Israeli Forces Kill Popular Anti-Wall Protester

Yousef Srour’s lifeless body is rushed to an ambulance as his brother weeps

Eyewitness Hindi Mesleh saw the shot that killed Yousef.

“A 16 year old boy was in front of him, he got shot and fell to the ground, when Yousef saw this, he ran to pick him up and take him to the ambulance,” Meshel said. “But he didn’t make it, as he reached the boy he was shot in the heart,”

Yousef died on the way to hospital in Ramallah.

It was not the first time that Yousef was shot in the year that he had been attending the protests against the wall in Ni’lin.

“He was shot 13 times with rubber bullets and once with a tear gas canister, he was also arrested by the Israelis twice for taking part in the Friday demonstrations”.

For the people of Ni’lin, Yousef was special, as one of the organisers of the weekly protests in village he was well liked and respected.

“For sure when others were killed, the village was sad, but for Yusef they were more down…Yousef had a special and unique character, he was a happy guy. His death is something that the people will feel…he will be missed for sure”, said Mesleh.

Ahmed Risleh, a family friend says the entire village of Ni’lin is angry at Yousef’s death.

“It wasn’t an accident, they shot him because they knew him, they knew he was an activist and they knew he was a Hamas supporter”.

An Israeli military spokesman initially denied the soldiers used live ammunition to disperse the crowds during last Friday’s protest. But the army later issued a statement justifying Yousef’s death because he was a “Hamas activist central to the weekly anti fence protest”.

Risleh warns emotions in Ni’lin are running high and believes there could be more violence.

“Friday will be worse because the people are angry”.

It’s a sentiment shared by Mesleh who believes Yousef was specifically targeted.

“I guess Israel is worried about these popular, nonviolent struggles that are taking place in Palestine…Israel does not want this kind of resistance to spread around Palestine. Nonviolent resistance gets a lot of media and international attention, and it is something that Israel cannot argue against…it is not threatening the life of Israelis or Israeli soldiers.”

In the past Israel has violently suppressed non-violent protests often with deadly consequences. In April Bassam Abu Rahmeh died after he was hit in the chest by a teargas canister fired by an Israeli soldier in the nearby village of Bil’in. Weekly protests in both villages against plans to construct what Palestinians call the Apartheid Wall have become a common fixture.

Israel has seized over 50 000 dunams of Palestinian land in and around Ni’lin areas since 1948.