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http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=22879IntroductionThe deliberate injury of the limbs of 23 boys by high velocity weapons has beenlogged and described by Defence for Children International – Palestine Branch(DCI-P) since March 2010. (1) Some of the facts have been published in nationalnewspapers. These barbarous acts contravene international and national law butthere are no judicial responses. The caring professions see the physical and mentalpain of those who suffer and they should be in the vanguard in calling for this greatcruelty to cease forthwith. Political leaders have failed to act.The Geneva Conventions Act 1957, which is of central importance in holding warcriminals to account in the jurisdiction of the UK, is being emasculated.ContextMost of the 1.5 million population of the Gaza strip is impoverished. Half are refugeesfrom Mandate Palestine or their stock. About 50% of the male population is without work.It has been isolated and occupied for decades. A commercial port was being built in 2000but that was bombed by Israel. The isolation and the hobbling of its commerce was increa-sed by a siege which was started in March 2006 in response to the election of a majority ofHamas members to the legislature. It was further tightened in June 2007 after the Hamasgovernment pre-empted a coup by the Fatah faction that was led in Gaza by MohammadDahlan.The misery was further deepened with ‘Operation Cast Lead’ that was unleashed 27/12/08.This was promised 29/02/08 (2). “The more Qassam fire intensifies and the rockets reacha longer range, [the Palestinians] will bring upon themselves a bigger shoah (holocaust)because we will use all our might to defend ourselves.” Nazi Matan Vilnai Deputy DefenceMinister to Israeli Army Radio. There was a massive bombardment which killed 220 adultsand children in the first 15 minutes. This was followed by a full scale invasion. 1400 humanswere killed and approximately 5000 injured physically. The minds of very many more wereinjured too. 4000 homes were totally destroyed, almost all the factories and 40 mosques.The two gleaming science blocks of the Islamic University of Gaza were flattened by verypowerful thermobaric bombs, the blasts being heard throughout the 360 square kilometres ofthe Gaza ‘Strip’. The siege has been even more draconian since. Cement, ballast and steel rodsare only let in at about 5% of the rate needed for rebuilding, the pretext being that ‘bunkers’could be constructed. At the present rate it will take 78 years to rebuild Gaza. (3) Chocolate,writing paper and all manner of things have been blocked. The 1000 tunnels at Rafah haveprovided a way in for goods but in the face of bombing and roof falls.The lack of any work and the extreme poverty of the large extended families has drawn the boysand men to scavenge for broken concrete (‘gravel’) in the evacuated Eli Sinai ‘settlement’ and inthe industrial zone by the Erez border control post at the northern limit of the ‘Strip’.The factories of the industrial zone have been progressively demolished by Israeli shelling etc.They are seen to the west as one enters Gaza through Erez. A donkey and cart, shovel, pick,sieve,muscles and courage are the tools. The rubble is used to make cement blocks and pouredconcrete with the cement that is imported largely through the tunnels. Many dozens of men andboys do this work for precious shekels in the shadow of manned watch towers and under ‘drones’above.The 23 boys who have been shot between 26/03/10 (Said H) and 23/12/10 (Hatem S) are listed inthe table below with skeletal facts. These points are made:-
