A Day, a Life: When a Medic Was Killed in Gaza, Was It an Accident?
The New York Times - By David M. Halbfinger - Dec. 30, 2018
▻https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/30/world/middleeast/gaza-medic-israel-shooting.html
KHUZAA, Gaza Strip — A young medic in a head scarf runs into danger, her only protection a white lab coat. Through a haze of tear gas and black smoke, she tries to reach a man sprawled on the ground along the Gaza border. Israeli soldiers, their weapons leveled, watch warily from the other side.
Minutes later, a rifle shot rips through the din, and the Israeli-Palestinian drama has its newest tragic figure.
For a few days in June, the world took notice of the death of 20-year-old Rouzan al-Najjar, killed while treating the wounded at protests against Israel’s blockade of the Gaza Strip. Even as she was buried, she became a symbol of the conflict, with both sides staking out competing and mutually exclusive narratives.
To the Palestinians, she was an innocent martyr killed in cold blood, an example of Israel’s disregard for Palestinian life. To the Israelis, she was part of a violent protest aimed at destroying their country, to which lethal force is a legitimate response as a last resort.
Palestinian witnesses embellished their initial accounts, saying she was shot while raising her hands in the air. The Israeli military tweeted a tendentiously edited video that made it sound like she was offering herself as a human shield for terrorists.
In each version, Ms. Najjar was little more than a cardboard cutout.
An investigation by The New York Times found that Ms. Najjar, and what happened on the evening of June 1, were far more complicated than either narrative allowed. Charismatic and committed, she defied the expectations of both sides. Her death was a poignant illustration of the cost of Israel’s use of battlefield weapons to control the protests, a policy that has taken the lives of nearly 200 Palestinians.
It also shows how each side is locked into a seemingly unending and insolvable cycle of violence. The Palestinians trying to tear down the fence are risking their lives to make a point, knowing that the protests amount to little more than a public relations stunt for Hamas, the militant movement that rules Gaza. And Israel, the far stronger party, continues to focus on containment rather than finding a solution.
In life, Ms. Najjar was a natural leader whose uncommon bravery struck some peers as foolhardy. She was a capable young medic, but one who was largely self-taught and lied about her lack of education. She was a feminist, by Gaza standards, shattering traditional gender rules, but also a daughter who doted on her father, was particular about her appearance and was slowly assembling a trousseau. She inspired others with her outward jauntiness, while privately she was consumed with dread in her final days.
The bullet that killed her, The Times found, was fired by an Israeli sniper into a crowd that included white-coated medics in plain view. A detailed reconstruction, stitched together from hundreds of crowd-sourced videos and photographs, shows that neither the medics nor anyone around them posed any apparent threat of violence to Israeli personnel. Though Israel later admitted her killing was unintentional, the shooting appears to have been reckless at best, and possibly a war crime, for which no one has yet been punished. (...)
Rouzan al-Najjar, 20, was killed by an Israeli sniper on June 1 while she was treating the wounded at protests at the Gaza border.CreditIbraheem Abu Mustafa/ReutersWestern hypocrisy: Khashoggi and Murtaja two deceased journalists but the world will only remember one – Middle East Monitor
▻https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20181030-western-hypocrisy-khashoggi-and-murtaja-two-deceased-jou
Yaser Murtaja was a Palestinian photojournalist who had gone to the Gaza fence with Israel to cover the second Friday of the Great Return March. He was killed by an IDF sniper on 7 April. There was modest coverage of his death coming on the second Friday of the Great Return March. The world was troubled by the deliberate targeting by highly trained Israeli snipers of Palestinian civilians who posed no threat, but Western governments were hesitant about criticising Israel for targeting men, women, children, medics and journalists. The young medic, Razan Al-Najjar was shot and killed weeks later while tending to the wounded at the Gaza fence. At the same time, Nikki Haley was plotting to scupper a UN Security Council resolution to protect Palestinian civilians.
