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], a New York University professor and expert on the laws of war, told the Times, “The laws of war would not want any military personnel to deliberately fire in the direction of the medics,” Mr. Goodman said. “I’m not saying it’s close to the line. I’m saying it crosses the line.” According to the Times, Israel considers unarmed members of Hamas fair game, "an interpretation of international law that is not universally accepted." <ref> New York Times, Dec. 30, 2018. By David M. Halbfinger</ref> ], a New York University professor and expert on the laws of war, told the Times, “The laws of war would not want any military personnel to deliberately fire in the direction of the medics,” Mr. Goodman said. “I’m not saying it’s close to the line. I’m saying it crosses the line.” According to the Times, Israel considers unarmed members of Hamas fair game, "an interpretation of international law that is not universally accepted." <ref> New York Times, Dec. 30, 2018. By David M. Halbfinger</ref>

An opinion column by ] in ], an American Jewish newspaper, said that the message of the article was that Jews "are guilty, blood-drenched killers." Stoll said that the Times "hides behind the weasel word 'possibly,'" and posed as even-handed. The Times said that the Palestinians were overwhelmed by Israeli force, but failed to note that Israel was overwhelmed by the force of the entire Muslim world, he wrote. Israeli troops are not perfect, wrote Stoll, but "US police and American troops accidentally kill people, too, and Palestinian Arab terrorists intentionally kill people." He contrasted the coverage of Rouzan to the lack of coverage of an Israeli American, Ari Fuld, who was stabbed to death by a Palestinian Arab.<ref>[https://www.algemeiner.com/2018/12/30/ten-new-york-times-journalists-accuse-israel-of-possibly-a-war-crime/ Ten New York Times Journalists Accuse Israel of ‘Possibly a War Crime’. Ira Stoll. The Algemeiner. December 30, 2018</ref>


==Commemoration== ==Commemoration==

Revision as of 04:52, 1 January 2019

Rouzan al-Najjar
File:Razan al-Najar.jpg
Born1997
Khuza'a, Khan Yunis, Gaza Strip
Died1 June 2018(2018-06-01) (aged 21)
Gaza
Cause of deathGunshot
OccupationNurse
Known forAiding injured Palestinian protesters

Rouzan Ashraf Abdul Qadir al-Najjar (Template:Lang-ar Rouzān ‘Ashrāf ‘Abd al-Qādir an-Najjār; 1997 – 1 June 2018) was a Palestinian nurse/paramedic who was killed by the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) while volunteering as a medic during the 2018 Gaza border protests. She was fatally hit by a bullet ricochet from a shot on the ground by an Israeli soldier as she tried to help evacuate the wounded near Israel's border fence with Gaza. The IDF first denied that she was targeted, while not ruling out that she may have been hit by indirect fire. Israeli human rights group B'Tselem said that al-Najjar was shot intentionally.

The eldest of six children born to Ashraf al-Najjar (b. 1974), she was a resident of Khuzaa, a village near the border with Israel.

The IDF released footage in which she purportedly admitted to participating in the protests as a human shield at the request of Hamas. The video was later found to be a clip from an interview with a Lebanese television station that had been edited by the IDF to take al-Najjar's comments out of context. In the unedited video, she didn't mention Hamas and called herself a "rescuing human shield to protect and save the wounded at the front lines", with everything following "human shield" trimmed out of the Israeli clip. The IDF was widely criticized for tampering with the video in order to chip away at her image.

According to witness testimony, al-Najjar was shot after she and other medics, walking with their hands up and wearing white vests, approached the border fence in order to treat a wounded protester.

Early life

Najjar's father used to be employed in Israel in the scrap metal business until restrictions disallowed travel across the border. He then worked in the Strip as a motorbike mechanic but was unemployed at the time of her death. The family lived in an apartment supplied by relatives in Khuza'a, within eyeshot of Israeli soldiers stationed over the border. Their area had a four metre high concrete wall installed to shield local residents from Israeli fire.

She, one of a family of eight, grew up witnessing three wars, that of 2008-2009, then Israel's Operation Pillar of Defense when a teenager, aged 16, and shortly afterwards the 7 week 2014 Israel–Gaza conflict in which her neighbourhood was devastated. Too poor to afford a university education, she studied calligraphy and took on coursework in nursing.

