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dir="ltr"> <font size="-2"><a class="domain reader-domain"
href="https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/maureen-clare-murphy/palestinians-lose-legs-israel-punishes-them-denying-medical-care">https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/maureen-clare-murphy/palestinians-lose-legs-israel-punishes-them-denying-medical-care</a></font>
<h1 class="reader-title">Palestinians lose legs as Israel
punishes them by denying medical care</h1>
<p class="node__submitted">
<span class="field field-author"><a
href="https://electronicintifada.net/people/maureen-clare-murphy">Maureen
Clare Murphy</a></span> <span class="field field-blog">-</span>
<span class="field field-publication-date"><span
class="date-display-single"
content="2018-04-12T22:05:34+00:00">12 April 2018</span></span>
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<figure id="file-59451"><source media="(min-width:
72rem)"><figcaption><small><span></span></small></figcaption></figure>
<p>The legs of two Palestinians were <a
href="https://www.adalah.org/en/content/view/9470">amputated</a>
on Wednesday after Israel refused to allow them to
leave the blockaded Gaza Strip for treatment.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>The youths were shot during the launch of the <a
href="https://electronicintifada.net/tags/great-march-return">Great
March of Return</a> protests along the Gaza-Israel
boundary on 30 March.</p>
<p>But <a
href="https://electronicintifada.net/tags/cogat">COGAT</a>
– the bureaucratic arm of Israel’s military occupation
that <a
href="https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/maureen-clare-murphy/heartwarming-or-heartless-israeli-propaganda-vs-reality">postures</a>
as a <a
href="https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/maureen-clare-murphy/israel-exploits-abused-woman-propaganda">humanitiarian</a>
body – denied their requests for permission to travel
for specialized surgery unavailable in Gaza.</p>
<p>Israel admitted that it refused the request as a form
of punishment for protesting.</p>
<p>“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 <em>Haaretz</em>
<a
href="https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/two-gazan-protesters-legs-amputated-after-israel-denies-entry-1.5993161">reported</a>.</p>
<p>“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.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>“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.</p>
<p>The Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and
Cultural Boycott of Israel highlighted the case of the
two youths whose legs were amputated in its <a
href="https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/tamara-nassar/giro-ditalia-must-steer-away-israel">efforts</a>
to relocate part of the prestigious Giro d’Italia
cycling race from Jerusalem:</p>
<p>Israel’s killing and injuring unarmed demonstrators
has <a href="http://sydneystaff4bds.org/?p=2461">spurred
boycott initiatives</a> while its attempts to spin
the narrative have been largely unsuccessful.</p>
<p>On Thursday the International Federation of
Journalists <a
href="http://www.ifj.org/nc/news-single-view/backpid/1/article/palestine-ifj-accuses-israeli-authorities-of-lies-and-cover-up/">accused</a>
Israel of “fabricating lies to justify murder” in the
case of <a
href="https://electronicintifada.net/tags/yaser-murtaja">Yaser
Murtaja</a>, a cameraman who was fatally wounded
while covering Great March of Return protests in
southern Gaza last Friday.</p>
<p>Israeli defense minister <a
href="https://electronicintifada.net/tags/avigdor-lieberman">Avigdor
Lieberman</a> 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.</p>
<p>On Saturday, Lieberman <a
href="https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/maureen-clare-murphy/shoot-and-cheer">claimed</a>
that Murtaja was operating a drone when he was shot –
an assertion even Israel’s military has denied.</p>
<p>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, <em>Haaretz</em>
<a
href="https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/gaza-journalist-branded-hamas-militant-by-israel-received-u-s-funds-1.5990627">reported</a>.</p>
<p>“Lieberman provided no evidence to support his
claims,” <em>Haaretz</em> stated.</p>
<p>Instead it was revealed in recent days that Murtaja’s
company, Ain Media, was <a
href="https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/gaza-journalist-branded-hamas-militant-by-israel-received-u-s-funds-1.5990627">granted
funds</a> from the US government aid agency <a
href="https://electronicintifada.net/tags/usaid">USAID</a>
last month.</p>
<p>Murtaja was killed two days before he was set to
start working with the <a
href="https://electronicintifada.net/tags/norwegian-refugee-council">Norwegian
Refugee Council</a>, a major humanitarian group,
according to <em>Haaretz.</em></p>
<p>The Norwegian aid group’s Karl Schembri termed
Lieberman and <a
href="https://twitter.com/GeraldNGOM/status/983710623346413568">Gerald
Steinberg</a>, founder of the anti-Palestinian group
<a
href="https://electronicintifada.net/tags/ngo-monitor">NGO
Monitor</a>, “slanderers and peddlers of lies”
regarding Murtaja:</p>
<p>On Wednesday it was <a