]]>Manifestation de solidarité d’israéliens anti-sionistes avec les Gazaouis, ce qui leur donne un peu plus de visibilité médiatique :
Anti-Zionist Israelis speak with BDS activists from Gaza at Great March of Return
Haim Schwarczenberg, le 6 octobre 2018
►https://schwarczenberg.com/anti-zionist-israelis-speak-with-bds-activists-from-gaza-at-great-ma
La vidéo :
►https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gv_UtVpdDHE
#Palestine #Gaza #Nakba #Marche_du_Retour #Resistance #solidarité #anti-sionisme
]]>Razan Ashraf al-Najjar
Mustafa Barghouti
The Lancet 391:2496, Juin 2018
▻https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(18)31361-8
En Français :
▻http://www.aurdip.fr/the-lancet-razan-ashraf-al-najjar-3068.html
A propos de Razan al-Najjar, il existe un projet de #documentaire qui sera tourné cet été à Gaza par un cinéaste Gazaoui, #Iyad_Alasttal, et qui accompagnera une tournée avec la famille de Razan al-Najjar :
▻https://www.bdsfrance.org/projet-de-film-et-tournee-en-france-en-memoire-de-razan-el-najjar
Il faut un peu d’argent aussi :
▻https://www.leetchi.com/c/film-palestinien-et-tournee-en-france-a-la-memoire-de-razan-el-najjar
#Razan_al-Najjar #Palestine #Palestine_assassinée #Gaza #Nakba #Marche_du_retour #honte_sans_fond #impunité #sans_vergogne
Aussi là en anglais :
►https://seenthis.net/messages/699252
►https://seenthis.net/messages/699263
►https://seenthis.net/messages/699279
►https://seenthis.net/messages/699940
►https://seenthis.net/messages/699944
►https://seenthis.net/messages/699430
Et en français :
►https://seenthis.net/messages/699385
Israël tente de salir Razan al-Najjar, l’infirmière palestinienne qu’il a abattue, en disant qu’elle n’était « pas un ange ». Par Robert Mackey
▻https://www.les-crises.fr/israel-tente-de-salir-razan-al-najjar-linfirmiere-palestinienne-quil-a-ab
After killing Razan al-Najjar, IDF assassinates her character Haaretz.com - Gideon Levy | Jun. 10, 2018 | 12:47 AM
▻https://www.haaretz.com/opinion/.premium-the-israeli-army-doesn-t-believe-in-its-own-cause-1.6158727
A few short words – “Razan al-Najjar isn’t an angel of mercy” – sum up the depths of Israeli propaganda. Avichay Edraee, the Israeli army’s Arabic-language spokesman, who also speaks in my name, is a representative of an army of mercy that has also now appointed itself the judge of the measure of mercy in a medic treating Palestinian wounded on Gaza’s border with Israel, and who Israeli army soldiers mercilessly killed. After killing her, it was also necessary to assassinate her character.
Propaganda is a tool that serves many countries. The less just their policies are, the more they expand their propaganda efforts. Sweden doesn’t need propaganda. North Korea does. In Israel, it’s called hasbara – public diplomacy – because why would it need propaganda? Recently its propaganda has sunk to such despicable lows that nothing can better prove that its justifications have run out, its excuses gone, that truth is the enemy and that all that’s left are lies and slander.
It is directed mostly for domestic consumption. Around the world, few gaza people would buy it in any event. But as part of the desperate effort to persist in the psychological repression and denial, in the failure to tell ourselves the truth and the evasion of any responsibility – everything is acceptable when it comes to these efforts.
A medic in a nursing uniform has been shot to death by Israeli army snipers – as have journalists with press vests and an amputee in a wheelchair. If we rely on Israeli army snipers to know what they are doing, counting on them to be the most accurate in the world, then these people have been shot deliberately. Surely if the army had believed in the justice of the military campaign that it is waging in Gaza, it would have taken responsibility for these killings, apologizing, expressing regret and offering compensation.
But when the earth is burning under our feet, when we know the truth and understand that shooting at demonstrators and killing more than 120 of them and rendering hundreds of others disabled is more akin to a massacre, one cannot apologize or express regret. And then the army spokesman’s aggressive, clumsy, embarrassing and shameful propaganda machine springs into action – a thunderous voice from the Defense Ministry that only compounds what has been done.
Maj. Edraee released a video on Thursday in which a nurse, perhaps Najjar, is seen from the back, flinging away a smoke grenade that soldiers had thrown at her. Edraee would have done the same himself, but when it comes to desperate propaganda, it’s a smoking gun: Najjar is a terrorist. She had also said that she was a human shield. Certainly a medic is a human defender.
An Israeli army investigation, based only on the testimony of the soldiers of course, showed that she had not been deliberately shot. Clearly. The propaganda machine went further and hinted that she may have been killed by Palestinian weapons fire, which has rarely been used over the past two months.
