Israeli army sniper leaves British peace activist brain-dead by Justin Huggler in Jerusalem 12:55pm Sat Apr 12 '03 A British peace activist was pronounced brain-dead yesterday after being shot in the head by an Israeli army sniper. Tom Hurndall, 21, from London, was shot while trying to rescue Palestinian children from a street where they were pinned down by Israeli gunfire. He is the third peace activist to be killed or seriously injured in the occupied territories in the past month. His fellow activists were beginning to wonder aloud last night if they are a target of the Israeli army. Mr Hurndall was declared brain-dead on arrival at a Palestinian hospital in Rafah but there were some reports last night that his condition might be improving. Mr Hurndall came to the occupied territories after leaving Baghdad, where he had travelled as a human shield before the start of the war in Iraq. His group of activists was in a refugee camp in Rafah near the Egyptian border, where Israeli soldiers often demolish Palestinian homes because they say militants use them as cover from which to fire. The civilian occupants of the houses are left homeless. Mr Hurndall's group intended to stay the night in a tent in a street where an Israeli tank frequently fires into civilian houses, according to Raphael Cohen, another British activist who was there when Mr Hurndall was shot. The Independent has witnessed Israeli tanks firing on civilian houses in Rafah when there were no militants in the area. When the activists reached the street, Mr Cohen said, they found it already under fire and too dangerous to enter. The gunfire was coming from one of the Israeli army watchtowers on the Egyptian border, which surround much of Rafah. A group of about 20 Palestinian children - the oldest was about 10, according to Mr Cohen, the rest younger - were trapped by gunfire in the street. Mr Hurndall decided to go into the street with two other activists to bring the children out of the line of fire, believing they were less likely to be fired on because they were foreigners. "Tom went and brought one boy back with him," said Mr Cohen by telephone from Rafah. "But he saw two girls were still stuck there. He went back out for them and immediately he was hit in the head." Like other peace campaigners, Mr Hurndall was wearing brightly coloured overalls so that he could be easily identified as an activist. "The Israeli army was very aware of our presence in the area,'' said Mr Cohen. He said the activists, who have been sleeping in Palestinian houses that have been coming under fire, had hung banners around the area saying they were there. Mr Cohen said Israeli soldiers had "shot the banners to shreds". The International Solidarity Movement (ISM), of which Mr Hurndall was a member, has been heavily criticised in Israel as one-sided. It is pro-Palestinian but the members are unarmed non-combatants. The shooting of Mr Hurndall comes after Rachel Corrie, an American, became the first ISM activist to be killed when she was crushed by an Israeli army bulldozer in Rafah last month. The Israeli army claimed that it was an accident and said that the driver of the bulldozer did not see her. Brian Avery, another American activist, was seriously wounded last week when he was hit in the face by machine-gun fire from an Israeli armoured personnel carrier in the West Bank city of Jenin. The Israeli army claimed its soldiers were firing at militants - the activists who were with Mr Avery said there were no militants in the area - and that the soldiers did not see Mr Avery. news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east... add your comments Source file

If he was an ISM member - he was brain-dead already by THE NAZI HUNTER 1:43pm Sat Apr 12 '03 print comment Don't blame Israel of your braindead of the ISM members. They are all brain-dead pro-terrorist scumbags who seek Martyrdome and die as Shaids as their terrorist brethern and thir Nazi role-models. Thanks god taking out this neo-Nazi criminals. May they burn in hell. add your comments

Nazi brain-dead hunter by Ari 2:05pm Sat Apr 12 '03 print comment "Nazi Hunter", you are so brave. Perhaps if you could engage your brain (difficult I know) you would realise that the IDF are the ones acting as the NAZIS did.Luckily you don't speak for all of us in Israel. add your comments

