In an excessive use of lethal force, on Tuesday morning, 20 August 2013, Israeli occupation forces killed a Palestinian civilian and wounded 3 others, including 2 children, in Jenin refugee camp in the northern West Bank.
Majd Mohammed Lahlouh al-Shahla (Photo by Ma’an News Agency)
According to investigations conducted by the Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR), at approximately 04:30 on Tuesday, 20 August 2013, Israeli forces in 12 military vehicles moved into Jenin refugee camp. They patrolled the streets and surrounded a house belonging to the family of Bassm al-Sa’di, a leader of Islamic Jihad. They then raided and searched the house. In the meantime, a number of Palestinian children and young men gathered and threw stones and empty bottles at the Israeli forces. Immediately, Israeli soldiers fired live ammunition, rubber-coated metal bullets, tear gas canisters and sound bombs at the stone throwers. As a result, Majd Mohammed Lahlouh al-Shahla, 21, was seriously wounded by a live bullet to the chest. He was evacuated to Dr. Khalil Suleiman Hospital in Jenin, but medical efforts to save his life failed. According to medical sources, the bullet entered al-Shahla’s right armpit and settled in his heart. Additionally, another 3 civilians, including 2 children, were wounded:
1- ‘Alaa’ Jamal Abu Khalifa, 17, wounded by a live bullet to the side;
2- Kareem Subhi Abu Sbaih, 17, wounded by a live bullet to the side; and
3- Hadi Jamal Lahlouh, 23, wounded by a rubber-coated metal bullet to the chest.
PCHR expresses deep concern for this crime which reflects the continued use of excessive force by Israeli forces against Palestinian civilians in disregard for their lives.
PCHR calls upon the international community to take immediate and effective actions to put an end to such crimes and reiterates its call for the parties to the Fourth Geneva Convention 1949 to fulfill their obligations under Common Article 1; i.e., to respect and to ensure respect for the Convention in all circumstances, and their obligation under Article 146 to prosecute persons alleged to commit grave breaches of the Fourth Geneva Convention. These grave breaches constitute war crimes under Article 147 of the same Convention and Article 85 of Protocol I Additional to the Geneva Conventions.
3rd July 2013 | International Solidarity Movement, Khalil Team | Dura, Occupied Palestine
On Tuesday, between two and four a.m., the Israeli occupation forces invaded the town of Dura, near Hebron in the West Bank and killed 19-year-old Moataz Idris Sharawneh. They shot him with three dum-dum bullets to the chest (a weapon declared illegal under international law)[1]. Then while he lay on the ground he was severely beaten by the soldiers and run over with their jeep, at which point he died.
Poster made about Moataz’s martyrdom (Photo by ISM)
Soldiers prevented friends and family members from reaching Sharawneh to get him medical treatment. As Sharawneh’s nephew tried to reach him, soldiers shot him in the arm with a dum-dum bullet and then arrested him; since then, no one has heard from him. ISM spoke with the family in Dura yesterday, and his sister Nevin, who is studying to be a medical secretary, related a detailed account of his life and martyrdom.
This is what Nevin shared with us.
Throughout his life, Moataz acted out of love for his country and supported his people’s resistance. He was on the front lines whenever there were clashes with the military, and he was also attending a military college in Jericho with the intent of becoming an officer.
His first goal was to pass his high school exams to get into the military college, to be able to defend his country. His family tried to keep him out of clashes, but they couldn’t because he was determined to resist the occupation and regarded martyrdom as a honourable act. Four years ago, even at 15, he presumed that he was going to be a martyr. On his Facebook account he had a page about the martyrs of Palestine, stating that they are above all of us.
Previously Nevin would laugh when the boys were in the street trying to catch the jeeps. Whenever Moataz came from clashes, his hands were black from tires. He would say that he was fixing car tires, in order to hide his participation from his mother and so that she wouldn’t prevent him from going out.
He was the main provider for his family, after the death of his father four years ago. In between semesters in college he was working in construction, to raise money for his studies and help his family. He was very close to his sister Nevin, who described them as “one soul in two places”. He was so good to his family that he never said no to them. However, he would never agree to anything that was wrong, and he was always trying to fix things, giving advice to his friends when needed. He always wanted to make things right.