The history of the injury and sequel for each boy are linked to in (1). It has been donemeticulously and the translation into English is perfect. The pain, and often the terror,felt by the boy as the bullet struck home are vividly recorded. No bullets have been reco-vered yet so the calibre/type is unknown.The shooting to wound and kill Palestinians is relentless. DCI-P notes that according to aUN study, between January 2009 and August 2010, at least 22 Palestinian civilians in Gazahave been killed and 146 injured in the arbitrary live fire zone adjacent to the border withIsrael and imposed at sea. At least 27 of these civilians were children. It also notes that thetargeting of civilians is absolutely prohibited under international law, regardless ofcircumstances.These quotations from the available stories convey a little of the poverty, the sufferingand the courage:-
the towers and the shooting would soon begin. Mohammad M – 6Silence is complicityReferences1. http://www.dci-pal.org/english/doc/press/UA_4_10_Children_of_the_Gravel_UPDATE_29_DEC_%202010(b).pdf2. http://www.haaretz.com/news/barak-hamas-will-pay-for-its-escalation-in-the-south-1.2404173. http://www.amnesty.org.uk/uploads/documents/doc_21083.pdfI thank Gerard Horton and DCI-P for the availability and excellence of this information, andfor supporting publication in a medical forum. I also thank Dr Khamis Elessi in Gaza forinformation.Conflict of interest: I founded the Dove and Dolphin Charity 110119<http://www.doveanddolphin.co.uk/> with a voyage to Palestine 8 years ago and chair itstrustees. It attends to the welfare of children in Gaza in the main. No pecuniary benefit isderived from this charity.David S Halpin FRCS is an author, human rights activist and a former, orthopaedic and traumasurgeon atthe Torbay and Exeter Hospitals Devon UKDavid Halpin can be contacted via <david@infoaction.org.uk>His web site is <http://dhalpin.infoaction.org.uk/> )FOOTNOTEThis paper was submitted to the Lancet and the British Medical Journal 4 January 2011 underthe title ‘Ethical’. The refusal from the latter is here:-BMJ/2011/850099The methodical shooting of boys at work in Gaza by snipers of the Israeli Occupation Forceby David Sydney HalpinDear Mr. HalpinThank you for sending us your paper. We read it with interest but I regret to say that we havedecided not to publish it in the BMJ.Clearly soldiers shooting at children is awful, but we didn’t think your article gave a clearreason why we should be publishing it now. The information comes from the Defence forChildren International (palestine section) website, there isn’t much context, there’s nodescription of the Israeli soldiers’ explanation for these events, and the article just sortof ends.We receive over 8000 submissions a year and accept less than 10%. We do therefore have tomake hard decisions on just how interesting an article will be to our general clinical readers,how much it adds, and how much practical value it will be.I am sorry to disappoint you on this occasion.An editor at the British Medical Journal |
NumberNameAge |
Date of injury |
Distancefrombordermetres |
Injury |
Activity |
Single shot heard? |
HospitalRx |
Outcome |
?Work again near Erezor other |
Date report made – Arabic to English |
1 Said H15 yrs |
26/03/10 |
100 |
Deep and tranverse, lower L thigh |
Searching for brother |
Y |
3 days |
‘Toe will not work’ Persisting painNerve injury |
Lost 2 months training as plumber and car sprayer |
27/10/10 |
2 Hasan W17 yrs |
22/05/10 |
300 |
Below R knee. ‘Shattered’2 months in plaster |
Gravel(G) |
Y thenrepeatedshooting |
Home same day(HSD) |
Cannot walk. Pain on movement. |
‘.. not be able to collect gravel though family needs money’ |
01/09/10 |
3 Awad W17 yrs |
07/06/10 |
350 |
Shot in R knee |
G |
Y |
HSD |
Numbness Cannot walk as he used to. |