some logic by goldberg's menace 7:23pm Sat Apr 12 '03 print comment ok, "nazi hunter" let me get this straight because your logic is proving rather difficult to follow - the activists, peaceniks, people (whatever i dont give a shit what you call them) who are ferrying young children away from heavy machine gun fire are.....Nazis and the cowardly prick sitting in his apc or merkava tank raining bullets on ten year olds is....what? a patriot? a nationalist hero? Or the 18yr old that hides behind his armoured bulldozer while running over a teenage girl on his way to the next house demolition....what is he? a construction worker, creating space for gaza's burgeoning jewish population? you know goering and goebbels reckoned they were patriots as well and they had a neat little word for ethnic expansion. They did it in the name of lebensraum - living space and it cost the lives of millions...but i dont need to tell you that right? add your comments

another photo by rotter 12:14am Sun Apr 13 '03 print comment another photo rotter.net/cgi-bin/forum/dcboard.cgi?az=... add your comments

Wake up Israelis by ISM 6:56pm Sun Apr 13 '03 print comment March 16, Rachel crushed by the blade of an Israeli army bulldozer Rafah. She was guilty of attempting to protect the home of a Palestinian family. It was proven beyond any doubt that she was seen and recognized as an International peace activist, yet the driver blindly followed the orders. April 5, Brian was shot in the head by an Israeli army tank from 50 meters distance. he was seen and clearly identified as an International peace activist. He was guilty of attempting to protect Palestinian children. The solider blindly followed the orders and fired a round of high speed bullets directly to his head. April 11, Tom was shot in the head from the Israeli soldiers tower in Yebna, Rafah from 100 meters distance. He was guilty of attempting to move two little girls from the army line of fire. The solider blindly followed the orders and Brian is clinically dead. This is what is how clearly identified International activists are being dealt with from the side of your "Defense Forces ". Have you ever asked how Palestinian civilians are treated? Did you ever wonder why there is a high toll of Palestinians killed and seriously hurt on daily basis? In which of the above mentioned cases did any of the International activists presented a threat to the safety of your soldiers? Why would your soldiers, sheltered in a well protected tower, target Palestinian children standing at 100 meters distance? Each and every one of you is still holding the pain deep inside him because the world was silent when you were persecuted, when you felt defenseless. Those ISM activists decided that it is a crime to stay silent when innocent civilians are being killed and persecuted. Why are you deadly silent? Does it really matter on which side of the bullet you stand? The sending or the receiving side!!!! It is sad to say that the International community is as guilty. When Palestinian civilians were killed and persecuted they did not care. When Rachel was crushed, they stayed deadly silent, when Brian was shot, they kept silent. Now it is Tom and we wonder who is next. Now the people who care need protection. It is only you and the International community who can provide it. iI you stay silent I think you are as guilty as the ones who followed the orders. Conflicts are fueled by the tendency of the powerful to exploit his power and the anger and frustration of the powerless which turns into violence. ISM activists are attempting to confront the exploitation of power and to bring back hope to the powerless. Nothing can be more conducive to the cause of peace than their work. For God ג€™s sake raise your voice and bring an end to this massacre of our hopes for a peaceful future. www.palsolidarity.org add your comments

I don't think so by Shabtai 1:18am Mon Apr 14 '03 print comment AS much as I support non-violent work, and I am myself a non-violent activist, I do not think that the ISM really has a right to yell at me. I did not serve in the army, I never killed anyone, and I am against the occupation. However, they think they can come here for 2 months and tell me "what it's like". They yell at us- the Israeli left- for not doing enough. they don't seem to get it that while they are here for a few weeks, we live here. We aren't adventuring off when we go protest- that is our life. and at the same time we have our everyday lives to deal with 365 days a year. And yet, the ISM continues to attack the Israeli left. Peace Now isn't left enough for them. Taayush doesn't do enough. And on and on. Enough. And if the ISM was really an international solidarity movement why aren't they off in chechnya and Kashmir acting as human shields. believe me- they need it as well. I am not against the idea behind the ISM- i supported them at the beginning. I am against the ISM attitude. I still consider what happened to rachel murder, and I am still involved with making sure Brian gets the best care possible. Sadly, it seems that the english activist is clinically dead and is only waiting for next of kin to sign the papers and let the doctors unplug him. Nothing I can do for him, except console his father.... add your comments