href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/wires/afp/article-5604413/Gaza-journalist-killed-Israel-detained-beaten-Hamas-2015-IFJ.html">reported</a>
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.</p>
<p>Murtaja was hospitalized as a result of his injuries
and his documentation was seized.</p>
<figure id="file-59441"><source media="(min-width:
72rem)"><figcaption><small><span></span></small></figcaption></figure>
<p>Murtaja’s last footage, showing the Great March of
Return protest encampment and Israel’s violence
against it, was published this week:</p>
<p>Murtaja is an exceptional case of a Palestinian
killed by Israel receiving widespread international
attention.</p>
<p>Murtaja <a
href="https://www.screendaily.com/news/ai-weiweis-human-flow-assistant-cameraman-shot-dead-by-israeli-military/5128077.article">had
worked with</a> high-profile Chinese artist Ai
Weiwei for his <em>Human Flow</em> documentary on
global migration and filmed the Gaza scenes for the <a
href="https://electronicintifada.net/content/cinematic-rejection-gazas-isolation/21131">feature-length
experimental film <em>Ouroboros</em></a> by
Palestinian director Basma Alsharif.</p>
<p>“I remember when we did <em>Ouroboros</em>, there
was a scene in a house, which is considered the
longest one-shot scene in Palestinian cinema,”
producer Mohanad Yacoubi told <em>Screen Daily.</em></p>
<p>“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.”</p>
<p>As Israel came under mounting criticism over its use
of lethal force against unarmed protesters – and was <a
href="https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/ali-abunimah/icc-warns-israeli-leaders-over-gaza-killings">warned</a>
by the International Criminal Court that its leaders
might face trial – <a
href="https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/maureen-clare-murphy/shoot-and-cheer">video
emerged this week</a> showing soldiers cheering
after shooting an unarmed demonstrator near the Gaza
boundary fence.</p>
<p>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,” <em>Haaretz</em> <a
href="https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-israeli-army-clears-sniper-seen-shooting-palestinians-in-video-1.5990262">reported</a>.</p>
<p>The inquiry however faulted the behavior of the
soldiers who filmed the incident and distributed the
footage.</p>
<p>Several Israeli leaders <a
href="https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-5226387,00.html">condoned
the soldiers’ actions</a>, with education minister
Naftali Bennett stating “I prefer a whooping soldier
to a grieving father.”</p>
<p>Public security minister Gilad Erdan <a
href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/bennett-defends-soldiers-filmed-cheering-gazans-shooting/">stated</a>
that he was “unable to comprehend what isn’t okay in
the video.”</p>
<p>Erdan <a
href="https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-5226387,00.html">asserted</a>
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.”</p>
<p>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.”</p>
<p>A military officer who recently served in a unit that
enforces Israel’s military occupation in Gaza told the
Israeli outlet <em>Ynet</em> 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.</p>
<p>Reuters <a
href="https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/palestinian-shot-in-viral-video-they-shot-me-and-later-laughed-at-me-1.5992294">reported</a>
that the Palestinian man seen shot in the video,
dating from 22 December, was 28-year-old Tamer Abu
Daqqa.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>“I was standing with other people when I was hit in
my leg, I was not throwing stones or anything,” he
said.</p>
<p>“They shot me and later they laughed at me. They
cursed my mother. I can sue them for that.”</p>
<figure id="file-59446"><source media="(min-width:
72rem)"><figcaption><small><span></span></small></figcaption></figure>
<p>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.</p>
<p>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:</p>
<p>The Israeli military <a
href="https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/israeli-army-hits-hamas-target-in-gaza-strip-sirens-blare-near-border-1.5992643">killed
a Palestinian fighter</a> in Gaza late Wednesday in
an airstrike.</p>
<p>The military claimed that it attacked Hamas sites in
response to the discovery of an explosive device along
the boundary earlier in the day.</p>
<p>On Thursday, Israeli forces <a
href="https://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=780025">shot
in the chest and killed</a> Abdullah Muhammad
Shahri, 28, during protests east of Khan Younis in
southern Gaza.</p>
<p>The <a
href="https://electronicintifada.net/tags/bnc">Palestinian
BDS National Committee</a> which steers the global <a
href="https://electronicintifada.net/tags/bds">boycott,
divestment and sanctions campaign</a> against
Israeli impunity on Thursday <a
href="https://bdsmovement.net/news/gaza-under-siege-not-alone-let%E2%80%99s-build-towards-military-embargo">called
for</a> a two-way arms embargo as “the most
effective response to Israel’s ongoing massacre.”</p>
<p>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.”</p>
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