Among this Week's Victims of Israeli State Violence: A Disabled Elderly
Palestinian Man
Israel's shoot-first-ask-questions-later policy is just one layer of the
daily violence Palestinians experience, this week has been no exception.
by Kathryn Shihadah
August 19th, 2020
By Kathryn Shihadah Kathryn Shihadah
The week is not yet over but already Palestinians multiple Palestinian
families are making funeral arrangements and planning hospital visits. The
following are three stories - one death and two injuries. Each story raises
many questions, more than there is space to fully answer, but there remains
a benefit in asking.
A sixty-year-old disabled man is shot
On Monday, a sixty-year-old Palestinian man approached an Israeli checkpoint
on foot, not in the pedestrian section, but in the area of the checkpoint
designated for vehicles. Israeli guards shouted at him to stop, but he kept
walking "suspiciously." He was then shot in the leg.
The guards would later discover that the elderly man was unarmed, deaf, and
mute. He was taken to a hospital and the guard that shot him questioned and
released, his punishment, five days of house arrest.
Why was there a checkpoint in the first place? Why would guards use live
ammunition against an elderly man for simply walking "suspiciously?" Why was
the shooter released?
Israeli checkpoint Qalandiya
An image posted to Twitter by reporter Suleiman Maswadeh shows the moments
before the disabled man was shot
The stated purpose of Israeli checkpoints is to enhance security for
Israelis and to protect them against Palestinians wishing to do them harm.
There are currently around 140 permanent checkpoints administered by Israel
on Palestinian territory and thousands of "flying" (temporary) checkpoints
in use.
These checkpoints severely hinder the dignity and freedom of movement of
Palestinians; they are made to accommodate Israelis who live illegally in
Jewish-only settlements on Palestinian land and effectively undermine
Israeli security as Palestinians view settlements and the infrastructure
that sustains them as an ongoing provocation.
As one Washington Post article put it, a checkpoint is:
a stark symbol of Israel's military occupation of the West Bank and a
constant source of humiliation for ordinary Palestinians. It also serves as
a daily reminder of how deeply Israel controls their lives."
Shot in the chest, stalked in the ICU
On Tuesday, Israeli soldiers entered a town near East Jerusalem with army
jeeps, police vehicles, and three bulldozers, and demolished a six-story
building that was under construction. When a group of Palestinians gathered
to protest the demolition; dozens of them were targeted by Israeli soldiers
with live ammunition, rubber-coated steel bullets, tear gas, and concussion
grenades.
One of the protesters, a young man in his twenties, was shot in the chest
with a live round. Palestinian medics rushed him to the hospital, where he
immediately went into surgery and intensive care. He remains in critical
condition.
Israeli soldiers surrounded the hospital, attempting to "abduct" the wounded
man. As of this writing, the situation is uncertain.
Why was a six-story building still under construction demolished in the
first place - and why did protesters gather? Why were Israeli soldiers
present and why did they shoot at the protesters - and why in the chest? Why
would Israeli soldiers attempt to abduct a man in intensive care?
Palestinian buildings are routinely demolished through a series of Israeli
laws that not only violate the Fourth Geneva Convention but that many
experts say meet the legal threshold for apartheid.
Palestinians, and activists from around the world, routinely protest against
these demolitions in hopes of attracting international attention - attention
Israel would rather avoid.
Young man shot, denied medical assistance, dies
Another incident on Monday near the al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem saw Israeli
soldiers fire at least three live rounds into the chest of a Palestinian man
who attempted to attack them with a knife. Palestinian medics nearby heard
the shots and offered to help the injured man. The soldiers assaulted the
medics and forcibly removed them from the vicinity.
The injured man was left on the ground to bleed to death; meanwhile, Israeli
medics tended to the moderately wounded soldier, then transferred him to a
nearby hospital.
Why were Israeli soldiers standing guard near the al-Aqsa Mosque? Why would
a Palestinian man want to stab them? Why was he shot multiple times in the
chest? Why was he left to bleed to death?
At first glance, one might say the Israeli soldiers were on duty - in full
riot gear - to keep the peace in the Old City of Jerusalem; in reality,
however, they, like the invasive checkpoints scattered across Palestine,
remind Palestinians of their own powerlessness under occupation.
Israeli newspaper Ha'aretz offers an answer to the bleeding-to-death query:
"Palestinian life is cheap."
Daily questions unanswered
According to the Electronic Intifada, Israeli forces have killed 28
Palestinians so far in 2020.
Troubling details and unanswered questions like the ones above plague each
incident. Last week, for example, a 23-year-old woman was fatally shot in
her home when Israeli soldiers invaded her neighborhood and shot tear gas
canisters in the street. As she was closing her window to protect her
children from gas, she was shot in the chest. The ambulance that arrived to
take her to the hospital was also shot at with live ammunition. The woman
later died at the hospital.
In May, a Palestinian man with severe autism was shot and killed, even as
his caregiver screamed, "he's disabled!"
In fact, eight disabled Palestinians were among more than 200 killed by
Israeli snipers during in 2018 and 2019 while protesting in Gaza for the end
of a thirteen-year Israeli blockade. Among the dead were also women and
children, medics and journalists, and men.
One Israeli has been killed in 2020.