Like many young people, he didn’t pray, but a week ago he started to pray a lot. In every call for prayer he was the first to go to the mosque. He was waiting for the next prayer. On Sunday night between 2-5 am he was praying in the mosque and he said he wanted to pray until his last breath. Two days before he started to have strange dreams, seeing his father. The day before his death, he was silent all day, but he was smiling to everyone as usual.
A month ago there was an incident, something had been set on fire, and all of his friends were implicated and arrested. He told his mother and his sister, “All my friends are in prison, so I guess I’m the next”. He had a friend, called Islam Asir, who was killed by the Israeli soldiers two years ago. Moataz had his friend’s jacket, the one Islam was wearing when he was killed. Last night he said to his family that he wanted to wear this, so that he would be with his friend if he was imprisoned or martyred.
In the evening before his martyrdom, he prepared to go to a friend’s wedding. He had a shower and he shaved and went to the party. He told Nevin to prepare his dinner for when he came back. When he returned, he sat with Nevin, his nephews and nieces in his sister’s room, and they were talking and having fun and stayed awake until 1:30 a.m. Then Nevin told him to go to sleep.
Nevin had just fallen asleep, when she was awakened by a loud noise. She opened the window and the door of her room. Moataz was standing in the corridor and asked what was going on. She told him she heard soldiers outside. She looked out of her window and saw two Israeli jeeps.
The last words he said to his family were “God; resistance” (Allah, al moqawama).
A memorial set up in the place where Moataz Idris Sharawneh was killed (Photo by ISM)
The first thing the family heard was that Moataz was injured by a bullet in his stomach. Just an hour after he went to the street, his brother called them to say that Moataz was in the hospital and he was dead.
His nephew, Bahaa Sharawneh, was with him when they went out on the street. He was also wounded in his hand, but he was never able to go to the hospital. The Israeli soldiers took him with them and until now the family has not heard anything news about him.
One of Moataz’s friends, who was at the scene where this happened, told the family everything that he saw. Moataz wasn’t throwing stones at the jeep, but he was standing on the side as the jeeps were passing through. When they saw him they turned back. He then took a large stick and smashed the cameras on the jeep, which are used by the Israeli military to take pictures of stone throwers, in order to arrest them later.
When the jeep returned, Moataz opened its door and he saw somebody he knew inside, and realised that this person was collaborating with the occupation forces. Moataz tried to take a picture of him to prove that he was a collaborator. The soldiers and the man pushed him outside of the jeep and they smashed his camera. He then saw some guys on the street holding a Palestinian flag and took it to put it on the jeep. When the soldiers saw him coming with the flag, they drew their guns and shot him. Three bullets. These were not just bullets; they were bullets that explode.
Soldiers prevented anybody from giving any first aid to Moataz as he lay on the street. His friends tried to reach him to help, but they were obstructed because the soldiers didn’t want him to tell anybody about the collaborator inside the jeep. At that point the soldiers started kicking him. Palestinian youth nearby started to throw stones at the soldiers, who began retreating. Moataz was still breathing at that time, but the soldiers, seeing he was still alive, drove over him.
In the morning news, soldiers claimed that the incident consisted of clashes between mafia and that the mafia was responsible for Moataz’s death. Later on a radio show, they told the interviewer that Moataz had been defending himself, so they shot him. The body of Moataz was taken to the Palestinian hospital ‘Alia for an autopsy to determine the cause of death factually. The autopsy confirmed the facts described above, which were that the body was beaten and shot with dum-dum bullets.
Moataz had enrolled in college, studying to be a sergeant in the Palestinian security forces. His colonel, who was responsible for the course, came to Dura to bury him beside his father. He took good care of him because he thought Moataz was a great guy and a great student. All of his professors and teachers were there.
Nevin relates that she is sad for herself, having to adjust to living without him, but she is also content that he found what he was looking for. She added that when they kicked him they were cold blooded, and they treated Moataz like an animal, without regard for human rights. He was shot at close range and was also prevented him from getting help.
Nevin knows that Moataz was not the first nor will he be the last martyr in Palestine. But she wants her voice to reach the international community and for them to hear her story because this was a cruel act of injustice. She said that she will do her best to keep up with the good cause.