Volunteer

Her formal training after volunteering was as a paramedic in Khan Younis at Nasser Hospital and she became an active member of the Palestinian Medical Relief Society, a non-governmental health organization. She wore the white coat of the medics and a medics vest with bandages, and was attending those wounded during protests at the border fence between Gaza and Israel during Ramadan. According to her mother, Najjar attended every Friday event from 7am and 8pm, and would return home spattered with the blood of those whom she had tended care to. Even before her death, she had become something of an icon within the Gaza Strip, with local media published many images of her online, including photos of her bandaging the head of a youth who had been wounded.

Al-Najjar already believed the Israeli army was targeting her months before her death. In April, she told Al Jazeera media that Israeli soldiers had shot directly at her multiple times in a warning not to tend to the wounded in the protests.

She was 21 years old at the time of her death. Iyad Abuheweila, a journalist, interviewed her during the protests. Ms. Najjar was a fixture at the Khan Younis camp and spoke about her role at the fence, relishing in the idea that a woman could brave the dangers. "In our society women are often judged," she said. "But society has to accept us. If they don't want to accept us by choice, they will be forced to accept us because we have more strength than any man. The strength that I showed the first day of the protests, I dare you to find it in anyone else."

Death

Some 25 Gaza medical personnel and first responders assisting people injured during the border protests, from March 30 to June 2, had been wounded or killed by Israeli snipers. On May 14, 2018, Dr. Tarek Loubani, clearly identifiable as a doctor, was shot in the leg close to the separation fence, at a site where no protests, fire or smoke occurred. According to his account, an hour later, Musa Abuhassanin, a paramedic who had come to help him was killed with a shot to the chest while performing another rescue mission that day. On the day of her death 100 demonstrating Palestinians were wounded, 40 shot by Israeli live fire.

Medical personnel fine-tuned strategies to avoid being mistaken by snipers for protestors, wearing white jackets with reflective, high-visibility stripes, moving in teams in the direction of casualties, and holding their hands above their heads as they negotiate a pathway past burning tires and plumes of smoke. When in the vicinity of the border, and within speaking range of the Israeli troops, they shout in unison: "Don't shoot. There are wounded." The usual Israeli response was to scream at them to go back.

Al-najjar was a first responder at the "Great March of Return" that resulted in the 2018 Gaza border protests. On 1 June, the third Friday of Ramadan, 3,000 protestors demonstrated near the fence and Najjar was one of five paramedics on a shift, and had taken all of these precautions according to another of the group, Faris al-Qidra, and was even wearing surgical gloves. They went to rescue a man who was calling for help' after being hit in the face by a tear-gas canister, some 20 metres from the perimeter. Other accounts state the distance as 100 metres from the border. Three shots were heard. A relative, Ibrahim al-Najjar, was one of those who carried her to a waiting ambulance. Shortly afterwards, a Boston-born American woman serving in the IDF was falsely accused on social media of being the sniper in question.

Al-Najjar's death came before she and her fiancé Izzat Shatat were to announce their engagement at the end of Ramadan.

Thousands of Gazans attended her funeral along with hundreds of medical personnel, with her body being wrapped in a Palestinian flag. Her father carried her blood-stained medical jacket, while other mourners demanded revenge.

Israeli response

An internal IDF review claimed that al-Najjar was not intentionally targeted.

After initially reporting that an internal review showed that al-Najjar was not intentionally targeted, the IDF released video that purportedly showed al-Najjar admitting to being a human shield, with an IDF spokesman saying "Razan al-Najjar is not the angel of mercy Hamas propaganda is making her out to be." The video that was released misleadingly took a prior interview that al-Najjar gave to a Lebanese television station out of context. She had said "I'm here on the line being a protective human shield saving the injured" and added she was at the protests to "save the wounded at the front lines", however the IDF released video cut out everything past "human shield". The Israeli military was widely criticized for its efforts in manipulating the video, with commentators drawing parallels to past instances of the IDF manipulating or otherwise faking evidence in the past. A spokesman for the Israeli Prime Minister denied that editing the video was "political manipulation". The edited video was also shared by the Israeli ambassador to the United Kingdom and the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The Israeli ambassador to London, Mark Regev, in a tweet placed the description of her as "medical personnel" in quotation marks and continued that her death was further proof of Hamas' brutality.

Further footage showing an unidentified nurse, her face cannot be seen, was presented as evidence al-Najjar threw a tear-gas canister or smoking grenade, at a distance of some 100 metres from the border was also released by the Israeli army. Describing this video as having also been "tightly edited", The New York Times estimated that footage did not appear to have been taken on the day she was killed, stating also that "the canister does not appear to be aimed at anyone." According to Gideon Levy, the video filmed the nurse, perhaps Najjar, from behind as she flings away a smoke grenade which Israeli soldiers had thrown in her direction.

