How three young Palestinians triggered a new uprising

Three Palestinians were killed over the weekend, sparking clashes in the West Bank, which many described as the start of the third uprising, or intifada.
Analysis
4 min read
05 October, 2015
Over the weekend three young Palestinians were killed in the West Bank. The deaths of Muhannad Halabi, 19, Fadi Alon, 19, and Huthayfa Othman Suleiman, 18, are said to have triggered a third intifada.

Palestinians have been sharing their photos, as well as updates on the latest clashes in the West Bank under the Arabic language hashtag intifada_started.




Muhannad Halabi

Halabi had a dream to become a lawyer, defending Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails. His family was originally from Jaffa before being displaced to the town of Surda, north of Ramallah, after the Nakba of 1948.

He received over 85% in his high school exams and for the last two years was studying in the faculty of law in al-Quds university just outside Jerusalem. For a year he has been volunteering in an organization called "Youth for Orphans".

Halabi was reportedly highly affected by the death of another youth earlier in the month; that of Talahmeh Zia, 21, who was killed in Hebron, and attended his funeral.

"What touched me the most in being at the funeral was that everyone was crying except the mother and father, and more women showed up then men," Halabi wrote on facebook.

"According to what I see, the third Intifada was launched," Halabi wrote the night before the attack. "How long will this humiliation and shame last?...Resistance is within the limits of the law and is a legitimate framework."

Reports say that Halabi was killed after he fatally stabbed two Israeli settlers.


Fadi Alon

On early Sunday, Fadi Alon from the town of Issawioya in the West Bank, was running away from an attack from settlers. He ran, crossing the road to the Israeli army to seek protection. The Israeli army shot him dead.

"It was a cold-blooded murder. They could have just arrested him. They saw he was unarmed while the monsters chased him yelling racist comments," his uncle Amjad Idris told al-Araby al-Jadeed.

"He was only a few metres away from his killers, who shot him dead."

Multiple videos were shared, demonstrating that he was not attempting to attack anyone. Voices of settlers in the video can be heard of the settlers urging the Israeli police to shoot, and yelling "death to Arabs".

Fadi’s father related that he lives with the family home in Balesawih, and his brother Mohammed lived with his mother in Jordan. His parents were separated for years after his mother visited family in Jordan, and Israeli authorities did not permit her to return as they designated her a non-resident. He left school to work to support his family.

Family and friends told al-Quds newspaper that he had a beautiful singing voice. A friend told the newspaper that he was afraid to "even pluck a rose from its tree".

He was reportedly quiet, and had an interest in photography and fashion.



Huthayfa Othman Suleiman


Israeli forces shot dead a Palestinian teenager during clashes in the northern West Bank village of Bala, east of Tulkarem, overnight Sunday, medics said.

Red Crescent officials told Ma'an that 18-year-old Huthayfa Othman Suleiman was shot in the chest during clashes and died in the operating room. Videos of doctors attending to him were widely shared on social media.

Three other young men were shot with live fire during the clashes and taken to Thabit Thabit hospital to be treated for their injuries.

School child killed

Abdul-Rahman Obeidallah, age 13, was just killed in Aida Camp near Bethlehem. He was shot in the chest with live ammunition, coming home from school today, in his uniform.  Another boy was injured at the same time, and is currently undergoing emergency surgery in Bethlehem.

 

The deaths of these three young men closely follow other well-publicised deaths.  A young woman in a niqab was shot by an Israeli soldier when she refused to show her face.  


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