Palestine.....October 1, 2000
At approximately 2:30 pm yesterday afternoon, Israeli occupation forces
killed 12 year old, Mohammed Jamal Ahmad Al-Dura, of Gaza, in cold blood
while he was seeking protection with his father from Israeli fire. Minutes
after killing Mohammed, Israeli forces, who were positioned a few meters
from the father and son, shot and seriously wounded his father, 42 year
old, Jamal Al-Dura.
Shortly thereafter, when Palestinian Red Crescent Society ambulance
driver Bassam Al-Balbisi, 45, approached the father and son in order to
move them into an ambulance, he was shot and killed by the Israeli soldiers
as well. Jamal, the father of five remaining children, is in critical condition,
having sustained five bullets, to the upper thigh, pelvis, stomach, and
lower leg.
The killings took place shortly after Israeli soldiers opened fire spontaneously
and randomly on a group of Palestinian protestors near the illegal Israeli
settlement of Netzarim. As the crowd dispersed in all directions, Mohammed
and his father took shelter behind a concrete block, approximately 3ft.
square. French Channel 2 cameraman, Talal Abu Rahma, who was positioned
only a few meters away from the cowering father and son, captured the sequence
of events on film.
The footage, which was broadcast locally and internationally yesterday,
clearly shows the father attempting to shield his son with his body, while
calling and gesturing for the soldiers to cease firing. Moreover, the footage
makes clear that neither the father, nor his young son, posed any threat
whatsoever to the lives of the Israeli soldiers, an excuse routinely offered
by Israeli military sources when justifying the killing of Palestinian
civilians.
Disregarding the father's pleas for help, Israeli military forces shot
both the father and son in cold blood. Three other Palestinians were martyred
yesterday as a result of the indiscriminate firing of the Israeli military
forces near Netzarim settlement.
As of this morning, Israeli military forces have killed 28 Palestinians
since confrontations erupted throughout the Occupied Palestinian Territories
on Thursday, 28 September. This number includes 6 children: 3 from Gaza,
1 from Nablus, 1 from Ramallah, and 1 from Jerusalem, the latter of whom
died yesterday as a result of injuries sustained on Friday.
In addition, over 900 Palestinians have been injured. Of the total wounded,
14 remain in critical condition. According to DCI/PS documentation, no
less than 206 Palestinian children were wounded in yesterday's confrontations
alone.
Mother watched as son shot dead
By NOMI MORRIS (The Age [Australia], 3 October 2000)
BUREIJ REFUGEE CAMP, GAZA STRIP - Like viewers around the world, Amal
al-Durra, 34, watched her terrified son Mohammed die on television as his
father tried to shield him from Israeli gunfire.
"I went crazy. I was screaming and crying," the mother of
seven said on Sunday, as mourners filled the bare concrete house where
her boy, nicknamed Rami, was born 12 years ago.
Now, as her husband lies critically wounded in hospital, Mrs al-Durra
is sedated. Five little birds, that Mohammed's teacher gave him, jump and
chirp happily in their cage.
Outside, Mohammed's face is already emblazoned on posters. In Bureij
they are calling the boy a martyr for Jerusalem. But his mother is afraid
to tell her other children how he died - in case they fall under the martyr's
spell.
"Nothing good will come of this. We will have many more martyrs,
and nothing will change," she said.
The morning paper published a sequence of photos showing the boy crouched
behind a cement block and then cut down by a hail of bullets. The image
may be the last violent gasp that propels Israelis and Palestinians toward
a peace treaty, or it may be the icon of a new Arab uprising.
The Israeli Army said Mohammed and his father Jamal were among protesters
who assaulted their outpost outside the Jewish settlement of Netzarim.
Mrs al-Durra said Mohammed had gone with his father to shop for a used
car in Gaza City: "What kind of danger were they to the Israelis?
They were carrying nothing. It's clear on the TV."
The Israeli Army has opened an investigation into Mohammed's death,
which spokesmen called a "horrible tragedy". They said their
soldiers were merely defending themselves.
But there is no doubt in the minds of any Palestinian that the boy and
his father were targeted by Israeli soldiers in their heavily fortified
post that guards the approach to Netzarim.
Family members said that when father and son were coming home, without
a new car, their taxi was stopped at a roadblock.
The shooting started just as the two headed hand-in-hand across the
rock-strewn intersection to get another taxi on the other side. For 40
minutes, they were trapped by gunfire, said one relative.
For about five minutes after the boy was hit, his father yelled: "My
son is dying, my son is dying." But no one could get to them because
the shooting continued, according to a witness.
A Palestinian ambulanceman tried to make his way to the pair but was
shot dead. Mr al-Durra, 37, and a housepainter, was hit by four bullets.
"Those moments were like a lifetime," he said at a Gaza hospital.
"I tried to tell them, `Stop, stop. He's my son. He's a child'. But
nobody heard me, and they didn't listen to me."
The Israeli Army says it is still investigating what happened. The gaping
holes in the wall where Mohammed died showed clearly that bullets came
from the Israeli outpost diagonally across the intersection.
Major-General Yom Tov Samia, chief of the Israeli Army's southern command,
noted that the al-Durras' hiding place was 20 metres from a Palestinian
police outpost. He said his troops fired live ammunition only because they
had been under attack from "four or five directions".
"First of all I am very, very sorry from deep in my heart about
this kid," he told Israel Radio. "But we are sure they were not
there by accident. People were throwing stones and (Molotov cocktails).
If a person finds himself under those conditions, he must know his life
is in danger."
General Husama El Ali, a top Palestinian officer, stood on the spot
yesterday and condemned the Israelis as "animals" for shooting
at children and ambulance drivers. He said his men did shoot at the Israeli
outpost, but not until hours after Mohammed was killed.
"A few bullets, but it's natural," General El Ali said. "They
were angry. They know they can't hurt (the Israelis), but they shoot anyway."
When Mrs al-Durra visited her husband in hospital, his first words to
her were: "Be patient."
A few hours earlier, she had dreamt she saw Mohammed walk in the door.
"I'll raise the birds for him," she said, looking up at the cage.
IN MEMORIAM
I remember the children
as dead angels
and injured sparrows
God was sad
Shawqi Baghdadi
_____________________________________
And they searched his chest
But could only find his heart
And they searched his heart
And could only find his people
Mahmoud Darwish
_____________________________________
Give birth to me again
Give birth to me again that I may know
in which land I will die, in which land
I will come to live again
Mahmoud Darwish
_____________________________________
They ask me who I am
I am a child of Palestine
They ask me, "Where do you live?"
I live in the land of my ancestors.
_____________________________________
.
