“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.
Samir, one of 15 siblings, was buried in the village cemetery overlooking the separation barrier on Tuesday afternoon. A large group of men and boys, some carrying Fatah and Hamas flags, accompanied his shrouded body to the grave.
His brother Jibril, 23, wearing a blood-soaked T-shirt, said he had rushed to help Samir as soon as he heard about the shooting.
Jibril said: “The soldiers prevented me from getting near him at first. There was a soldier on top of him.”
He said his family had lost more than five acres of land and 3,000 olive trees when the separation barrier was constructed on Budrus land. His mother had been injured in protests against the route of the barrier, and he had been jailed three times for taking part in popular resistance actions. “All our family has suffered from the wall,” he said.
Budrus was the first West Bank village to organize regular weekly protests against the barrier and eventually succeeded in getting its route changed. An eponymous documentary film about the village’s struggle was released in 2009. (See note)
After Samir’s funeral, soldiers fired teargas at village youths who gathered near the barrier.
Mouin Awad said Samir’s death could trigger further confrontations between villagers and the IDF. “We will throw rocks and protest. What else can we do?”
The IDF said an investigation into “reports regarding a wounded Palestinian” was under way.
On Monday a 21-year-old Gaza man died after being shot in the head by Israeli forces, according to Palestinian officials. The IDF denied being involved.
On Saturday a 21-year-old Palestinian was shot dead by Israeli troops while trying to cross the barrier near the southern West Bank town of Dura.
On Friday a 22-year-old man was killed and another injured by Israeli forces in northern Gaza, according to reports.
Meanwhile, the Israeli military said it had discovered a shaft leading to a tunnel dug from Gaza.
The opening was around 100 metres inside Israeli territory and was intended “to execute terror attacks against Israeli civilians and IDF soldiers on Israeli territory”, the IDF said.
Note:
Julia Basha is Brazilian or Lebanese descent who directed and produced the award-winning movie “Budrus” (2009).
This movie is a narrative of the community of Budrus in the West Bank who united to peacefully demonstrate against the Wall of Shame planned to cut the village. All the political factions of Fateh, Hamas…and families joined forces and were supported by Israeli and foreign activists: They marched every day to the construction site and girls stood in front of bulldozers that were rooting out olive trees…
Finally, the Israeli authority gave up on the project for the Wall of separation to pass by the village.
Julia explained the cognitive dissonance of why foreign media refused to cover this wonderfully achievement. It seems that the media professionals had their mental model or coherent story concerning the conflict and this new aspect of peaceful Palestinian cohesion didn’t match the model. Thus, Julia said that narrative stories are the most effective medium to changing perspectives on a story.
The film was shown to a group of Tea Party sympathizers who believe that private property is the cornerstone for independence of State government plans. A large man asked Julia: “Didn’t the Israeli government pay for the proprietors of the land?”
Israel don’t pay for anything owned by Palestinian, but Julia replied: “A few accepted to sell but most of them refused. They believed that if the Israeli government got its way once, it will repeat its nasty behavior.”
The man beamed: this story didn’t contradict his mental model.
Julia Basha co-wrote and edited “Control Room” (2004), and co-directed “Encounter Point” (2006)
Adonis Diaries 