Maybe she shot herself? Anything is possible. And do we remember any Israeli army investigation showing otherwise? Israel’s ambassador in London, Mark Regev, who is another top, polished propagandist, was quick to tweet about the “medical volunteer” in quotation marks, as if a Palestinian could be a medical volunteer. Instead, he wrote, her death is “yet another reminder of Hamas’ brutality.”
The Israeli army kills a medic in a white uniform, in an outrageous violation of international law, which provides protection for medical personnel in combat zones. And that’s despite the fact that the Gaza border does not constitute a combat zone. But it’s Hamas that is the brutal one.
Kill me, Mr. Ambassador, but who could possibly follow this twisted, sick logic? And who would buy such cheap propaganda other than some of the members of the Board of Deputies of British Jews — the largest representative organization of U.K. Jewry – along with Merav Ben Ari, the Knesset member who was quick to take advantage of the opportunity and state: “It turns out that the medic, yes that one, wasn’t just a medic, as you see.” Yes, that one. As you see.
Israel should have been shocked by the killing of the medic. Najjar’s innocent face should have touched every Israeli’s heart. Medical organizations should have spoken out. Israelis should have hidden their faces in embarrassment. But that only could have happened if Israel had believed in the justice of its cause. When fairness is gone, all that is left is propaganda. And from that standpoint, maybe this new low is a herald of good news.
]]>Israeli army frames slain medic Razan al-Najjar as “Hamas human shield”
Jonathan Ofir on June 7, 2018
▻http://mondoweiss.net/2018/06/israeli-frames-najjar
Just when you thought Israel couldn’t get any lower… The Israeli army has just released an incitement video, titled “Hamas’ use of human shields must stop”, in which it frames the slain medic Razan al-Najjar as a “Hamas human shield”– a day after it claimed she was killed by accident.
This is more than adding insult to injury. This is adding malice to crime.
The propaganda effort is based on twisting al-Najjar’s own words. I have consulted with three Arabic experts, who have looked at the original Arabic interview from which the IDF took the “human shield” text, and it is clear to them beyond a doubt that the IDF was knowingly and cynically manipulating Razan’s words to mean something other than what she said.
Bear with me, this requires close analysis:
First the video features Razan throwing away a gas grenade in the field. Obviously, this is one of the tear gas grenades fired by the Israeli army, which she is taking up and throwing to a safe distance. By this visual, the IDF is trying to create the impression that Razan is a kind of ‘combatant’.
Then comes the short clip from an interview. The original interview has been found to be from Al Mayadeen News, a channel based in Beirut. The IDF video runs subtitles, saying: “I am Razan al-Najjar, I am here on the frontlines and I act as a human shield…”
That’s all the IDF needs. Now, with the ominous music in the background, the IDF text states:
“Hamas uses paramedics as human shields”.
But the IDF cut out a very significant part of the sentence. Razan actually says:
“I the Paramedic Razan al-Najjar, I am here on the Front Line acting as a human shield of safety to protect the injured at the Front Line. No one encouraged me on being a Paramedic, I encouraged myself. I wanted to take chances and help people…” (my emphasis).(...)
]]>Anonymous snipers and a lethal verdict
We may never know the name of the soldier who killed Razan al-Najjar. But we do know the names of those who gave the order enabling him to kill her
Amira Hass Jun 05, 2018
Haaretz.com
▻https://www.haaretz.com/opinion/.premium-anonymous-snipers-and-a-lethal-verdict-1.6151967
We know her name: Razan al-Najjar. But what’s his? What’s the name of the soldier who killed her, with direct fire to the chest last Friday? We don’t know, and we probably won’t ever know.
In contrast to the Palestinians suspected of killing Israelis, the Israeli who killed Najjar is protected from exposure to the cameras and an in-depth breakdown of his family history, including his relatives’ participation in routine attacks on Palestinians as part of their military service or their political affiliation.
Demanding Israeli microphones will not be pushed into his face with probing questions: Didn’t you see she was wearing a paramedic’s white robe when you aimed at her chest?
Didn’t you see her hair covered with a head scarf? Do your rules of engagement require you to shoot at paramedics, men and women as well, and at a distance of about 100 meters (some 330 feet) from the border fence? Did you shoot at her legs (why?) and miss because you’re useless? Are you sorry? Do you sleep well at night? Did you tell your girlfriend it was you who killed a young woman the same age as her? Was Najjar your first?
