[News] Palestinians lose legs as Israel punishes them by denying medical care

[Anti-Imperialist News]

https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/maureen-clare-murphy/palestinians-lose-legs-israel-punishes-them-denying-medical-care 



  Palestinians lose legs as Israel punishes them by denying medical care

Maureen Clare Murphy 
<https://electronicintifada.net/people/maureen-clare-murphy> - 12 April 
2018

------------------------------------------------------------------------

The legs of two Palestinians were amputated 
<https://www.adalah.org/en/content/view/9470> on Wednesday after Israel 
refused to allow them to leave the blockaded Gaza Strip for treatment.

Human rights groups had appealed to the Israeli authorities to allow for 
the transfer of Yusif Karnaz, 20, and Muhammad al-Ajouri, 17, to a 
hospital in the occupied West Bank for surgery that would save their limbs.

The youths were shot during the launch of the Great March of Return 
<https://electronicintifada.net/tags/great-march-return> protests along 
the Gaza-Israel boundary on 30 March.

But COGAT <https://electronicintifada.net/tags/cogat> – the bureaucratic 
arm of Israel’s military occupation that postures 
<https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/maureen-clare-murphy/heartwarming-or-heartless-israeli-propaganda-vs-reality> 
as a humanitiarian 
<https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/maureen-clare-murphy/israel-exploits-abused-woman-propaganda> 
body – denied their requests for permission to travel for specialized 
surgery unavailable in Gaza.

Israel admitted that it refused the request as a form of punishment for 
protesting.

“On the surface, the petitioners’ condition ostensibly fulfills the 
medical criterion for receiving a permit but the authorized officials 
decided not to grant their requests,” the state said in response to a 
court petition submitted on behalf of the injured youths, the Israeli 
daily /Haaretz/ reported 
<https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/two-gazan-protesters-legs-amputated-after-israel-denies-entry-1.5993161>.

“The main consideration for the refusal stems from the fact that their 
medical condition is a function of their participation in the 
disturbances,” the state added.

One of the injured youths, Yousif Karnaz, “is in danger of losing his 
second leg if he does not receive urgent medical attention in the West 
Bank,” according to the human rights group Adalah.

“The willful act of denying urgent medical care, in these circumstances, 
may constitute cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment and/or torture 
under the UN Convention Against Torture, ratified by Israel,” stated 
Adalah, which petitioned the Israeli government on behalf of the youths 
along with the Gaza-based Al Mezan Center for Human Rights.

The Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel 
highlighted the case of the two youths whose legs were amputated in its 
efforts 
<https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/tamara-nassar/giro-ditalia-must-steer-away-israel> 
to relocate part of the prestigious Giro d’Italia cycling race from 
Jerusalem:

Israel’s killing and injuring unarmed demonstrators has spurred boycott 
initiatives <http://sydneystaff4bds.org/?p=2461> while its attempts to 
spin the narrative have been largely unsuccessful.

On Thursday the International Federation of Journalists accused 
<http://www.ifj.org/nc/news-single-view/backpid/1/article/palestine-ifj-accuses-israeli-authorities-of-lies-and-cover-up/> 
Israel of “fabricating lies to justify murder” in the case of Yaser 
Murtaja <https://electronicintifada.net/tags/yaser-murtaja>, a cameraman 
who was fatally wounded while covering Great March of Return protests in 
southern Gaza last Friday.

Israeli defense minister Avigdor Lieberman 
<https://electronicintifada.net/tags/avigdor-lieberman> has doubled down 
on his comments justifying the killing of a journalist who was wearing a 
bulletproof vest and helmet both marked with the word “PRESS” when he 
was hit.

On Saturday, Lieberman claimed 
<https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/maureen-clare-murphy/shoot-and-cheer> 
that Murtaja was operating a drone when he was shot – an assertion even 
Israel’s military has denied.

On Tuesday, Lieberman told reporters that Murtaja was on Hamas’ payroll 
since 2011, and a high-ranking officer in its military wing who used 
drones to collect intelligence on Israeli forces, /Haaretz/ reported 
<https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/gaza-journalist-branded-hamas-militant-by-israel-received-u-s-funds-1.5990627>.

“Lieberman provided no evidence to support his claims,” /Haaretz/ stated.

Instead it was revealed in recent days that Murtaja’s company, Ain 
Media, was granted funds 
<https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/gaza-journalist-branded-hamas-militant-by-israel-received-u-s-funds-1.5990627> 
from the US government aid agency USAID 
<https://electronicintifada.net/tags/usaid> last month.

Murtaja was killed two days before he was set to start working with the 
Norwegian Refugee Council 
<https://electronicintifada.net/tags/norwegian-refugee-council>, a major 
humanitarian group, according to /Haaretz./

The Norwegian aid group’s Karl Schembri termed Lieberman and Gerald 
Steinberg <https://twitter.com/GeraldNGOM/status/983710623346413568>, 
founder of the anti-Palestinian group NGO Monitor 
<https://electronicintifada.net/tags/ngo-monitor>, “slanderers and 
peddlers of lies” regarding Murtaja:

On Wednesday it was reported 
<http://www.dailymail.co.uk/wires/afp/article-5604413/Gaza-journalist-killed-Israel-detained-beaten-Hamas-2015-IFJ.html> 
that Murtaja had been detained and beaten by Hamas security forces while 
filming the demolition of a home near the Gaza-Israel boundary in 2015.