Media commentators described the IDF's release of selectively edited videos against Al-Najjar as "a coordinated smear campaign" and part of a "narrative battle".

B'Tselem's investigation

The investigation conducted by B'Tselem concluded that Israeli soldiers shot al-Najjar deliberately. The group interviewed another paramedic called Rami Abu Jazar, who was at the same protest during which al-Najjar was killed. Jazar told the group that he saw two Israeli soldiers aiming their guns at a group of paramedics, including himself and al-Najjar, "taking a sniper stance". Jazar himself was shot in the knee. No protesters were near the group during the attack, according to him.

B'Tselem wrote:

The IDF Spokesperson tried to clear the military of responsibility for a-Najar’s death, initially saying that soldiers did not fire at the spot where she had been standing. Later, the military said a-Najar might have been killed by a ricochet, before finally accusing her of serving as a human shield for rioters. Contrary to the many versions offered by the military, the facts of the case lead to only one conclusion. An investigation conducted by B’Tselem proves 20-year-old a-Najar was fatally shot by a member of the security forces who was aiming directly at her as she was standing about 25 meters away from the fence, despite the fact that she posed no danger to him or anyone else and was wearing a medical uniform.

U.N. recognition

On June 2, 2018, a group of agencies at United Nations in New York City issued a press release expressing their anguish over her death, calling al-Najjar "a clearly identified medical staffer," and stating that the killing of the nurse was "particularly reprehensible". The UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process singled her case out for attention, tweeting "Medical workers are #NotATarget!".

On June 1, a UN Security Council resolution proposed condemning the state of Israel for use of "excessive, disproportionate and indiscriminate force" against Palestinian protesters at the border fence. The resolution was vetoed by the United States.

Military investigation

Israeli military spokespersons responded, but provided no official report on the shooting; they did say that the facts would be investigated. Israel had repeatedly warned that anyone approaching the fence risked death. The Gazans were calling this a peaceful protest while the Israelis referred to the protests as riots. The protests began March 30, 2018.

On October 29 it was reported that the IDFs military advocate had rejected the findings of the preliminary probe earlier that year that found that she was not shot intentionally. Instead, a criminal investigation into the matter would be opened.

New York Times Investigation

On December 30, 2018, the New York Times together with Forensic Architecture published an in-depth investigative article concerning the killing by utilizing a 3D map to pinpoint the source of the shots fired that resulted in the death. Times reporters collected more than 1001 pictures of the site on June 01 and crowdsourced 30 cellphone videos to map the movements of the medics at the time of the incident. They also consulted with witnesses, medical officials and Israeli government spokesmen to assess if the shooting was a war crime.

They concluded she was killed by a bullet from 120yds (109m.) away that ricocheted and fragmented from the ground near her. The bullet was "fired by an Israeli sniper into a crowd that included white-coated medics in plain view", and that "neither the medics nor anyone around them posed any apparent threat of violence to Israeli personnel".

Malachy Browne of the Times wrote, "Though Israel claims Rouzan’s killing was unintentional, our investigation shows that her shooting appears to have been reckless at best, and possibly a war crime, for which no one has yet been punished."

Ryan Goodman, a New York University professor and expert on the laws of war, told the Times, “The laws of war would not want any military personnel to deliberately fire in the direction of the medics,” Mr. Goodman said. “I’m not saying it’s close to the line. I’m saying it crosses the line.” According to the Times, Israel considers unarmed members of Hamas fair game, "an interpretation of international law that is not universally accepted."

An opinion column by Ira Stoll in The Algemeiner, an American Jewish newspaper, said that the message of the article was that Jews "are guilty, blood-drenched killers." Stoll said that the Times "hides behind the weasel word 'possibly,'" and posed as even-handed. The Times said that the Palestinians were overwhelmed by Israeli force, but failed to note that Israel was overwhelmed by the force of the entire Muslim world, he wrote. Israeli troops are not perfect, wrote Stoll, but "US police and American troops accidentally kill people, too, and Palestinian Arab terrorists intentionally kill people." He contrasted the coverage of Rouzan to the lack of coverage of an Israeli American, Ari Fuld, who was stabbed to death by a Palestinian Arab.

Commemoration

In November on Interstate 93 near Boston, Massachusetts, the Palestine Advocacy Project sponsored a billboard to commemorate al-Najjar. The billboard had the text "Honoring the First Responders of Gaza. Saving Lives. Rescuing Hope" and featured a photograph of al-Najjar. Billboard owner Logan Communications took it down over complaints of terrorism and anti-semitism.