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The anonymity of our soldiers picking off and killing Palestinians is an inseparable part of the culture of Israeli impunity. We are above it all. Immune from everything. Allowing an anonymous soldier to kill a young paramedic with a bullet that hit her in the chest, exiting from her back, and continuing on with our lives.
>> ’We die anyway, so let it be in front of the cameras’: Conversations with Gazans
There are lots of pictures of Najjar on the internet: She stood out as one of the few women among the first aid teams operating at the “March of Return” protest sites since March 30.
After two years’ training, she volunteered for the Palestinian Medical Relief Society. She happily gave interviews, including to The New York Times’ correspondent in Gaza, speaking about the ability of women to act under difficult conditions no less so than men – and even better than them. She knew how dangerous her job was. A paramedic was killed by Israel Defense Forces fire on May 14, dozens of others were injured and suffocated as they ran to rescue the wounded.
Najjar, 21 at the time of her death, was from the village of Khuza’a, east of Khan Yunis. In interviews, she was not asked about the wars and Israeli military attacks during her childhood and later. It is hard to find their scars in her pleasant face seen on screen. In every interview, she is seen wrapped in a head scarf of a different color – and each time it is wrapped around her head stylishly, meticulously, showing an investment of time and thought. The color reveals a love for life, despite all she had gone through.
We do not know the name of the soldier, but we do know who is in the chain of command that ordered and enabled him to kill a 21-year-old paramedic: Southern Command chief Maj. Gen. Eyal Zamir. IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Gadi Eisenkot. Military Advocate General Brig. Gen. Sharon Afek and Attorney General Avichai Mendelblit, both of whom approved the wording of the rules of engagement, as the High Court justices were told before they denied petitions against the shooting at protesters along the border fence.
Despite all the testimony about civilian fatalities and horrifying injuries, the justices chose to believe what they were told in the name of the military by Avi Milikovsky, a lawyer from the State Prosecutor’s Office: The use of potentially lethal force is taken only as a last resort, in a proportionate manner and to the minimal extent required.
Please explain how this tallies with the death of Najjar, who was treating a man injured directly by a tear-gas canister. An eyewitness told The New York Times that while the injured man was being taken to an ambulance, her colleagues were treating her because she was suffering the effects of the tear gas. Then shots were heard and Najjar fell.
High Court Justices Esther Hayut, Hanan Melcer and Neal Hendel presented the army with an exemption from investigation and an exemption from criticism on a silver platter. In doing so, they joined the chain of command that ordered our anonymous soldier to fire at the chest of the paramedic and kill her.
]]>#Christian_Aid condemns the killing of partner volunteer in #Gaza – statement | UK charity fighting global poverty | Christian Aid | Mediacentre
▻https://mediacentre.christianaid.org.uk/christian-aid-condemns-the-killing-of-their-partner-vol
In response to the horrific killing of 21-year-old Razan al-Najjar, Christian Aid’s Head of Middle East Policy, William Bell, said:
“Christian Aid is deeply saddened by the senseless and unjust killing on Friday of volunteer medic Razan al-Najjar, from our partner organisation the Palestinian Medical Relief Society (PMRS). Razan was shot by Israeli Forces as she provided vital medical assistance to injured protesters in Gaza.
“Over the last two months, Palestinians have been protesting in support of their right to return to their ancestral homes and to end the nearly 12-year closure of Gaza. Since the beginning of these protests, PMRS, with Christian Aid’s support, has provided lifesaving assistance to thousands of victims throughout the Gaza strip.”
As Dr Aed Yaghi from the Palestinian Medial Relief Society commented: ‘We are mourning this terrible loss and demand that Israel is held accountable for its crimes under International Humanitarian Law. Three of our volunteers were also targeted on Friday and 30 of our paramedics have been injured over the last two months.’
“Until the international community acts as a genuine impartial arbiter in this decades-long conflict, then more innocent civilians will lose their lives and peace will be out of reach. International law and accountability are critical parts of that process.
“Christian Aid echoes the joint statement issued on Friday by organisations working to support the rights of Palestinian people: ‘At least 112 Palestinians have been killed in the protests and over 13,000 injured since 30 March. This terrible loss highlights the misjudgement of the UK Government’s decision not to support a UN Commission of Inquiry to assess violations of international law in Gaza.’
“Christian Aid is urging the UK Government to call on Israel to bring the closure of Gaza and the occupation permanently to an end, to finally realise the rights of Palestinian people to live in freedom and dignity.”
