On Sunday, October 26, the MPT team attended the funeral for Orwa
Hammad, the fourteen year old US citizen who was fatally shot by the
Israeli military last week. Over a thousand people (mostly men) came out
in the village of Silwad to mourn his death. All the shops were closed
in honor of him and cars and buildings were covered with posters
honoring him.
The funeral had to be postponed until Sunday so his father could arrive
from Louisiana and his mother from Jordan. Walking with the precession
which filled parallel streets we met the parents of other children who
were recent victims of Israeli shoot to kill actions which are in
violation of their own rules of engagement. An unsubstantiated
statement by the Israeli military says young Orwa was preparing to throw
a Molotov cocktail; multiple eye witnesses disagree.
After the burial 50 to 100 boys returned to the site of the shooting. As
black smoke rose from tires the Israeli military fired large quantities
of tear gas, about 4-5 salvos of 20 tear gas grenades each. They also
fired two different types of rubber coated bullets at the boys. Four
ambulances we used to take the injured to medical care.
During the first tear gas attack a neighbor opened their door to get us
in out of the tear gas. They gave us wipes for our burning skin and
eyes. They brought out a tray of refreshments for us, but we took
advantage of a lull in the tear gas to make a break-for-it to put more
distance between us and the soldiers. As we thanked them for their
hospitality they express their appreciation for us being there in
solidarity with them.
While we watched from where the gas was less we were left worrying about
our new friends. Not only has the Israeli military occupied the edge
of the village near their house but after and hour of gas attacks their
house must be filling with it. It must be hard having such an awful and
momentous event as the killing of child happen outside you house. It is
likely to be a place of contention for a long time.
1 comment:
Truly, Palestinians live under constant harassment even during funerals. May more Americans be aware of this.
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