At-Home with Gila Svirsky

Jerusalem
1 June 2001, 7:36 PM
Subject: Dir Istya aftermath

Information about the aftermath of the Dir Istya action just came in:

After the Israeli soldiers and police arrested the peace activists and left the area, Israeli settlers actually entered the village of Dir Istya and began to provoke the residents. Some say the settlers fired off their guns, but this is not confirmed. It’s bad enough that they actually entered the village, armed to the teeth. (Palestinians are barred from entering Israeli settlements unless they have a work permit there, often as cleaners or gardners.) Several unarmed Palestinian youth began to throw stones at the settlers. The army heard or heard about the ruckus, raced back to the village, and opened fire on the Palestinian young men who had been throwing stones. (This, Neta Golan notes, is the usual MO of the settlers: Provoke the nearby villages until they get a reaction, and then the soldiers respond with firepower.)

As a result, one 18-year-old Palestinian young man was shot, probably by a soldier. The bullet pierced his kidney and damaged his spinal cord. In all likelihood, he will remain paralyzed for the rest of his life. He is currently undergoing surgery in Ramallah.

Gila