[News] ‘They Laughed as I Bled’ - Palestine Chronicle Speaks to Wounded Man Who Was Tied to Israeli Military Vehicle

[Anti-Imperialist News]

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‘They Laughed as I Bled’ - Palestine Chronicle Speaks to Wounded Man Who
Was Tied to Israeli Military VehicleJune 27, 2024
------------------------------
Mujahid Al-Abadi was wounded and tied to a military vehicle in Jenin.
(Photo: supplied)

*By Fayha Shalash – Ramallah
<https://www.palestinechronicle.com/writers/fahya-shalash>*

“The temperature of the metal was very high, and because my clothes were
torn as a result of the torture and beatings, my entire back had deep burns
and skin abrasions.”

Mujahid Al-Abadi is 24 years old. He sells vegetables.

On June 22, Israeli soldiers who invaded the northern West Bank city of
Jenin and its adjacent refugee camp shot and wounded Al-Abadi and then tied
him to the hood of a military vehicle.

When the video was shared on social media, the shocking practice of abuse
carried out against Palestinians by the Israeli army was revealed to the
world.

The Palestine Chronicle spoke with Al-Abadi at the hospital where he is
still receiving treatment, as he suffers from severe health complications.

Al-Abadi believed he miraculously survived the bloody abuse he was
subjected to at the hands of the Israeli army. “I felt I was dying while I
was still alive, and I was sure I would not see my family again,” he said.
*Shot, then Beaten *

It was an ordinary day, Al-Abadi told us. He had spent the night at his
uncle’s house in the Jabriyat neighborhood the previous night – last
Saturday.

But in Jenin, nothing is ordinary.

When the news spread of a major Israeli incursion into the city, Al-Abadi
decided to stay at his uncle’s house and not return to his home in the camp
because he knew that Israeli occupation soldiers usually shoot anyone they
encounter in the street.

Suddenly, military vehicles surrounded several houses in the neighborhood,
including his uncle’s. After the soldiers called on everyone inside the
house to go into the yard, they shot directly at Al-Abadi, wounding him in
his leg and arm.

He remained lying on the ground, bleeding for half an hour while the
soldiers prevented any ambulance from reaching him.

Then the soldiers started beating him up, targeting the areas of his
injuries. The bleeding got worse.

“They hit me hard where the bullets were. I was screaming in pain while
they were laughing. The more I screamed, the more they hit me,” he said.
“Then four soldiers picked me up and started swinging me in the air and
cursing me with the worst insults.”
*‘Leave Me Alone’ *

Al-Abadi was hit repeatedly on his limbs, punched in the chest, and head.
In addition to his injuries, he sustained fractures.

The Israeli soldiers did not even check his papers to determine his
identity, he told the Palestine Chronicle.

He kept screaming: “I did not do anything… Leave me alone!” They didn’t.

As he groaned in pain, the soldiers picked him up and threw him to the
ground. Then they picked him up again, threw him onto the hood of the
military vehicle, and strapped him to it.

The soldiers then drove the wounded man through the streets of the
neighborhood.

“The temperature of the metal was very high, and because my clothes were
torn as a result of the torture and beatings, my entire back had deep burns
and skin abrasions,” Al-Abadi said.

Still in a state of shock, he said the soldiers “continued to drive around
for more than 20 minutes.”

Only towards the end of the ordeal, the soldiers checked his identity card
and said that he was not on their list of ‘wanted Palestinians.’
*‘Soaked in My Blood’*

Despite declaring that he was not a target of arrest, the Israeli soldiers
continued to beat and abuse him while he was tied to the military vehicle.

“They threw me on the ground, I was soaked in my blood and unable to move.
Only then, they allowed the ambulance to transport me. I was in a miserable
condition and I am still suffering from many injuries and burns.”

Al-Abadi is now unable to move his fingers and toes, suggesting possible
nerve damage, according to the doctors.

Doctors installed a plate on his arm in an attempt to repair the bone
shattered as a result of the explosive bullet wound.

His brother, Amjad, told the Palestine Chronicle that he cannot sleep at
night because of the pain and that the burns on his back have not healed
yet.
*No Justice *

According to his brother, he will have to undergo several surgeries. Nobody
knows when he will be released from the hospital and return to work at his
vegetable stall in Jenin.

Amjad spends much time at the hospital with his brother and sometimes cries
in despair fearing that his brother will never fully recover.

“What caused the most serious damage was the abuse he suffered following
the injury and the fact that an ambulance was prevented from approaching
him for nearly an hour,” Amjad emphasized.

The family does not intend to file a complaint against the Israeli
soldiers, because they know too well that Israeli courts do not deliver
justice to Palestinians, no matter how horrific the crimes of the soldiers
are.

*(The Palestine Chronicle)*


*– Fayha’** Shalash is a Ramallah-based Palestinian journalist. She
graduated from Birzeit University in 2008 and she has been working as a
reporter and broadcaster ever since. Her articles appeared in several
online publications. She contributed this article to The Palestine
Chronicle.*
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