Murtaja was hospitalized as a result of his injuries and his 
documentation was seized.

Murtaja’s last footage, showing the Great March of Return protest 
encampment and Israel’s violence against it, was published this week:

Murtaja is an exceptional case of a Palestinian killed by Israel 
receiving widespread international attention.

Murtaja had worked with 
<https://www.screendaily.com/news/ai-weiweis-human-flow-assistant-cameraman-shot-dead-by-israeli-military/5128077.article> 
high-profile Chinese artist Ai Weiwei for his /Human Flow/ documentary 
on global migration and filmed the Gaza scenes for the feature-length 
experimental film /Ouroboros/ 
<https://electronicintifada.net/content/cinematic-rejection-gazas-isolation/21131> 
by Palestinian director Basma Alsharif.

“I remember when we did /Ouroboros/, there was a scene in a house, which 
is considered the longest one-shot scene in Palestinian cinema,” 
producer Mohanad Yacoubi told /Screen Daily./

“It took him two days to do the correct mise-en-scene. He kept on 
repeating it until he mastered the movement. It’s an amazing scene.”

As Israel came under mounting criticism over its use of lethal force 
against unarmed protesters – and was warned 
<https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/ali-abunimah/icc-warns-israeli-leaders-over-gaza-killings> 
by the International Criminal Court that its leaders might face trial – 
video emerged this week 
<https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/maureen-clare-murphy/shoot-and-cheer> 
showing soldiers cheering after shooting an unarmed demonstrator near 
the Gaza boundary fence.

The Israeli military’s preliminary inquiry into its own soldiers’ 
behavior found that the sniper who shot the Palestinian seen falling to 
the ground in the video had “acted appropriately and only fired after 
all other actions taken by the soldiers did not succeed in preventing 
the man from approaching the fence,” /Haaretz/ reported 
<https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-israeli-army-clears-sniper-seen-shooting-palestinians-in-video-1.5990262>.

The inquiry however faulted the behavior of the soldiers who filmed the 
incident and distributed the footage.

Several Israeli leaders condoned the soldiers’ actions 
<https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-5226387,00.html>, with 
education minister Naftali Bennett stating “I prefer a whooping soldier 
to a grieving father.”

Public security minister Gilad Erdan stated 
<https://www.timesofisrael.com/bennett-defends-soldiers-filmed-cheering-gazans-shooting/> 
that he was “unable to comprehend what isn’t okay in the video.”

Erdan asserted 
<https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-5226387,00.html> that anyone 
disturbed by the video “should direct their energies towards being 
appalled by what’s been going on in Syria and exert pressure on the 
United States and Western states to act militarily and raise this issue 
publicly.”

Defense minister Lieberman stated that “The sniper deserves a promotion, 
whereas the cameraman deserves a demotion … At the end of the day, the 
army, snipers and soldiers – they’re the best of us, and the IDF is the 
most moral army.”

A military officer who recently served in a unit that enforces Israel’s 
military occupation in Gaza told the Israeli outlet /Ynet/ that a 
Palestinian “does not necessarily have to be armed or trying to cut or 
climb over the fence” to justify the army opening fire.

Reuters reported 
<https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/palestinian-shot-in-viral-video-they-shot-me-and-later-laughed-at-me-1.5992294> 
that the Palestinian man seen shot in the video, dating from 22 
December, was 28-year-old Tamer Abu Daqqa.

Abu Daqqa told Reuters that he was between 100 and 150 meters from the 
fence and was trying to help injured protesters when he was shot.

“I was standing with other people when I was hit in my leg, I was not 
throwing stones or anything,” he said.

“They shot me and later they laughed at me. They cursed my mother. I can 
sue them for that.”

More than two dozen unarmed civilians have been killed by Israeli 
soldiers in Gaza since the six-week Great March of Return protest began 
on 30 March.

Israel is still trying to present the protests as a Hamas-led terrorist 
threat against Israelis, though not a single Israeli has been killed or 
wounded in connection to the protests:

The Israeli military killed a Palestinian fighter 
<https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/israeli-army-hits-hamas-target-in-gaza-strip-sirens-blare-near-border-1.5992643> 
in Gaza late Wednesday in an airstrike.

The military claimed that it attacked Hamas sites in response to the 
discovery of an explosive device along the boundary earlier in the day.

On Thursday, Israeli forces shot in the chest and killed 
<https://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=780025> Abdullah Muhammad 
Shahri, 28, during protests east of Khan Younis in southern Gaza.

The Palestinian BDS National Committee 
<https://electronicintifada.net/tags/bnc> which steers the global 
boycott, divestment and sanctions campaign 
<https://electronicintifada.net/tags/bds> against Israeli impunity on 
Thursday called for 
<https://bdsmovement.net/news/gaza-under-siege-not-alone-let%E2%80%99s-build-towards-military-embargo> 
a two-way arms embargo as “the most effective response to Israel’s 
ongoing massacre.”

The group added: “This means working to end all weapons sales and 
purchases to and from Israel, and ending military or police partnerships 
with the Israeli state.”


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