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Today marks the 23rd anniversary of the deliberate killing of Mohammed Al-Durrah, a Palestinian child. While he was hiding in his father's arms pleading for their lives, the Israeli occupation forces shot him two days after the Al-Aqsa Intifada began..I remember him and the 1000s of other Palestinians killed by an occupying force as the world watches.
On September 30th 2000 Mohammed Al Durrah and his father were filmed crouching behind a concrete block along one of Gaza streets as Israeli army soldiers showered them with heavy gunfire. Moments later, the terrorized boy collapsed dead on his father’s lap whose attempts to shield his son from live ammunition proved to be futile.
This incident became one of the most evocative events of the occupation and haunting images of the intifada. Jamal al-Durrah and his 12-year-old son, Mohammad, were filmed by Talal Abu Rahma, a Palestinian cameraman freelancing for France 2, they are seen with their, backs pressed against the wall, Jamal’s arm attempting to shield his young son whose mouth is oval with what must have been a paralyzing fear. And then the shots. After an emotional public funeral, the 12 year old became a symbol of the struggle of the Palestinian people against a ruthless occupier.
Jamal al-Durrah , who was also badly wounded, said his son died for “the sake of Al-Aqsa Mosque.” His mother Amal added, “My son didn’t die in vain. This was his sacrifice for our homeland, for Palestine.”
As the BBC reported at the time: “For 45 minutes, Mohammed’s father tried in vain to shield him from gunfire as they crouched against a concrete wall near Netzarim in the Gaza Strip. The boy’s father waved desperately to Israeli troops, shouting: “Don’t shoot.”
After initially taking responsibility for killing Mohammad, a bogus Israeli army investigation concluded that the killing of Mohammad was a hoax, that Palestinians were to blame, that the France 2 journalist who shot the video was part of a conspiracy to ‘delegitimise Israel’.The Prime Minister’s office released a document officially denying Israel’s responsibility for the death and stating that the
footage was staged.But the boy did die in conflict and his own father could not save him.In 2013, a French court vindicated Abu Rahma and France 2 after they were accused of staging the video,.
Abu Rahmeh told the Al-Monitor news website that his French employer had posted on YouTube the entire raw video to put an end to attempts to discredit him through claims that the footage was staged.
The footage of al-Durrah was popular because it captured human emotion, he said: “It moved the world and whoever saw it because it reflected a real human emotion of a father unable to protect his young son.”
Abu Rahma, who has won numerous awards for his work, including the Rory Peck Award in 2001, is now based in Greece, where he, his wife and nine year-old son are residents. He works between there and Amman, Jordan. He has been banned from returning to Gaza since 201
Here is a report by the Guardian newspaper on the case:-
Thousands of other Palestinian civilians died too and he symbolized their plight. The footage, became the most potent symbol of the Palestinian resistance against the decades-long Israeli occupation.Drawings and pictures of the scene were painted on walls across many parts of the world in support of the Palestinian cause.
The fact remains that Israeli soldiers still do kill little Palestinian boys on a regular basis,with impunity sometimes just for throwing rocks. Human rights groups’ reports are never short on distressing details: 954 Palestinian children were killed between the Second Intifada in 2000 and Israel’s war on Gaza, the so-called Operation Cast Lead in 2008. In the latter war alone, 345 children were reportedly killed.
Palestinian children live a reality of apartheid and structural violence, where they could be gunned down at any time without any serious prospect of accountability killed by an occupying force as the world watches
Years years later, we should remember this terrified boy, remember his name and all the other innocents since trapped in the fogs of war and occupation.
In Gaza, the protracted humanitarian protection crisis continues to have a significant impact on the well-being of children and families. Successive conflicts have resulted in thousands of deaths, created high levels of psychosocial distress, and eroded public infrastructure. To date, the international community has failed to ensure proper protection of Palestinian children from the political violence of the Israeli government and settlers.
Israeli military's continuous offensives and its complete disregard for international law have frustrated any meaningful efforts toward implementing comprehensive protections for Palestinian children. Children remain the most vulnerable and are paying the heaviest price of the conflict. They must be protected from violence, exploitation and grave violations and the international community must demand an end to Israel’s illegal military assaults and systemic impunity by investigating allegations of war crimes and holding the perpetrators accountable.
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