International Solidarity Movement
Friday,
January 13, 2012
Tom was 21 years old when
he was shot. A photography student, he had left the UK to volunteer as a ‘human
shield’ in Iraq. Here he heard about the ISM, one of whose volunteers, Rachel
Corrie, had just been killed by a bulldozer whilst protesting house demolitions
in Rafah. He headed there himself, arriving on the 6th April.
On the day of his
shooting, Tom was with other ISM activists walking through Rafah when Israeli
sniper fire started. Almost everyone ran for safety, but Tom noticed that three
children, aged between four and seven, had remained motionless, paralyzed with
fear. Tom went back for them. He got the little boy to safety, and then went
back for the two girls. He was wearing a fluorescent vest, and was clearly
unarmed. An Israeli sniper shot him in the head.
(27 November 1981 – 13 January 2004)
There was a two hour
delay at the border of the Gaza Strip before an ambulance was able to take him
to a hospital in Be’er Sheva. In a coma, he was transferred to a hospital in
the UK, where he died the following year.
The soldier who shot him,
Taysir Hayb, was convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to eleven and a half
years in prison. A British inquest into the killing found that the killing was
intentional ~ in other words, murder.
Tom’s shooting followed
the murder of Rachel Corrie, run over by a bulldozer on the 16th March, and the
near fatal shooting of Brian Avery, shot in the face in Jenin on April 5th.
Later that month, another Brit, filmmaker James Miller, was also killed by a
sniper in Rafah. The Israeli military have refused to accept any responsibility
for what they did to Rachel, Brian or James.
Hurndall was trying to
save Palestinian homes and infrastructure but frequently came under Israeli
fire and seemed to have lost his fear of death.
“While approaching the
area, they (the Israelis) continually fired one- to two-second bursts from what
I could see was a Bradley fighting vehicle… It was strange that as we
approached and the guns were firing, it sent shivers down my spine, but nothing
more than that. We walked down the middle of the street, wearing bright orange,
and one of us shouted through a loudspeaker, ‘We are International volunteers.
Don’t shoot!’ That was followed by another volley of fire, though I can’t be
sure where from…” ~ Robert Fisk, The Independent,
2009
This article enlarges to the original size for legibility.
Tom Hurndall was a young
man with a dream…he paid for it with his life. ~The Telegraph, 2004
Tom, blind to
nationalities and borders, exuded humanity. He wanted, he wrote in his journal,
“to make a difference”. He did. He also had an outrageous sense of humour and
will be missed, most of all, because he made those of us who were his friends
smile. He is survived by his parents, sister Sophie, and his brothers Billy and
Freddy. ~ Carl Arindell, The
Guardian, 2004.
Today International
Solidarity Movement pays tribute to Tom Hurndall for his bravery and
sacrifices. He is never far from our thoughts, and he continues to inspire
our Palestinian, Israeli, and International volunteers throughout our campaigns
in the Occupied Territories. Tom would want us to remember him.
But we also know he’d
want us to remember that thousands of innocent Palestinians have died under
similar circumstances. These people’s deaths have not been investigated, and
have often been lied about, claiming the victims to be combatants or explained
away with empty phrases like “caught in the crossfire” or “tragic accident.”
While the ISM
acknowledges that the Israeli military court found Wahid Taysir guilty of manslaughter,
an injustice was committed by his early release from prison in September 2010
due to “good behavior.”
The international
community will continue to question the policy and decision makers
responsible for Tom’s murder and the murder of thousands of other innocent
people.
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