In Memory: Moataz Zawahra

Moataz Ibrahim Zawahra, 28 years old, was shot and killed by the Israeli security forces on Tuesday, October 13, 2015 during clashes at the northern entrance of Bethlehem. He was from the Dheisheh refugee camp.

Zawahra wore a red kuffiyeh tied tightly around his head during the protest — the color a symbol of his political party, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, the checkered scarf, a symbol of Palestinian nationalism. According to his childhood friend, Fadi al-Qaisi, “[Zawahra] loved Palestine more than anything… Most of his family has been imprisoned by Israel.”

When Tuesday’s march reached the separation wall, Israeli forces immediately fired tear gas at the gatherers, dispersing part of the crowd. The peaceful protest quickly turned into clashes between Palestinian youth armed with rocks and heavily armed Israeli forces. Zawahra was one of the young men at the front-line of the fight.

Sources: Al Jazeera, Albawaba, Maan News Agency

In Memory: Jihad al-Jaafari

Jihad Shehada al-Jaafari, 19 years old, was killed on February 24, 2015 by Israeli Occupation Forces in Dheisheh Refugee Camp, near  Bethlehem. He was shot at close range during a raid on the camp.

According to the New York Times, The Palestinian Authority governor of the Bethlehem area, Jibreen al-Bakri, said that the Israeli soldiers had come to arrest a camp resident and denied that Mr. Jaafari had been involved in the violence, accusing the Israeli troops of killing him without provocation.

“This 19-year-old young man was asleep in his house, but when he heard the noise, he went to his roof to see what was happening,” Mr. Bakri told Voice of Palestine radio.

“Israeli snipers immediately opened fire and shot him in cold blood,” he said.

Jihad’s mother said her son was defending his home and refugee camp and called upon Palestinian officials to defend the rights of Palestinians.

Jihad had been studying hotel management at Talitha Kumi Community College in Beit Jala, another West Bank village. He had hoped to become a chef.

“I always told him to focus on his studies instead of putting his life in danger, but he loved Palestine too much,” his mother Hanan told The Electronic Intifada. “He always dreamed of seeing Palestine free and returning to Deir Rafat, our original village [located west of Jerusalem] before the Nakba.”

 

Sources: Ma’an News, Electronic Intifada