[1] Hague convention of 1899 (IV,3): Declaration concerning the Prohibition of the Use of Bullets which can Easily Expand or Change their Form inside the Human Body such as Bullets with a Hard Covering which does not Completely Cover the Core, or containing Indentations http://avalon.law.yale.edu/19th_century/dec99-03.asp
23rd June 2013 | International Solidarity Movement, Nablus team | Nablus, Occupied Palestine
This Saturday, June 29 marks the 9th anniversary of the Israeli assassination of Naif Abu-Sharah, former resident of Nablus and leader of the al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigade until his death. But even though his death has long passed, Israeli authorities haven’t ceased collectively punishing the family he left behind.
During the early morning of Monday, June 23, the Israeli military surrounded the Hosh al-Hitan neighborhood of the Old City of Nablus and arrested Fadi Abu-Sharah, the 25-year-old son of Naif, in the same building in which they assassinated his father nine years ago. He is currently believed to be held at Huwwara Interrogation Center, south of Nablus.
This is not the first instance of punishment by the Israeli military against the Abu-Sharah family. Fadi has been arrested and imprisoned for extended periods in a number of previous instances, and his older brother, Fathi, was kept in an Israeli prison for nine years before being released a year ago. According to his family, Fathi was also given an order from Israeli authorities to appear at Huwwara Interrogation Center for questioning this week. About five years ago, Naif’s brother Ghassan was shot and killed by Israeli soldiers in his home. Neither Fathi, Fadi, nor Ghassan have ever been involved in military activities. The Abu-Sharah family hopes to hear news of their son within a week.
Collective punishment is a tactic long used by the Israeli authorities against the families and communities of those who have been active in resisting the Israeli occupation. Under the Fourth Geneva Convention, collective punishment is deemed a war crime. Further to this, under the Oslo accords Nablus city is Area A and is thus under full Palestinian civil and security control, meaning that the Israeli authorities have once again demonstrated their complete disregard for treaties that they have signed.
8th March 2013| Popular Struggle Coordination Committee
Muhammad Asfour, 23, was injured two weeks ago from rubber coated steel bullet in his head during a protest. His Funeral will take place after Friday noon prayer in Aboud. Since the beginning of 2013, six Palestinians were killed from soldiers’ shooting.
The medical staff of Echilov hospital declared today the death of Muhammad Asfour, 23, resident of the village of Aboud West of Ramallah, of injury sustained two weeks ago, after he was shot by Israeli soldiers during clashes that erupted during a protest at Aboud in support of Palestinian prisoners on hunger striker.
Funeral of Muhammad Asfour March 8th 2013 (Photo by: Oren Ziv/Activestills.org)
Asfour was shot on February 22nd, with a rubber coated steel bullet in the head which settled in the brain. He was evacuated to Salfit hospital and then to Rafidya Hospital in Nablus. Few days later he was transferred to Echilov hospital in Tel Aviv in critical condition.
Asfour was 4th year Physical Education student at Alquds University in Abu Dis and played football in the village’s team. Born on 9.3.1990, Asfour dies two days before celebrating his 23rd birthday.
Asfour is the sixth Palestinian to die from Israeli soldiers shooting in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, (see B’Tselem report here), in addition to prisoner Arafat Jaradat who died two weeks ago in the Israeli prison “Megiddo”, six days after his arrest:
11 January 2013: Anwar al-Mamluk, 20, of a-Shuja’iyeh neighborhood, Gaza City, fatally shot by soldiers near the Gaza military perimeter fence
12 January 2013: ‘Udai Darwish, 21, of Dura, Hebron District, fatally shot by soldiers after crossing the Separation Barrier into Israel on his way to work
15 January 2013: Samir ‘Awad, 17, of the village of Budrus, Ramallah District, fatally shot by soldiers beside the Separation Barrier near Budrus
18 January 2013: Saleh al-‘Amarin, 15, of al-‘Aza Refugee Camp, Bethlehem District, fatally shot by soldiers in al-A’yda Refugee Camp
23 January 2013: Lubna al-Hanash, 21, of Bethlehem, fatally shot by soldiers near Route 60, by al-‘Arrub Refugee Camp
9 April 2012 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank
Israeli settlers attacked and chased a group of Palestinian farmers last Thursday, causing a tractor to flip over during the chase, causing the death of the Palestinian driver.