]]>Gaza : chagrin et douleur pour Razan al-Najjar, assassinée par l’armée israélienne d’occupation
Linah Alsaafin & Maram Humaid - 1e juin 2018 – Al Jazeera – Traduction : Chronique de Palestine
▻http://www.chroniquepalestine.com/gaza-chagrin-douleur-razan-al-najja-assassinee-par-armee-israeli
Dans une interview accordée à Al Jazeera le 20 avril, Razan avait déclaré qu’elle estimait que c’était son « devoir et sa responsabilité » d’assister aux manifestations et d’aider les blessés.
« L’armée israélienne a l’intention de tirer autant que possible », a-t-elle déclaré à cette occasion. « C’est fou et j’aurais honte si je n’étais pas là pour mon peuple. »
S’adressant au New York Times le mois dernier, Razan parlait de l’enthousiasme qui était le sien pour le travail qu’elle faisait.
« Nous avons un objectif : sauver des vies et évacuer les blessés », disait-elle. « Nous faisons cela pour notre pays », disait-elle encore, ajoutant que son travail était humanitaire.
Razan ne tenait nul compte du jugement de la société envers les femmes faisant ce travail, auquel elle contribuait elle-même en faisant des quarts de 13 heures, commençant à 7 heures du matin jusqu’à 20 heures.
« Les femmes sont souvent jugées mais la société doit nous accepter », déclarait Razan. « Si elle ne veulent pas nous accepter par choix, elle sera néanmoins forcée de nous accepter parce que nous avons plus de force que n’importe quel homme. »
Sabreen [ la mère de Razan] nous dit aussi que sa fille était en première ligne pour soigner des manifestants blessés depuis le 30 mars – et pas seulement le vendredi. Elle était devenue un visage familier au camp de Khan Younis, l’un des cinq points de rassemblements installés le long de la clôture à l’est de la bande de Gaza.
« Elle ne s’est jamais souciée de ce que les gens pouvaient dire », raconte Sabreen. « Elle s’est concentrée sur son travail sur le terrain en tant qu’infirmière bénévole, ce qui était la preuve de sa force et de sa détermination. »
« Ma fille n’avait pas d’arme, elle était infirmière », ajoute-t-elle. « Elle a beaucoup donné à son peuple. »
Les médecins sur le terrain ont dit à plusieurs reprises à Al Jazeera que les forces israéliennes tiraient sur les manifestants avec un nouveau type de balle.
Connue sous le nom de « balle papillon« , elle explose lors de l’impact, pulvérise les tissus, les artères et les os, tout en causant de graves blessures internes.
« [Ma fille] a été délibérément et directement tuée par une balle explosive, ce qui est interdit par le droit international », déclare Sabreen.
« Je demande une enquête de l’ONU pour que le meurtrier soit jugé et condamné », dit-elle encore, qualifiant les soldats israéliens de « brutaux et impitoyables ».
Elle s’est ensuite tue.
Quand Sabreen a pu à nouveau parler, ses mots ont provoqué les pleurs des femmes autour d’elle.
« J’aurais aimé l’avoir vue dans sa robe blanche de mariée, pas dans son linceul, » dit-elle.
►https://seenthis.net/messages/698991
#Palestine_assassinée #marcheduretour
#Razan_al-Najjar
Lebanon News, Breaking News - Israeli army kills Palestinian nurse in Gaza border protest - medics
Jun 01 2018 - 20:47
▻https://www.lbcgroup.tv/news/regional/382278/israeli-army-kills-palestinian-nurse-in-gaza-borde/en
Israeli forces killed a Palestinian nurse on Friday as she tried to help a wounded protester at the Gaza border, according to health officials and a witness, while Israel said militants had attacked its troops with gunfire and a grenade.
Razan Al-Najar ’s death brought to 119 the number of Palestinians killed in weekly demonstrations launched on March 30 in the Gaza Strip, an enclave controlled by the Islamist group Hamas and long subject to grinding Israeli and Egyptian embargoes.
Najar, a 21-year-old volunteer medic, was shot as she ran toward the fortified border fence, east of the south Gaza city of Khan Younis, in a bid to reach a casualty, a witness said.
Wearing a white uniform, “she raised her hands high in a clear way, but Israeli soldiers fired and she was hit in the chest,” the witness, who requested anonymity, told Reuters.
]]>