects that are more activist-led.”
“We are a peaceful movement, and we expect Israel’s response to be violent,” Marusek said. “But nonviolence is the path we chose.”
Patrick O. Strickland is a freelance journalist whose writing has appeared in Al Jazeera English, Al Akhbar English, The Electronic Intifada, Middle East Monitor, Palestine Monitor, and others. Follow him on Twitter @pstrickland.
12th April 2013 | International Solidarity Movement, Burin, Occupied Palestine
UPDATE 16th June: On Wednesday 12th of June Burin’s cultural centre was invaded again by the Israeli army. They entered the village at 2am breaking into the Bilal Najjar Cultural Centre and taking documents and the centre’s official stamp. The army spent around two hours in the village also breaking into the future cultural centre that is under construction and taking photos of it. The Bilal Najjar Cultural Centre has been closed since the army invaded it on the 11th of April, damaged the building and destroyed all resources within.
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At 2am on Thursday 11 April Burin village near Nablus was invaded by over ten army jeeps, 100 soldiers and border police. The Army raided houses arresting 3 young men from the village and destroying the cultural centre used by the community.
Destruction of Burin Cultural Centre
Solidarity activists entered the village shortly after 2am and witnessed soldiers all over the village, detaining a youth and raiding several homes. They were able to enter the home of one family and stay with them as the Army pulled back at around 4:30am. The family had several small children including a baby. Soldiers entered the home, questioning one of the family members and checking the families computer. The family regularly suffer harrassment from the Army due to their community activity, with the last invasion of their home only 10 days before.
The Army appeared to be targeting members of the cultural centre in the village, which is used to organise events, teach english and is a space for local people and youth to use computers and learn. The centre was destroyed , donated computers were thrown on the floor and the doors and equipment were smashed.
Destruction of Burin cultural centre
Saed Suhail Najjar (18), Muhammad Najjar (20) and Oday Eid (21) were arrested by the Army and are currently still being held with no contact with their families or lawyers. They were all regular attendees at the Cultural Centre. Burin village is regularly invaded by the Israeli Army due to its steadfast resistance to the stealing of village land by the illegal settlements of Yitzhar and Bracha.
These illegal settlements are particularly notorious and the villages surrounding them regularly suffer settler harrassment. On Friday 12 April settlers entered the village of Urif and burnt trees, attacked farmers and damaged property. Settler harrassment has been steadily increasing across the West Bank and are supported by the Israeli Army. In 2008 the nearby village of Asira al Qibliya was subject to a rampage by armed settlers, while soldiers looked on and passed their weapons to them. Several Palestinians were shot and several more have been killed in the villages that surround the illegal settlements. Under international law all these settlements are illegal and despite this fact, Israel continues to build on Palestinian land, stealing more land from villagers who them suffer harrassment from the illegal inhabitants
16th June 2013 | International Solidarity Movement, Ramallah Team | Nabi Saleh , Occupied Palestine
M. and A. are two independent paramedics who regularly attend different protests against Israeli occupation of the West Bank. Israeli forces usually respond to Palestinian popular resistance with extreme violence, including the shooting of tear gas canisters, rubber coated steel bullets and live ammunition. Considering that injuries are very common and that the nearest hospital is usually far from the village where the protests are taking place, the presence of medical personnel in these demonstrations is essential and highly appreciated by protesters.
Last Friday, we had the opportunity to talk to M. and A. during the weekly demonstration in Nabi Saleh, which they regularly attend.
International Solidarity Movement: How long have you been volunteering as paramedics? Why did you choose to volunteer?
M: Since 2009. In the beginning I was working in a project with the Danish Red Cross Youth and then I joined the Red Crescent.
A: I have been volunteering since 2004. I do it because I like to help people and this is the way I want to do that.
ISM: You go to a lot of demonstrations as paramedics – why do you think that these protests are important to the community and to Palestine?
M: Well it is better to do something than to do nothing. Also, when there are medics at demonstrations people have more courage to go to the front because they know that we are there to assist them in case something happens.
A: As you know, we live under occupation so people have to move and do something to end it. We have to protest and attend demonstrations anytime and anywhere.
Protesters marching at last Friday demonstration in Nabi Saleh (Photo by Tamimi Press)
ISM: Nabi Saleh demonstration, for example, receives a lot of press coverage. What lesser known demonstrations do you cover and how are these different?
M: Sometimes there are protests at Ofer during the night and no one knows anything about this. This is one of the unknown protests. Also at Qalandiya, there is no press, there are often no medics, only a few people there. I go sometimes to these clashes. A. is always there.