References

  1. https://meemmagazine.net/2018/06/02/%D9%85%D9%86-%D9%87%D9%8A-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D9%85%D8%B1%D8%B6%D8%A9-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B4%D9%87%D9%8A%D8%AF%D8%A9-%D8%B1%D8%B2%D8%A7%D9%86-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%86%D8%AC%D8%A7%D8%B1%D8%9F/
  2. ^ "Protests resume after Palestinian paramedic's Gaza funeral". NBC News. Retrieved 2018-06-05.
  3. Ahronheim, Anna (5 June 2018). "IDF says no direct fire was aimed at Gazan nurse killed Friday". The Jerusalem Post | JPost.com. Retrieved 8 June 2018.
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  7. ^ Mackey, Robert (8 June 2018). "Israel Attempts to Smear Razan al-Najjar, Palestinian Medic It Killed, Calling Her "No Angel"". The Intercept. Retrieved 9 June 2018. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |dead-url= (help)
  8. ^ Holmes, Oliver; Balousha, Hazem (8 June 2018). Mother of shot Gaza medic: ‘She thought the white coat would protect her’ The Guardian. Retrieved 14 June 2018.
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  19. ^ Levy, Gideon (10 June 2018). 'After Killing Razan al-Najjar, Israel Assassinates Her Character,' Haaretz. Retrieved 14 June 2018.
  20. ^ Hass, Amira (10 June 2018). 'Why Not Posthumously Declare a Medic a Terrorist? It's the Easiest Solution Of lies and soldiers,' Haaretz. Retrieved 14 June 2018.
  21. ^ Buchsbaum, Herbet (7 June 2018). "Israeli Video Portrays Medic Killed in Gaza as Tool of Hamas". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 9 June 2018.
  22. ^ Israeli soldiers deliberately and fatally shot Palestinian paramedic Rozan a-Najar in the Gaza Strip B'Tselem. 17 July 2018
  23. "WHO EMRO - UN agencies deeply concerned over killing of health volunteer in Gaza - Palestine-news - Palestine". www.emro.who.int. Retrieved 4 June 2018. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |dead-url= (help)
  24. O'Grady, Siobhán (2 June 2018). "A Palestinian medic was shot dead in Gaza. Now Israel says it will investigate". Retrieved 4 June 2018 – via www.washingtonpost.com.
  25. Gladstone, Rick (1 June 2018). "U.S. Vetoes U.N. Resolution on Gaza, Fails to Win Second Vote on its Own Measure". Retrieved 4 June 2018 – via NYTimes.com. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |dead-url= (help)
  26. Ahronheim, Anna (2 June 2018). "IDF investigating shooting death of Palestinian nurse in Gaza protests". The Jerusalem Post | JPost.com. Retrieved 4 June 2018. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |dead-url= (help)
  27. Lubell, Maayan. "Israeli military says to probe killing of Gaza nurse". reuters.com. Retrieved 4 June 2018.
  28. "Palestinian female paramedic killed in anti-Israel rally in eastern Gaza - Xinhua - English.news.cn". www.xinhuanet.com. Retrieved 4 June 2018.
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  30. https://nyti.ms/2GLsOuJ
  31. https://nyti.ms/2RmANCJ
  32. ^ An Israeli Soldier Killed a Medic in Gaza. We Investigated the Fatal Shot. By YOUSUR AL-HLOU, MALACHY BROWNE, JOHN WOO and DAVID M. HALBFINGER. Dec. 30, 2018
  33. How Times Reporters Froze a Fatal Moment on a Protest Field in Gaza. A volunteer medic was killed by Israeli gunfire on June 1. Times reporters combined a forensic visual investigation with on-the-ground reporting to reconstruct what happened and tell her story. By Malachy Browne. Dec. 30, 2018
  34. A Day, a Life: When a Medic Was Killed in Gaza, Was It an Accident? New York Times, Dec. 30, 2018. By David M. Halbfinger
  35. [https://www.algemeiner.com/2018/12/30/ten-new-york-times-journalists-accuse-israel-of-possibly-a-war-crime/ Ten New York Times Journalists Accuse Israel of ‘Possibly a War Crime’. Ira Stoll. The Algemeiner. December 30, 2018
  36. "Billboard celebrating Gaza's heroic first responders outside Boston is taken down under pressure — updated". Mondoweiss. 14 November 2018.
  37. "Billboard Honoring First Responders of Gaza Removed". IMEMC. 15 November 2018.
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