For Once by Good Jew 1:56am Mon Apr 14 '03 print comment At least for once someone from the left has the guts to tell the truth about the International Solidarity Movement. Shabtai your are exactly correct in what you said. But the only thing you are missing is that those in the ISM who are not Arabs have no business being in Israel. These people think that they are reliving the sixities protest for civil rights and the Vietnam War both admirable causes. But the sitution is no Vietnam War and or civil rights movement. It time for them to realize if they really want to help people they should go to Africa and feed some children. The children in Africa are in much dire need of help then the Palestinians. The Palestinians already have international Arabs, themselves, and the Israel left. That is more than enough help. add your comments

Oh really, don't you just know it all? by Rev 2:12am Mon Apr 14 '03 print comment Funny isn't it how sure you are what the Palestinians want or don't want. Perhaps we should ask them. Or maybe you'd prefer not to hear what they have to say, since you patronise them so much with your comments. And if they have had so much ' 'help' already, then it has been pitiful in its effect, don't you think? add your comments

Shabtai :a fox in sheep`s clothing? by .. 2:27am Mon Apr 14 '03 print comment ``they don't seem to get it that while they are here for a few weeks we live here...`` your only connection to life in the Territories is through your tube. Israelis are legally barred from entering the occupied Territories. Maybe if you did something with our time instead of defending your none actions foreign Activists would be spared the daily Horrors of shielding an entire People... add your comments

Well done ISM by len 2:49am Mon Apr 14 '03 print comment I think all these apologists are embarrassed by the ISM, because the ISM have got out there and patently achieved things, and have shown how little real hellp the Palestinians have had. They have shown real courage and have spread the message around the globe, something which no amount of talkshops and good intentions have been able to. Most Israelis have no idea of the misery and hell the IDF and Sharon have imposed on the Palestinians and that is exactly the way Sharon and co intend to keep it. That is also why they are so keen to murder ISM volunteers in order to try and get rid of them. The last thing they want is any genuine reporting of events inside the Occupied Territories. They wan t to keep their murderous policies of ethnic cleansing away from the world's attention. add your comments

Don't believe Sharon by Zander 6:42am Mon Apr 14 '03 print comment The man was a peace activist, not a destroyer. He risked his life to stabilize the situation in your country, not his own. ALSO: Don't believe Sharon's self-inflated blather about Israel's relations being the best ever with the US. Not to diminish the need for good, healthy relations, BUT, Sharon is an aberration, and has a future date with the Hague. Like other, stress-handicapped relics of a previous time, he has a hard time seeing the obvious fact that Palestinians have a right and aren't going to vanish because they don't fit into his little square-box idea of Israel. Bush's current vulnerability to arch-militarist Wolfowitz and madman Perle (advised Sharon to abandon Oslo, level the Palestinian Authority and evict as many Palestinians as he could--which is the root cause of all this violence, isn't it?) is a strange quirk of history: the fading days of an organized crime regime cabal in the US--suddenly capped by a less than astute president, to put it bluntly. Bush's grandpa Prescott did the international banking for Fritz Thyssen, founding member of the Stahlhelm--the most despicable funders of Hitler from 1924-1933. Without Thyssen, Hitler might well have gone under or died early. Bush's grandpa probably thought Thyssen was helping to put communism down, but he also knew that Hitler was insanely anti-semitic. Everyone knew the score, including Bush's favorite patrons, the worst of the Du Ponts, whose parents/grandparents did huge business with Hitler and funded anti-Semitic literature... People in Israel should know this. See The Unauthorized Biography of George Bush on the Internet (by competent historians, mind you). Bush is out of his depth in the White House, which Sharon obviously knows, due to good Mossad information. They see Bush as the easiest mark in Israel's history. However, they also see that Bush and Rumsfeld's (Perle-related) tacit condoning of Sharon's violations allowed Bin Laden to see that 9-11 was an opportune moment for an attack, due to widespread sympathy for Sharon's brutal lawlessness. So, Bush's vulnerability to right-wing hacks will cost him. First it was the economy, then it was his European relations. Next it will be the election--over the economy, in fact. Every other politician of standing in the US will immediately move to re-start the peace process. Sharon doesn't seem to notice that the violence is worse under him than under any other Isreali leader within memory. His actions, his intransigence and lawlessness have caused the attacks that plague the average person on the street. Israel should buy all the settlers nice houses with gardens and give the West Bank back, then rekindle a dialogue with the younger Assad, a much more educated man of medicine--less inclined to commit an atrocity, as did his father. add your comments