Therapy from Doctors without Borders. Cannot work. |
06/09/10 |
4 Ibrahim K 16 yrs |
16/06/10 |
400 |
Shot in R knee |
G |
Y aftershooting |
2 days |
Pain in R leg |
Forbidden by father to return to same work |
16/09/10 |
5 AbdullahM16 yrs |
22/06/10 |
60 |
Shot in R ankle |
G |
Y |
HSD |
Painful. ?Will be able to walk normally again |
‘I will never collect gravel again.’ |
08/09/10 |
6 MohammadM 16 yrs |
23/06/10 |
500 |
Shot in R flank |
G |
|
3 days |
Very tired when he runs |
Cannot work or play |
30/09/10 |
7 Arafat S16 yrs |
10/07/10 |
50 |
Shot in R ankle |
G |
Y |
HSD |
Still some pain and a little limp |
|
18/09/10 |
8 N’uman A14 yrs |
10/07/10 |
300 |
Shot R lower leg – not deep |
G |
Y |
HSD |
|
Forbidden by grandfather to return |
20/09/10 |
9 Hameed O13 yrs |
14/07/10 |
50 |
L arm – not deep |
G |
Y |
HSD |
Occasional pain |
No work. Forbidden by father to return |
26/09/10 |
10 Khaled I16 yrs |
31/07/10 |
600 |
L thigh. ‘Cut artery and vein |
G |
Y?Heavy machine gun |
15 days |
|
‘Considering what happened, not going to collect gravel again |
27/09/10 |
11 Mohammad S17 yrs |
25/08/10 |
800 |
L thigh |
G |
|
HSD |
Pain ‘I have nightmares about being shot by Israeli soldiers’ |
‘I don’t think of going to the dangerous places anymore’ |
30/09/10 |
12 Mahmoud J16 yrs |
07/10/10 |
450 |
R thigh. Bled profusely. Exit wound diameter 5 cms. |
G |
Y?From tank or jeep |
|
|
‘I wanted to buy two pigeons and raise them on the rooftop of my house. I will never go back to that place.’ |
27/10/10 |
13 Ahmad H17 yrs |
13/10/10 |
600 –700 |
R foot/sankle ‘Big hole in my foot – 4 cms with small hole other side |
G |
Y |
|
|
|
16/10/10 |
14 Yahia Z16 yrs |
14/10/10 |
450 |
R lower leg |
G |
Y |
HSD |
|
‘I will never go back to the industrial zone even if I starve to death.’ |
16/10/10 |
15 Shamekh D15 yrs |
27/11/10 |
150 |
L foot |
G |
Y |
OperatedBK cast |
Awaited |
|
02/12/10 |
16 Mokhles M15 yrs |
28/11/10 |
500 |
L lower leg |
G |
Y |
?OpBK cast |
|
‘I’ll wait for my wound to heal before I go back to collect gravel.’ |
02/12/10 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
17 Belal L16 yrs |
04/12/10 |
600 |
L leg |
G |
Yplus a second shot into the L leg of his 22 yr old cousin |
Fractured in two places. External fixation above and below knee |
‘I still feel pain in my leg,’ says Belal, ‘and I don’t know whether I will walk again ornot.’ |
‘I have come under fire several times from Israeli soldiers guarding the border. Once they shot and killed our horse.’’ Belal’s older brother Nedal (24) has been shot four times whilst collecting gravel,‘three times in the left leg and once in the right leg,’ says Belal. |
08/12/10 |
18 Suhaib M16 yrs |
10/12/10 |
250 |
Through and through,just below L knee. Exit wound 5 cms diameter |
Wood |
Y |
‘Bullet exploded in leg.’Long cast. |
|
‘I don’t know if Iwill be able to walk again,’ says Suhaib, ‘but certainly I will never go back to collecting gravel.’ |
18/12/10 |
19 Rasmi G15 yrs |
10/12/10 |
200 |
R lower leg. Fractured tibia |
G |
Y |
External fixation |
In Kamal Udwan hospital |
‘I still feel great pain in my leg and don’t know whether I will walk again or not.’ |
15/12/10 |
20 Fadi H17 yrs |
13/12/10 |
500 |
Below L knee |
Goatherd |
4 shots |
HSD |
Moving about at 2 days |
|
28/12/10 |
21 Rami17 yrs |
21/12/10 |
400 |
R lower leg |
G |
Y |
HSD |
|
Will collect G again. ‘What can I do?’ Disabledfather. Large family |
28/12/10 |
22 Mahmoud S17 yrs |
23/12/10 |
400 |
R elbow |
G |
Gun-shots |
HSD |
|
‘For the record, I will never go back to collecting gravel for it’s a death profession.’ |
29/12/10 |
23 Hatem S17 yrs |
23/12/10 |
800 |
Head – back of.Embedded ‘shrapnel’ from bullet |
Collect‘straws’ |
Gun-shots |
HSD |
Headache plus nausea |
|
29/12/10 |