In Memory: Hashem al-Azzeh

Pictured: Hashem with his young daughter

Hashem al-Azzeh, 54 years old, died in Hebron on October 21, 2015 after excessive tear gas inhalation during clashes. He lived in the Tel Rumeida neighbourhood of Hebron.

Hashem was well-known by journalists and international visitors for his determination to remain on his land, despite run-ins with Israeli soldiers and settlers. Earlier this year, Middle East Eye interviewed Hashem, who told of a harsh life under Israeli occupation and pointed out the danger of living in an area that ambulances could not reach. To try and compensate for the lack of medical attention, he completed a first aid course and used to teach others in the community how to be first aid responders. Hashem managed a psychological support group for his community, encouraging them to speak about trauma. Together with his wife, Nisreen, he created a social enterprise for Hebron’s young Palestinian women, helping them to learn skills and earn money to support themselves and their families.

Halaby, the IMEMC spokeswoman, said: “The reason Hashem’s story has resonated with the journalist community is because of his incredible will power…He had a really dynamic personality. … He previously worked with the United Nations, he had a young family, and he lived with constant harassment by settlers and the Israeli army,” Halaby said. “One time, he lived without water for three years after Israeli settlers cut his water pipes,” she said. In another incident, “the Israeli military built an outpost on the roof of his brother’s house”. She added that the Israeli government had offered Hashem’s family money to move out of his house in the Tel Rumeida neighbourhood, in an effort to make room for Israeli settlers. “The Israeli government offered him quite a sum of money. So many others took the money and left, but Hashem stayed.”

“The Palestinians become crazy from this situation,” Azzeh told MEE in March. “In order to get to your house, you need a permit, you need all your baggage checked. You can’t drive a car. There’s no clinic, no ambulance. You are harassed by soldiers all the time.”

The closure of Shuhada Street (a major street in Hebron) in 1994 led to Hashem being confined to the Israeli-controlled H2 area, and to him losing a job he had with the UN. The heavy Israeli military and settler presence in Hebron “affects us in every way,” Hashem told Middle East Eye. “Psychologically, socially, economically, in our families and community.”

Pictured: Hashem and his wife, Nisreen

His wife, Nisreen, added: “The settlements mean our kids are stuck at home, and there’s no place for them to play. The settlers attack us regularly. The soldiers detain us for a long time at the checkpoint. All of these make like a kind of eviction – they’re trying to make us leave by ourselves.”

Video of Hashem in 2011, talking about Israeli settler attacks against his family: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mgfbgaIxpHg

Read about Hashem being able to harvest olives for the first time in 14 years, in October 2014.

Read an interview the International Solidarity Movement had with Hashem in 2013.

Sources: Middle East Eye, Muftah

In Memory: Mutaz Atallah Qassem

Mutaz Atallah Qassem, 22 years old, was shot dead on October 21, 2015 near Ramallah after allegedly attacking an Israeli soldier and settler near the illegal Adam settlement in the Ramallah district. He was from the town of al-Eizariya.

Sources: Ma’an News, Al Jazeera

In Memory: Husam Ismail Jamil al-Jabari

Husam Ismail Jamil al-Jabari, 17 years old, was shot and killed on Tuesday, October 20, 2015, in Hebron’s Old City, after an alleged stabbing attack at a military checkpoint. He was shot alongside Bashar Nidal al-Jabari in the same attack.

The incident took place at a checkpoint near the Rajabi house in the H2 area in the center of the city, located by the Kiryat Arba settlement.

Sources: Ma’an News Agency, Electronic Intifada

 

 

In Memory: Bashar Nidal al-Jabari

Bashar Nidal al-Jabari, 15 years old, was shot and killed on Tuesday, October 20, 2015 in Hebron’s Old City. He was killed along with Hussam Jamil al-Jabari, after an alleged stabbing attack at a military checkpoint.

The incident took place at a checkpoint near the Rajabi house in the H2 area in the center of the city, located by the Kiryat Arba settlement.

Sources: Ma’an News Agency, IMEMC

 

In Memory: Mohammed Fares Abdullah Al-Jabari

Mohammed Fares Abdullah Al-Jabari, 19 years old, was shot and killed in Kiryat Arba – an illegal settlement in Hebron, on Friday, October 9, 2015, after allegedly stabbing an Israeli border police officer.

The following day, a video surfaced showing an Israeli throwing pork at al-Jabari’s body as he lay on a stretcher.

Sources: Ma’an News Agency

 

In Memory: Huthaifah Sulaiman

Huthaifah Sulaiman, 18 years old, was shot and killed on Sunday, October 4, 2015, by Israeli forces, during clashes between Palestinian youth and Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF). He was from the city of Tulkarm, Occupied West Bank, in Bal’a.

Sources: English PNN, The Blaze

In Memory: Wissam Faraj

Wissam Jamal Faraj, 20 years old, was shot and killed by Israeli forces on October 8, 2015 during protests in Shufat refugee camp, in Jerusalem.

Sources: Al Jazeera, Ma’an News

In Memory: Hasan Khaled Manasra

Hasan Khaled Manasra, 15 years old, was shot and killed on October 13, 2015 after allegedly stabbing two Israelis and wounding them in the East Jerusalem settlement of Pisgat Ze’ev. He was from Shu’fat camp in Jerusalem.

His cousin Ahmed Manasra, 13 years old, also from Shu’fat, was also shot and was left to bleed on the ground while Israeli settlers mocked and ridiculed him until he was taken to the hospital.

Sources: IMEMC, Electronic Intifada, PCHR

In Memory: Amjad Hatem al-Jundi

Amjad Hatem al-Jundi, 20 years old, was shot and killed on Friday, October 9, 2015, after allegedly stabbing an Israeli soldier and stealing his gun in Kiryat Gat in southern Israel. He was from the village of Yatta, south of Hebron, Occupied West Bank.

Sources: Ma’an News Agency, Twitter 

 

In Memory: Mohannad Shafiq al-Halabi

Mohannad Shafiq al-Halabi, 19 years old, was shot dead by the Israeli police on October 4, 2015, after allegedly killing two Israeli soldiers and stabbing two others, in the Old City of Jerusalem. He was a law student.

Halabi’s comments on Facebook prior to the attack, along with a similar post by another attacker, have added to fears and public debate over whether the specter of another Palestinian Intifada, or uprising, is on the horizon

“What’s happening to our holy places? What’s happening to our mothers and sisters in the Al-Aqsa mosque,” Halabi posted before the stabbing attack. “We are not the people who accept humiliation. Our people will revolt.”

Sources: Aljazeera, IMEMC, The Blaze