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Press Release 31 March 2001 |
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Six Palestinians are Killed During Land Day Protests in the West Bank |
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Six Palestinians were killed and more than 100 others were injured yesterday during Land Day Demonstrations. All of those killed died as a result of being shot with live ammunition in the head or neck, and the majority of the wounded were hit by live fire. Protests marking land day are held every year to protest Israel’s confiscation of Palestinian lands, and in commemoration of the killing of six Palestinians within Israel in 1976 during demonstrations over Israel’s confiscation of Palestinian private property. Those killed yesterday were, · Sha’ban Sa’ed Salloum, 31, from Balatah Refugee Camp near Nablus. Salloum was killed by a bullet fired from a heavy machinegun that struck him in the head. · Ahmad Mahmoud Marahil, 16, from Balatah Refugee Camp near Nablus. Marahil was killed by a live bullet that struck him in the neck. · ‘Ayesh Ghazi Mustafa Zamel, 19, from Dier al-Hatab in the Nablus District. Zamel was killed by a live bullet to the head. · Murad Sharay’ah, 21, from Balatah Refugee Camp near Nablus. Sharay’ah was killed by a live bullet to the head. · Khaled Shihadeh Nakhleh, 27, from Nablus. Shihadeh was killed by a live bullet to the head. · Mohammad Abd al-Muhsen al-Wawi, 21, from Betunia in the Ramallah District. Shihadeh was killed by a large caliber live bullet that struck him in the head. The demonstration in Nablus were intended to be peaceful, and remained non-violent until Israeli forces opened fire upon the unarmed crowd using live ammunition. While the United Nations Human Rights Commission meets in Geneva and considers the situation in the occupied territories, Israel continue its use of disproportionate force in its responses to Palestinian protests. Rocks were met with rubber bullets, live fire, and heavy machinegun fire. In response to several shooting incidents yesterday night, in which no Israelis were injured, Israeli forces opened fire on Palestinian residential areas using tanks and heavy machineguns. In response to these incidents al-Haq reiterates its concern over the inaction of the international community and calls for the following steps to be taken. 1. Ensure international protection for the Palestinian people by creating an international protection force to be deployed in the occupied territories. 2. Encourage the High Contracting Parties to the Fourth Geneva Convention to enforce the provisions of the Convention and its Protocols. 3. The European Community should express their support for the Palestinian people and condemn Israeli aggression by voting for the draft resolution condemning Israeli violations in the Occupied Territories that is before the Human Rights Commission. 4. Send a human rights monitoring force to the Occupied Territories to document all violations social, economic, cultural, civil and political that result from the continued Israeli occupation. |
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