Following the images on TV and newspapers of the 12-year-old Palestinian boy being shot and killed by Israeli soldiers (News, Oct. 1 and 2), crouched behind his father as both cried for help, I couldn’t help but cry.
I cried as a father.
And I cried as a Palestinian, who witnessed such horrific scenes a few years ago in Palestine.
The story of this boy and his father is a story of hundreds of Palestinians killed by Israelis over the last decade.
What made matters worse is that the Palestinian rescue worker was also killed trying to aid father and son.
I used to work for the International Committee of the Red Cross in Jerusalem during the Intifada.
I got shot at, tear-gassed and hit with rubber bullets during similar rescue missions.
Bottom line, Israeli soldiers and leadership don’t respect human life, especially when the victim is not an Israeli.
Israeli soldiers and settlers are trained to use excessive force even during the smallest skirmishes with the Palestinian demonstrators.
Israeli army chiefs claimed that their soldiers started shooting after they were shot at by Palestinian police.
What did they expect?
Palestinian policemen felt helpless trying to stop the demonstrators seeing many of them getting killed and scores injured by Israeli soldiers, so of course they started shooting.
Let us flip the picture.
What would you expect an Israeli soldier to do if he found himself stuck between a group of demonstrating Jewish settlers getting injured by Palestinian police?