A: Yes, I’m always there, at Ofer, Qalandiya. But no one knows about it. All the media is in Ni’lin, Bil’in, Nabi Saleh – the villages outside Ramallah. Those other places, nobody know about them, especially the media. However, I think the places where there is no media can be good for shabab (Palestinian youths) as they can do whatever they want for the resistance.
M: But it is also good for the soldiers, they can also do whatever they want and no one will film them.
A: This is the difference. But even if there is media, the Israeli soldiers can do whatever they want, no one can stop them, we know that.
ISM: Do you think that the presence of internationals, such as ISMers, makes any difference at demonstrations in Palestine?
M: Actually,there is difference between internationals and ISMers. Some internationals like to be here because they think they are going to liberate this country but they are actually doing nothing, they are just messing up the situation more and more. But some people, like ISMers, do something at least. They try to help in an organised way. But it depends, there are different internationals, some just come to see what is happening, some come to take photos, there are differences. It depends on which international we are talking about.
A: I will say like him, in short way, there are people who come here just to take a photo, like if this was an adventure. They think there is adventure in the West Bank so they come. And there are people who come to support Palestinian cause and popular resistance.
M: Some people think it is a game.
A: Yes, they think there is adventure – they think “let’s go to see it, to try it”.
ISM: There have been some deaths of paramedics. Do you think medics are deliberately targeted at demonstrations?
M: There is a difference between us, medics who work in the field, and people who work in the ambulances. The Israeli forces target a lot of ambulances in Gaza and also the hospital there. But, yes, sometimes they do target us as well. Sometimes they just shoot directly. If there is no media, then they’re just going to do it. They did it at Ofer and also here at Nabi Saleh several times. One time he [pointing at A] got shot – they shot him directly with a tear gas canister. Directly at him. He ducked just in time, so he didn’t get shot in the head.
A: They tried to kill me!
M: Once they targeted me when I was with just a couple of other protesters before the demonstration – because there was no media, and it was before the protest had started they just shot directly at us. So yes, sometimes they do this, yeah. They don’t care.
A: They think we are Palestinian so we have to die. They don’t care if we are medics or not. They target everything.
M: Also at Qalandiya on Nakba Day, they [Israeli forces] started restricting the ambulances from the PMRC and the Red Crescent – they don’t want them to help the shabab (Palestinian youths) because if there are more ambulances, the shabab will just keep going, because they know someone will carry them and help them if they get shot.
Palestinian medics evacuate a Palestinian youth after he was shot by Israeli soldiers during clashes at Ofer prison (Photo by Activestills)
ISM: You told us about the Israeli army aiming at your head – could you tell us about your injuries?
M: Yes, that day I was walking towards him [A] and then they started shooting directly tear gas at his back so I shouted [A] at him, so he turned and ducked and just got two shots in his legs. They [Israeli soldiers] called the ambulance and told them “Yeah, one of your medics got shot.”
A: Yes, they called the driver and asked him “how is the medic? If you want to take him to hospital, you can go through the checkpoint – you can cross it.” But actually they wanted to arrest me. I didn’t go in the ambulance.
M: A bit later, the ambulance took someone else and the soldiers stopped the ambulance for fifteen minutes – checking the ambulance.
A: They were asking the driver “where is the medic?” – the ambulance driver called me and said “they’re looking for you.” They had been targeting me – he shot me from close distance, maybe 40 metres. He saw it – and then they wanted to arrest me. About my injuries? I don’t know about him [M], but me, I have been injured many times. At Nabi Saleh, Ofer, Qalandiya, Bili’in,
M: They also once shot directly at us just over there [pointing] but I went like this [dodging] – so it hit him!
A: I am like a magnet.
ISM: So this is despite the fact that you are wearing medics’ clothes and backpacks – you are easily identified as medics?
M: Yes, it’s obvious that we are medics, so they shouldn’t be shooting us or targeting us, according to international humanitarian law. But they don’t care about this.
A: Actually, with this uniform they are targeting us, we are clear – “there is a medic, we can shoot him directly now, he is clear for us.”
ISM: So you spoke about the ambulance being stopped at the checkpoint and searched, obstructing medical care. In what ways has the Israeli army obstructed your work?
M: Actually the thing with the ambulance has an explanation – they [the Israeli army] are allowed to check ambulances for fifteen minutes – no longer than that. Because in the second intifada there was a suicide bomber inside an ambulance and they stopped it at Jabaand the Israelis brought all the media and filmed it. So since that they are allowed to stop the ambulances and check them for fifteen minutes. That was part of the agreement.
