De dode Samir. (Foto Wafa)
Ik kom terug op de dood, dinsdag, van de 16-jarige Samir Awad die in het dorpje Budrus op de bezette Westoever door Israelische soldaten werd doodgeschoten. Het Israelische leger meldde over dit incident dat Samir het 'Afscheidingshek' beschadigde en dreigde Israel binnen te gaan. Daarop hadden de militairen 'onmiddellijk gereageerd', onder meer door 'scherpe munitie af te schieten', bevestigde het leger.
Uit een versie van het Palestijnse persbureau Ma'an sprak eerder deze week al twijfel aan deze lezing. Maar twee Britse kranten, The Guardian en The Daily Telegraph, hebben intussen allebei op grond van verklaringen van getuigen in Budrus een versie gegeven die aannemelijk maakt dat het weer ging om een regelrechte moord door soldaten, één in een inmiddels helaas nog steeds groeiende lijst van vergelijkbare strafbare handelingen door het Israelische leger die nooit behoorlijk worden uitgezocht, laat staan bestraft.
Zowel The Guardian als The Telegraph schrijven dat Samir door de soldaten in een soort hinderlaag werd gelokt en vervolgens van achteren werd doodgeschoten toen hij probeerde aan zijn belagers te ontkomen en wegliep. The Telegraph is er bovendien uitermate duidelijk over dat het incident werd uitgelokt door de soldaten, die wel vaker in dit dorp de middelbare scholieren provoceerden.
Ik geef van beide kranten de lezing gedeeltelijk (onvertaald) weer. Misschien dat het publiceren van dit soort zaken eindelijk eens wat mensen de ogen opent of - wie weet ertoe kan leiden dat er vragen worden gesteld en druk wordt uitgeoefend om iets aan het steeds weer voorkomen van dit soort zaken te doen. (Overigens heette Samir in mijn eerdere versie, die ook op persberichten was gebaseerd, niet Samir Awad. Ik heb geen verklaring voor dit verschil in naam, maar het gaat wel degelijk om dezelfde jongen).
Update: De mensenrechtenorganisatie B'tselem wijdde in februari een rapport aan de zaak onder de titel: No justification for shooting and killing Samir ‘Awad.
Hieronder eerst The Guardian:
A teenage boy was killed by Israeli soldiers on the separation barrier close to the West Bank village of Budrus yesterday, shot from behind as he was running away, according to Palestinian accounts.
Samir Awad, 17, was among a group of boys who had just completed an exam on the last day of school before a midterm break when they approached the barrier, reports said. The Israeli Defence Forces said the youths were "attempting to infiltrate into Israel", and its soldiers "responded immediately". It confirmed live fire was used.
According to villagers, Samir was grabbed by soldiers who were concealed in a trench. He broke free and was running away when a soldier or soldiers opened fire. He was hit by three or four bullets, in his head, torso and leg.
Ayed Morrar, a member of the village popular resistance committee, said: "They shot him in cold blood, they shot him in the back. He wasn't threatening them." He said there had been no stone-throwing at the time of the shooting.
Nu de (Daily) Telegraph:
De moeder van Samir Ahmad Mohammed Awad houdt een pamflet omhoog met het portret van haar zoon. Hij wordt daarin overigens een 'martelaar van het volksverzet' genoemd. Budrus waa destijds het eerste Palestijnse dorp dat 'volksverzet' tegen de bouw van de Muur organiseerde. (Foto Telegraph)
A Palestinian schoolboy killed by Israeli gunfire near the West Bank separation barrier had been reacting to insults shouted by soldiers with loudhailers before he was shot, eyewitnesses have said.
The claim contradicts an account given by the Israeli army, which says
16-year-old Samir Awad was shot after cutting through a section of the
security fence as he tried "infiltrate into Israel".
The teenager died on Tuesday after being shot three times. He was hit from
behind as he was running away from Israeli troops in the village of
Boudrous, according to his family. Doctors at Ramallah Hospital, where he
was pronounced dead, said he had suffered gunshot wounds to his neck, leg
and torso.
An Israeli Defence Forces spokesman said the shooting happened after soldiers
initiated "standard rules of engagement", which include live fire,
to respond to such incidents.
That was challenged on Wednesday by Samir Awad's family, teachers and school
friends, who said he had approached the fence only after being incited by
Israeli troops, who had used loudspeakers to provoke pupils at Boudrous
Secondary School, which sits 200 yards away, into a confrontation.
"They were shouting, 'Come dogs, Come to the wall," 10-year-old
Khaled Shaheen told The Daily Telegraph. "They were also calling us
sons-of-bitches and saying your mothers are dogs and adulteresses. They were
shouting on the loudspeakers before Samir left his class.(...)
His description was confirmed by several older pupils at the school, who said the soldiers uttered other obscenities they were reluctant to repeat.
An Arab language teacher, Nader Shalash, 37, said shouted insults from the army patrols were a daily occurrence.
"They went to say to the pupils, 'We are here. Come and get a bit of trouble'," said Mr Shalash, who described the teenager as intelligent and a good student. "Some of the soldiers are Druze and some are Jewish. They also play loud music. We built a wall and fence around the school and also erected three gates which we keep locked during school hours because we don't want any provocations. However, they happen."
Family and friends say Samir was running away from the security barrier after soldiers fired tear gas. As he tried to head towards the school, he was intercepted by two other soldiers who had been hiding in a trench dug by the Jordanian army during the 1967 Six-Day War.
While his friends managed to get away, Samir's escape route was cut off, forcing him to run back towards the barrier. It was at that point he was shot, witnesses say.(...)
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