Dear friends,
my apologies for the delay in posting this up. The last 48 hours have been terrible for the people of An Nabi Saleh and its has been difficult to deal with the horrendous news that 28 year old Mustafa Tamimi has died. Mustafa was shot deliberately in the face on Friday with a
teargas canister by an member of the Israeli Occupation Forces from a
short distance.
Please find below the press statement from the Popular Struggle Coordination Committee on Mustafa's death..
Please find below the press statement from the Popular Struggle Coordination Committee on Mustafa's death..
in sadness,
Kim
Critically Injured Mustafa Tamimi of Nabi Saleh Dies of His Wounds
by Popular Struggle Coordination Committee: 10 December 2011
Mustafa Tamimi, a 28 year old resident of Nabi Saleh, was shot in
the face yesterday, during the weekly protest in the village of Nabi
Saleh.
He sustained a critical head injury, under his right eye, and was
evacuated to the Belinson hospital in Petah Tikwa. The severe trauma to
Tamimi's brain, caused by the shooting, left the doctors with little to
do to save his life, and he eventually passed away at 09:21 AM today.
Tamimi's funeral will take place tomorrow, leaving Ramallah at 10:00
AM towards Nabi Saleh, where it is expected to reach at around 11:00 AM.
A photo of the incident shows Tamimi at a distance of less than 10
meters behind the semi-open door of an armored military jeep with the
gun aimed directly at him. Clearly visible in the photo is also the
tear-gas projectile flying in his direction.
The incident took place in the West Bank village of Nabi Saleh today,
when dozens gathered for the weekly demonstration in the village,
protesting the theft of village lands by the adjacent Jewish-only
settlement of Nabi Saleh. After the army dispersed the peaceful march,
minor clashes erupted followed by a severe response from the Israeli
forces. Several people were hit with rubber-coated bullets and directly
shot tear-gas projectiles. Three were evacuated to the Ramallah hospital
for further treatment, including a 14 year-old. One protester was
arrested.
In complete disregard to the army’s own open fire regulations,
soldiers often shoot tear-gas projectiles directly at groups of
protesters or individuals. Rubber-coated bullets are indiscriminately
shot at protesters from short distances on a regular basis. The Israeli
army also resumed the use of high velocity tear-gas projectiles in Nabi Saleh,
despite the fact that they have been declared banned for use, after
causing the death of Bassem Abu Rahmah in the neighboring village of
Bil’in, in April 2009, and the critical injury of American protester Tristan Anderson in Ni’ilin in March of the same year.
The demonstrations, which have been held regularly for the past two
years have seen hundreds of injuries to protesters by Israeli forces, as
well as dozens of arrests carried out by Israel with the aim of
suppressing dissent.
Background
Late in 2009, settlers began gradually
taking over Ein al-Qaws (the Bow Spring), which rests on lands
belonging to Bashir Tamimi, the head of the Nabi Saleh village council.
The settlers, abetted by the army, erected a shed over the spring,
renamed it Maayan Meir, after a late settler, and began driving away
Palestinians who came to use the spring by force - at times throwing
stones or even pointing guns at them, threatening to shoot.
While residents of Nabi Saleh have already endured decades of
continuous land grab and expulsion to allow for the ever continuing
expansion of the Halamish settlement, the takeover of the spring served
as the last straw that lead to the beginning of the village’s grassroots
protest campaign of weekly demonstrations in demand for the return of
their lands.
Protest in the tiny village enjoys the regular support of
Palestinians from surrounding areas, as well as that of Israeli and
international activists. Demonstrations in Nabi Saleh are also unique in
the level of women participation in them, and the role they hold in all
their aspects, including organizing. Such participation, which often
also includes the participation of children reflects the village’s
commitment to a truly popular grassroots mobilization, encompassing all
segments of the community.
The response of the Israeli military to the protests has been
especially brutal and includes regularly laying complete siege on
village every Friday, accompanied by the declaration of the entire
village, including the built up area, as a closed military zone. Prior
and during the demonstrations themselves, the army often completely
occupies the village, in effect enforcing an undeclared curfew. Military
nighttime raids and arrest operations are also a common tactic in the
army’s strategy of intimidation, often targeting minors.
In order to prevent the villagers and their supporters from
exercising their fundamental right to demonstrate and march to their
lands, soldiers regularly use disproportional force against the unarmed
protesters. The means utilized by the army to hinder demonstrations
include, but are not limited to, the use of tear-gas projectiles, banned high-velocity tear-gas projectiles, rubber-coated bullets and, at times, even live ammunition.
The use of such practices have already caused countless injuries,
several of them serious, including those of children - the most serious
of which is that of 14 year-old Ehab Barghouthi,
who was shot in the head with a rubber-coated bullet from short range
on March 5th, 2010 and laid comatose in the hospital for three weeks.
Tear-gas, as well as a foul liquid called “The Skunk”,
which is shot from a water cannon, is often used inside the built up
area of the village, or even directly pointed into houses, in a way that
allows no refuge for the uninvolved residents of the village, including
children and the elderly. The interior of at least one house caught
fire and was severely damaged after soldiers shot a tear-gas projectile
through its windows.
Since December 2009, when protest in the village was sparked,
hundreds of demonstration-related injuries caused by disproportionate
military violence have been recorded in Nabi Saleh.
Between January 2010 and June 2011, the Israeli Army has carried 76
arrests of people detained for 24 hours or more on suspicions related to
protest in the village of Nabi Saleh, including those of women and of
children as young as 11 years old. Of the 76, 18 were minors. Dozens
more were detained for shorter periods.
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