On Thursday, April 5th, armed settlers from the illegal Israeli colony of Itamar attacked a group of Palestinians en-masse. In haste and in fear for his life, twenty-eight year old Fadi Abu Zeitoun’s tractor tipped and crushed him as he fled from the pursuing settlers.
The villagers who own olive groves near Itamar rarely get “permission” from the Israeli District Coordination Office to access their own land. During the harvest season, they are permitted a few days, but in the spring when the land needs to be tended they have more difficulty acquiring permission. During this spring harvest, the villages of Hawarta, Yanoun, Aqraba, and Beita were told they had only four hours to access their land. The area to be tended is approximately 1000 dunums so the villagers collected forty tractors to work as much land as possible in the shortest possible time. Israeli activists from the movement Peace Now, and a group of international activists were present in solidarity. Prime Minister Salam Fayad joined them to make a statement re-affirming their right to utilize the stolen land that they were standing upon.
During the Prime-minister’s visit, Israeli authorities were positioned nearby and prevented the settlers from passing. However, shortly after Fayad left the area, Israeli soldiers permitted a mob of settlers to converge upon the Palestinian farmers tending to their land. They began by throwing stones, causing the group to separate and begin descending the hill. The settlers then proceeded to fire M-16 assault rifles in the direction of the unarmed farmers before releasing dogs. In the ensuing chaos, and as Fadi desperately attempted to escape, his tractor flipped over and fell on him, mortally wounding the young man.
Palestinians witnessing the incident ran back towards the scene to offer assistance. The settlers promptly dispersed as they rushed him down the hill to the road, unfortunately he was already dead.
Fadi is of the village of Beita . With a population of only 12,000, this death resonates among all the residents. As Fadi’s father-in-law, Isam Bani Shams says, “This is not our first martyr nor our last, we have been in this situation for sixty-four years. Our village has lost some seventy martyrs.”
On the same date, twenty-four years ago, two men from the village of Beita were also murdered by settlers from Itamar.
In the gathering following the funeral, Fadi’s father, Sleman Abu Zeitoun, sat with his head down. Beside him sat three other men who have had a son murdered by Israeli soldiers or settlers.
Fadi was newly married to nineteen year-old Fida’ Bani Shams who is left widowed and six months pregnant. Her brother was killed at the age of sixteen by Israeli soldiers during the second intifada, and as her father says, “She has lost a brother and a husband so what can I say of her emotions? She is in grief. She is exhausted.” Fida’ sat slouched in a corner of the room, her eyes closed and blankets covering her feet.
Fadi’s sister has had a nervous breakdown since the death of her brother. She does not recognize her husband or her daughters. Their mother, Mona Fihmeh says, “in terms of how I feel, I have patience, but my back has been broken from the burden.” Mona spent last night praying over her feverish body, and today she sent her daughter to the hospital. Her husband was on the way back from a funeral in Jordan when the accident occurred. He returned to Beita to find that his son had been killed.
Throughout the funeral, political talk arose about the various results of Israeli occupation and apartheid on Palestine. At first, the unemployment rate among Palestinians does not seem relevant to the death of Fadi Abu Zeitoun, but one soon realizes that Israel’s apartheid policies are to blame for both the impunity with which settlers are treated, and the numerous other negative consequences on livelihood.
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in the occupied Palestinian territory reported that over 90% of complaints regarding settler violence filed by Palestinians to the Israeli police in recent years have been closed without indictment. OCHA’s report on settler violence notes that “the root cause of the settler violence phenomenon is Israel’s decades-long policy of illegally facilitating the settling of its citizens inside occupied Palestinian territory. This activity has resulted in the progressive takeover of Palestinian land, resources and transportation routes and has created two separate systems of rights and privileges, favouring Israeli citizens at the expense of the over 2.5 million Palestinian residents of the West Bank. Recent official efforts to retroactively legalize settler takeover of privately-owned Palestinian land actively promotes a culture of impunity that contributes to continued violence.”
Declared one of the men at the funeral, “every time Israel builds a colony, we will build another Palestinian town; every time they erect a building, we will build a new building.”
“Our steadfastness protects our land,” another proclaims.
Rana H. is a volunteer with International Solidarity Movement.