Also by Zander 9:34am Mon Apr 14 '03 print comment Forgot to mention, that, if anything, Israel's relations have deeply worsened with the US, here, where I live. There is now a previously unseen undercurrent of outright disgust, outrage about the direction in which the recent regime has taken Israel. When there was a peace process, we were more patient. Now that the most obsessive kind are trying to exacerbate animosities, trying to encourage bald-faced ugliness plus the murder of journalists, people here say things that weren't heard before. Sharon is starkly wrong, old and out of touch. This isn't 1949 anymore... Rachel Corrie's murder burns deeply in our memories. When deeply traumatized people try to turn a complex, multifaceted kind of anguish into hatred, in some cases for personal political or material gain, in others because they've lost the basic sensitivities needed to sort it all out in more enduring terms, when such people lapse into demagoguery and hate-campaigns without realizing that the Palestinians were here more or less since Roman times, that their family lands and orchards were taken away and are still being taken, isn't it a little naive to think that they can just shut the hell up and go away... just drop their heads and have no feelings--to give it all up without political rights, without any claim to safe haven? Both peoples are hurting. To make it worse is no solution. Sharon is breeding bad feelings here in the US, among an entirely different people, not better relations. add your comments

You keep sending in the commies and by Newt 6:02pm Tue Apr 15 '03 print comment we'll keep buying the bullets.... add your comments

end of occupation by shahar 10:20pm Tue Apr 15 '03 address: ביבא - לת shahar12000@yahoo.com print comment well - the end of occupation is near. the iof can not stay in gaza & in the west bank for solong ... the israeli govw spending lots of money on the army forces in the west bank & gaza..as well as money for the settelers.! if the money will stop coming in to israel it will end soon. the poeple in israel are getting poorer . shahar www.indymedia.org add your comments

keep sending them commies by Ha Ha Ha 11:06pm Tue Apr 15 '03 print comment ...``we'll keep buying them bullets``.... Newt, you never even bought them, amerikkka bought them for you... add your comments

Israel I cry for you by Dino 3:07pm Thu Apr 17 '03 print comment When I was in your country in 1994 you had such high hopes for peace under such a clear headed Govt, people on both sides saw the end of the agony....then your own people shot your best leader....and now this, it is a crime that more than 85% of Isrealis support Sharon and his crimes. When I see Isrealis travelling here in New Zealand, they say we no nothing and our media is biased against Isreal...wrong we do and our media only shows the mild truth. Why are so many Isrealis travelling in safe New Zealand??? most do not respect our culture, opinion, food and constantly complain. please go home, stop travelling when you don't respect our opinions, get that chip of your shoulder and please sort out your own mess before you give us advice, we cry for what your land could have but get reged when you try and bring your attitude over here. Dino, New Zealand add your comments

one day the truth will be known by pained israeli 7:29am Sun Apr 27 '03 print comment It pains me to see onesidedness on both sides. I hate to see injustices committed by my government and I hate to see how injustices on the Palestinian side are excused and whitewashed. Sadly, I think that the Palestinian authority are as happy to see foreign peace workers killed as they were to see scuds rain on Tel Aviv. It helps their propaganda. What these Christian peace workers don't understand is that they would fare no better under Moslem rule than the Jews of Israel they protest against. I truly wish my government was perfect and pure and made no errors of judgement. But where is the protest against Palestinian mothers who send their children out into the streets or at least don't prevent it? This is a war for adults to fight, not children. add your comments

Hi by ofra 12:04pm Sun Apr 27 '03 print comment you are invading their playgrounds where Children play on the streets. If you yearn to fight like a man then pick on someone your own age peace! add your comments