‘the war against Gaza continues’
My friend Adie Mormech reports from the Gaza Strip:
When 91 year old Ibrahim Abu Sayed left his home this morning to check on his
land and animals by the remains of his old house, he took with him his 17 year
old grandson Hossam and his friend and neighbour Ismail Abu Oda, who was 16.
His son and Hossam’s father didn’t want to come because it was the final
day of EID, the muslim celebration that follows Ramadan.
Despite his age, Ibrahim Abu Sayed was still mobile enough to regularly check
his three dunums of land, as he had done for decades, the last decade being the
hardest as his house was destroyed in 2000 by Israeli bulldozers and his
rebuilt house destroyed in the three-week attacks by Israel on Gaza over the
new year of 2009.
But early Saturday evening would be the last time Ibrahim, Hossam and Ismail
would work their land. 700 metres from the border where their land was located,
north of Sharab street, Israeli tanks made an incursion into Gaza. The
grandfather, his grandson and friend did not stand a chance as the tanks fired
shells directly at them.
We met the family members at the hospital. The wife of Ibrahim was devastated,
screaming in horror at the fate that had befallen her family.
“I was there half an hour before it happened”, said Mohammed Abu Oda,
another relative. “I saw them by their sheep. I heard the shells from the
Israeli tanks, the shells we learned soon afterwards had killed our
relatives.”
They were killed instantly, and according to the doctor (who wished to remain
anonymous) who examined once they had arrived at Beit Hanoun hospital. Ibrahim
suffered severe shrapnel injuries to his face, chest and stomach and his
grandson Hossam had the back of his head blown away. We verified this
immediately as we saw the mutilated bodies in the morgue. Ismail, the friend of
Hossam, had arrived at the hospital 30 minutes after the others but had been
buried before we got there; most part of his head was shot away. The boys were
close friends, studying in the 9th and 10th grade respectively, and had
expected to return to school the following day after Eid.
But on that day they still were on holidays, so they helped Ibrahim, like they
were used to do. Because despite of having faced their hardest times, after
their house was destroyed and their land bulldozed, the bedouin family still
had no other job other than farming. Although they were obliged to farm their
land close to the border, it was still far enough away to be outside the
Israeli imposed “buffer zone”
“Israel claims that there’s a three hundred meter buffer zone, but they were
700 meters far from the border”, said an Uncle of Ismail, Majdy Abu Oda.
“The people there are farmers who’ve been living there for years. We, the
people here, were never dangerous for the Israelis. They have photos of the
people who live and work here, the area is full off observation cameras. So
they knew them.”
That was why the family considered themselves to be safe, even though there
were tanks at the border. But they paid with their lives for that. More victims
of Israel’s ‘collective punishment’, a crime against humanity according
to article 33 of the Geneva Convention of which Israel is a signatory member.
So a 91 year old man, his grandson and a friend of his were killed while
tending to their livestock on their own farm, 700 metres from the border with
Israel. Where is the clamour for justice? Where is the international outrage
that at least should be comparable to the Israeli settlers shot a week ago, who
actually were not settled on their own land according to international law?
Israeli armed forces have continued to wage a war against civilians in Gaza,
long after the Israeli air and ground assault in the winter of 2008/2009.
With the family clearly posing no threat, and known as long term residents of
the area, there is little imagination required to understand the ease with
which these Israeli soldiers felt they could kill these three men with
impunity, once their livelihood had already been destroyed.
Saber Zaneen General Coordinator of the Beit Hanoun solidarity group, ‘Local
Initiative’ released a callout for justice in a statement:
“Today the occupation committed a new crime which will be added to its black
list. Three martyrs now rest in heaven after the shelling and again we call on
the international community and civil society to pressure the occupation
forces to stop such crimes against Palestinian civilians and to start working
on giving some protection to the local people in the Gaza Strip.”
[Graphic below the break]
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