Palestinian protester dies

by: Jenny Noyce

Middle East: Another unarmed protester was announced dead after succumbing to his wounds on 18 April. De’yaa Abdul Karim Abu Eid died in Al Maqassed Hospital in East Jerusalem where he had been admitted for treatment after receiving a bullet wound in the chest while at an anti-wall demonstration in the town of Biddu, NW Jerusalem.

Although the army alleges that they did not use live ammunition, medical reports, videos, and eyewitness accounts contradict them. Witnesses report that Israeli soldiers used live ammunition several times in order to disperse unarmed demonstrators. One ISM activist said, “Nobody heard any shooting, only the sound of the bullets flying above our heads.”

According to surgeon Dr. Huwwari, a bullet passed near Eid’s heart and caused cardiac arrest and made six holes in his lungs, fragmenting them before it exited. Although he was in stable condition after surgery, loss of blood had damaged his brain and he died shortly before 10pm.

During the same anti-wall protest that Eid was wounded at, Khaled Abud Bedwan was arrested and beaten. Although he was bleeding from the head he received no medical attention. British Activist Theresa McDermott was also arrested, and they are being held in an unknown location. Nine villagers were also injured by Israeli soldiers on horseback and by rubber-coated steel bullets.

Eid was buried on 20 April, and shortly after his funeral over 200 young men approached the barrier and started throwing stones at the soldiers. Another young man was killed on 16 April during an anti-wall protest in Beitunia. The ammunition used by soldiers left a gapping hole in the back of his head.

Although the Supreme Court supports the village’s right to demonstrate against the wall, demonstrators have been shot with rubber-coated bullets, arrested, beaten and tear gassed in almost every attempt to demonstrate the barrier’s construction. Biddu will lose almost 90% of their land to the barrier, and to date, no Palestinian suicide bombers/gunmen have originated from their area, which discounts the Israeli government’s reason for the barrier. Their reasoning is that the barrier is needed to provide security to Israel from suicide bombers.

For more information go to:
http://www.palsolidarity.org
or
http://www.imemc.org

Source: International Solidarity Movement