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So the first speaker, Haim Schwarzenberg, is an activist and photographer
In the past few years he has been meticulously documenting, among other things, demonstrations in the occupied Palestinian territories
Excessive use of force to suppress protests in the village of Nabi Saleh
is a central theme in Amnesty's activities this year, internationally and in Israel
and Haim will expand on what goes on there
I am a little nervous. This is my first time speaking in public, so bear with me
I would have been glad had, instead of me, a resident of Nabi Saleh would be here today
She would have told you about the nightly raids, occurring in the small hours of the night
and about child arrests; about the fact that a 3 year old can tell the difference between the sound of explosion made by stun grenades, tear gas or rubber bullets
that a popular child game in the village is Palestinians and soldiers, in which children re-enact the arrest of a 'suspect'
about collective punishment, when the skunk truck drives through the village
spraying its putrid liquid on and into homes
or soldiers hurl stun grenades or tear gas canisters into homes
irrespective of the actual participation of their inhabitants in the protests
about the fact that Palestinians are not allowed to stage demonstrations and protest
and therefore they are deemed 'illegal'
However, I am here today since that Palestinian is not allowed to enter the country
I will therefore tell you my story as an Israeli activist-photographer
the privilege to travel, demonstrate and be a free man
When a Palestinian and I are arrested during the same demonstration
I am subjected to Israeli law, which makes my imminent release on the same day rather plausible
while the Palestinian is subjected to military rule
which means they will remain jailed for several days
I travel every week to document oppression
Police and the army are deployed to obstruct the documentation, by myself and other photographers
of the violence they use against protesters
Often soldiers hurl stun grenades at photographers
while in other cases they even arrest journalists and photographers
even though they are there to document rather than actively protest
I would like now to briefly address the various means used by the army to suppress demonstrations
Tear gas, which comes in two forms: either as a grenade manually hurled or fired from a rifle
or as a canister, fired from a rifle or from a machine installed on a jeep
The main danger is being hit by a canister, which can cause an injury and even fatality
Inhaling the gas causes a sense of suffocation, burning in the eyes or open sores
This sensation subsides after a few minutes
but there were two cases when Palestinians died as a result of gas inhalation
Rubber bullets - as you can see, there are several different kinds of bullets
These are in fact rubber-coated steel bullets
Israel outlawed the usage of these bullets
but they are used by soldiers to suppress demonstrations in the West Bank, With these bullets
the danger is being hit by them, which may even cause a fatality
grenades, hurled at protesters, detonate to a large explosion sound
When it is hurled into a closed space, it may cause a loss of hearing
When these grenades hit close to the human body, there is a danger of injury or burns from thrust
Skunk - when you see this truck, shown behind me now
the smartest thing to do is quickly flee
the liquid this truck emits is incredibly putrid
that it clings to your person, your clothes and especially your hair and its scent would not come off even after a shower or laundry
As I mentioned earlier, the military uses the skunk as a means for collective punishment
Furthermore, the army also uses live bullets, 'tutu' bullets, 'the scream,' humiliation, intimidation, *** harassment
arrests, collective punishment, hands-on violence by soldiers
and dogs soldiers use to sic on protesters
On December 9, 2011, while the international day of human rights was marked in Tel Aviv
villagers and activists began the weekly demonstration in Nabi Saleh
A few dozen Palestinians marched down the road leading to the main entrance of the village
as the soldiers awaited them near the first house
As they reached dozens of meters away from the soldiers
the latter began showering them with tear gas
I recall it was a while before the Palestinian youth
began to hurl stones at the soldiers
At some point demonstrators descended the valley towards the spring
and I followed them. Someone shouted that a bulldozer is about to enter the village
so I ran towards the road and saw a bulldozer and three jeeps trying to enter the village
working to remove the rock barricades Palestinians left
in order to prevent them from entering
when I reached the road, there were two Palestinians there, who hurled stones at the bulldozer
which had already turned around, about to leave the area
I had no time to photograph them
so I waited a little for someone else to come and hurl stones so I can take a photograph of that
Then Mustafa and another guy came along and began to hurl stones at the last remaining jeep
That jeep turned around so that its tail lights faced the protesters and me
The back door of the jeep opened
and the soldier took out his gun and fired a canister directly at Mustafa's face
In this frame you can see the weapon on the right hand side
Mustafa and the canister after it hit him
It is pretty common that soldiers shoot at protesters
which means aiming directly rather than upward
When you aim directly and cannot see where exactly you are aiming to
you might hit anything and even kill
Right after Mustafa falls to the ground, the door opened
and you can see a soldier looking at Mustafa as he falls down
Therefore the soldier saw Mustafa falls and did not stop the jeep or try to assist him
These frames are less than two seconds apart
and between this frame and that frame is less than a second
which means it is plausible Mustafa's head was right where we see it in the photo
I drew a line from the weapon through Mustafa's head
and added the immediate surroundings from an earlier shot
It is clearly evident the soldier aimed down to the ground
This frame is from after the shooting
so we see there was another canister that was fired at Mustafa's previous location
I drew a line from the weapon through the canister
so it is clear the weapon was aiming at the ground
This means that the soldier's claim that he did not see Mustafa
but fired at protesters on the hill is implausible
The problem is that the same organization that commits the crime also investigates it
and the most absurd thing is that the same organization decides whether or not to charge it self
Sounds to me completely insane
And we have not covered anxiety, trauma and post-trauma
I also neglected to mention that the legal system
MAHASH (police internal affairs department), MEZAH (military police internal investigative unit)
both military and civilian attorney general offices
are all complicit in this systemic suppression
I also wish to emphasize that the fact a 3 year old can discern between these weapons
child arrests and everything I mentioned earlier
is no less criminal than the images you see behind me
I invite you to join me next week to the demonstration in Nabi Saleh
and see this repression with your own eyes
If you are interested, please contact me after the panel
Thank you