Once in Nabi Saleh they didn’t allow the ambulance to get in after a girl who got shot down the hill with a tear gas canister. For three hours we kept calling the Red Cross, the Red Crescent but nothing happened. In the end they brought another ambulance from Nablus – so they came from the other direction. And there was a guy who got shot with a rubber coated steel bullet from a short distance, grazing the top of his head and leaving him with a three centimetre cut – but he was fine. They [the ambulance crew] told him, if we pick you up and take you to the hospital then they’re going to arrest you. So he decided to stay in Nabi Saleh. After that, when a guy got shot with a dum dum bullet – that’s the only time that they let the ambulance get out. We had to take the other two guys with a service [shared taxi] to Ramallah hospital.
ISM: How many injuries do you usually treat at a demonstration, and what kind of injuries are they typically?
A: That depends! If the soldiers are having a nice day, maybe they will shoot fifteen, sixteen. But if they’re angry, more than this number. Twenty, twenty-five.
M: They use tear gas and rubber coated steel bullets – the worst is the rubber coated steel bullets, because they go randomly and hit many people. When they aim with live bullets they just shoot one guy, but when it’s rubber coated bullets, it’s spread over many. It also depends if you want to count the tear gas inhalation as an injury.
A: You can see, in Nabi Saleh there are maybe five or six injuries in the protest. Maybe more sometimes. But if you look at Ofer, eighteen, nineteen – even one hundred, sometimes even more.
M: Usually they just use tear gas and rubber coated steel bullets. I think in Nabi Saleh there was just one guy who was shot with live ammunition.
A: In Nabi Saleh, no, not just one. Three. One of them was shot on this mountain in his leg with a live bullet. Another in his hand. And Rushdi, who died last year, was shot in his leg on that mountain.
A medic treating an injured protester from rubber coated steel bullet in Nabi Saleh (Photo by Tamimi Press)
ISM: Were there medics there when Rushdi was killed?
M: No, we were not here, because they shot him on Saturday – it wasn’t a demonstration day. In the beginning they shot him with a rubber coated steel bullet so he couldn’t move, and then they shot him with live – just like that.
A: When he was on the ground. The bullet passed through his leg and stopped in his back. He died after five days.
M: In the beginning they didn’t allow him to be taken to hospital – they tried to arrest him.
A: Yes, they tried to arrest him, they were pulling him. When he was shot there were three metres between him and the soldiers and he was on the ground.
ISM: You were present at the demonstration when Mustafa Tamimi was killed – can you tell us a little bit about that?
A: I don’t know what you want exactly…I saw him when he died. Before he got shot, I was on the mountain – a bulldozer was brought into the village, so all the shabab chased the bulldozer and threw stones. The jeep turned around down there [pointing to the road into the village] and came back. There was Mustafa and someone else close to the jeep, throwing stones – they were like four metres away. Then the soldier in the jeep got an order from his commander that said “shoot him.” So he shot directly into his [Mustafa’s] face.
The canister went inside his face like five centimetres – so when I went to him and looked at him, I told everyone nearby “he has died. We can’t do anything for him.” We carried him and put him in a service and sent him to the soldiers at the checkpoint. The commander said “he is fine, but we’ll take him to the hospital now”. But then they kept him like half an hour at the checkpoint, on the ground – they took him out of the service and put him on the ground – after that they took him with a military ambulance to a village further down and then took him in a helicopter to a hospital in forty-eight, near Tel Aviv.
They took him there and the doctor said “his eye is okay” – but his eye was not okay! I saw it out, beside his face. I brought it back to his face. His brother told me, the doctor says he is okay, he will live, we will fix his face – but he’ll have to stay in the hospital four or five months for treatment. But I told them – he has died. When we carried him from the ground, he was dead. But no one believed me you know, because I’m not a doctor. But the next day they believed me, when the hospital said “he is dead.”
They [the Israeli authorities] did that just to stop people reacting – because if they know he is dead, something bad will happen. I think, if the people had known then they would have continued demonstrating and there would have been more people dead after Mustafa. But the soldiers came back and said, “he is okay, don’t worry”. They gave his family and other people from the village permits to go to the hospital to visit him. They never give these to anyone, but they gave five permits to Nabi Saleh that day. They just wanted the people to calm down that day. The next day, they said he was dead and sent him to Ramallah hospital.
