[News] Shot British peace activist Tom Hurndall dies

[News at freedomarchives.org]

Shot British peace activist dies

Wednesday 14 January 2004 - Al Jazeera

http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/DD065357-0D95-453D-AB20-EE59F62738DE.htm

British peace volunteer who was shot by Israeli occupation forces has died 
in a London hospital.

Tom Hurndall, who was hit in the head and critically wounded by sniper fire 
in the Rafah refugee camp on 11 April, had spent nine months in a 
vegetative state.

Hurndall, 22, was a volunteer with the International Solidarity Movement 
(ISM), a group of pro-Palestinian activists who engage in non-violent 
action to protect civilians in the West Bank and Gaza.

His family have called for a vigil outside the British prime minister's 
residence in London on Wednesday to mark his death.

Tom's mother, Jocelyn, has criticised Tony Blair for not condemning the 
Israelis for wreaking violence upon the innocent.

Israeli soldier arrested

Palestinian medics and witnesses said Hurndall was trying to pull two 
Palestinian children out of danger when shots were fired from a nearby army 
watchtower.

An Israeli soldier was recently arrested in connection with his death.


The unnamed soldier had initially claimed he returned fire at a man armed 
with a pistol.

"However, following an intensive investigation by the military police of 
the Southern Command, the soldier admitted to shooting in proximity to an 
unarmed civilian in order to deter him," an army statement said.

"At this stage, the criminal investigation of the incident is still 
continuing," it added.

Independent investigation

But the ISM has said it wants an independent investigation, charging that 
one undertaken by the army "will not be impartial".

And Tom's mother, Jocelyn, told Aljazeera.net last month she wanted "the 
Israeli soldiers responsible for harming Tom to know that they can't shoot 
people with impunity.

"We want to pave the way for Palestinian people to have some legal redress 
when they are shot and injured by the Israeli army just like my son was".

She added her family has little confidence in the probe and has taken 
matters into its own hands by personally investigating Tom's shooting.

Several ISM activists have been wounded by the army in the course of the 
Al-Aqsa Intifada.

Rachel Corrie death

An army investigation into the death of 23-year-old US national and ISM 
activist Rachel Corrie concluded that her being crushed to death by an 
Israeli bulldozer had been an "accident".

It said it would not take any disciplinary action against the soldiers 
involved.

Corrie had been trying to prevent the demolition of a Palestinian home.

In both Hurndall's and Corrie's cases, witnesses insisted they had been 
easily identifiable by their fluorescent orange jackets.


The Freedom Archives
522 Valencia Street
San Francisco, CA 94110
(415) 863-9977
www.freedomarchives.org 
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://freedomarchives.org/pipermail/news_freedomarchives.org/attachments/20040114/4b64e1ca/attachment.htm>