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Ahmad Mustafa Erekat 26, june 23 2020 |
24 june 2020
The Secretary-General of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and the head of its Negotiations Affairs Department, Dr. Saeb Erekat, strongly denounced the Israel army’s killing of his relative Ahmad Erekat, and held Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu responsible for the crime.
Erekat stated that Netanyahu’s policies against the Palestinian civilians are what encourages Israeli soldiers to continue to commit these crimes.
He added that the Israeli occupation did not only execute Ahmad Erekat in a cold-blooded crime but also tried to coverup by fabricating the truth and coming up with lies and justifications for this crime by claiming the young man “attempted to ram the soldiers with his car.”
His statements came from the mourning home of the slain young man, who was supposed to get married within a few days.
“We, just like any Palestinian family, suffer from this racist occupation, Ahmad was killed in a cold-blooded crime! He was my cousin, and we were supposed to celebrate his wedding withing a few days,” Erekat added, “We were also supposed to be celebrating his sister’s wedding today, but the soldiers killed him and tried to justify their crime.”
On his official Twitter account, Dr. Erekat said the army has many cameras at the roadblock, yet failed to release the video and show what really happened.
“This is the invitation of Eman’s wedding , Ahmed’s sister 23rd of June 2020 from 7-10 pm.
Ahmed Erakat (26) was murdered in cold blood at the wadi al-Nar (The Container) roadblock, by Israeli occupying . They continue their lies and claim he tried to run over the soldiers. Netanyahu is responsible.”
It is worth mentioning that Ahmad was driving to Bethlehem city to fetch his sisters, and his mother, from a hairdressing shop in Bethlehem, as the family was preparing for the wedding of one of his sisters, which was supposed to take place on the same day.
Eyewitnesses said the soldiers at the permanent military roadblock closed the area, and prevented Red Crescent medics from approaching the young man, in addition to firing many gas bombs at Palestinian cars and residents to force them away.
Erekat stated that Netanyahu’s policies against the Palestinian civilians are what encourages Israeli soldiers to continue to commit these crimes.
He added that the Israeli occupation did not only execute Ahmad Erekat in a cold-blooded crime but also tried to coverup by fabricating the truth and coming up with lies and justifications for this crime by claiming the young man “attempted to ram the soldiers with his car.”
His statements came from the mourning home of the slain young man, who was supposed to get married within a few days.
“We, just like any Palestinian family, suffer from this racist occupation, Ahmad was killed in a cold-blooded crime! He was my cousin, and we were supposed to celebrate his wedding withing a few days,” Erekat added, “We were also supposed to be celebrating his sister’s wedding today, but the soldiers killed him and tried to justify their crime.”
On his official Twitter account, Dr. Erekat said the army has many cameras at the roadblock, yet failed to release the video and show what really happened.
“This is the invitation of Eman’s wedding , Ahmed’s sister 23rd of June 2020 from 7-10 pm.
Ahmed Erakat (26) was murdered in cold blood at the wadi al-Nar (The Container) roadblock, by Israeli occupying . They continue their lies and claim he tried to run over the soldiers. Netanyahu is responsible.”
It is worth mentioning that Ahmad was driving to Bethlehem city to fetch his sisters, and his mother, from a hairdressing shop in Bethlehem, as the family was preparing for the wedding of one of his sisters, which was supposed to take place on the same day.
Eyewitnesses said the soldiers at the permanent military roadblock closed the area, and prevented Red Crescent medics from approaching the young man, in addition to firing many gas bombs at Palestinian cars and residents to force them away.
23 june 2020
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Ahmad Erekat was on his way to pick up his mother, sister and flowers when he was fatally shot, family says
It was just hours before her wedding, and Eman Erekat was having the finishing touches done to her hair and makeup at a salon in Bethlehem when her mother's phone rang. Her mother answered, expecting to hear her son letting them know he was outside and ready to take them home. Instead, she listened as the voice on the other end relayed the devasting news: her son had been killed. While on his way to pick up his mother and sister, Ahmad, 27, had been |
shot and killed by Israeli forces at the "Container" military checkpoint between Bethlehem and the Erekats' family home in the town of Abu Dis outside of East Jerusalem.
Israeli police claimed in a statement that Ahmad had attempted to ram armed Israeli officers stationed at the checkpoint when he was shot. One female soldier was reportedly lightly injured and evacuated to a hospital in Jerusalem.
But his family said they couldn't fathom the idea of Ahmad ever committing such an attack, let alone on his sister's wedding day.
"When we heard the news we didn't believe it. Until now we are in shock," Emad Erekat, Ahmad's cousin, told Middle East Eye. "Ahmad would never, ever plan to attack the soldiers as they are claiming."
The more logical explanation for Ahmad's car veering off the road, the family said, was that Ahmad was clearly in a rush, and might have had a minor accident or lost control of his car, which the soldiers mistook for an attack.
"He was pressed for time to pick up his sisters, the flowers, and all these other things from Bethlehem," Emad said, adding that Ahmad was driving a Palestinian-plated rental car, which he specifically rented to run errands on the day of the wedding.
"We are one hundred percent sure he would never do this. Why would he do this on his sister's wedding day?" Emad asked.
'Shot him without even thinking'
In Abu Dis, hundreds of family and friends gathered around the Erekats' home to mourn the death of Ahmad who, according to his family, was engaged and set to get married to his fiancee just next month.
"Everyone here can't believe it, people are in shock," Emad said. "His sister Eman fainted when she heard the news. She can't even speak, she's in a state of total shock."
"This was supposed to be the happiest day of her life, but now it's turned into her brother's funeral," she said.
Israeli police claimed in a statement that Ahmad had attempted to ram armed Israeli officers stationed at the checkpoint when he was shot. One female soldier was reportedly lightly injured and evacuated to a hospital in Jerusalem.
But his family said they couldn't fathom the idea of Ahmad ever committing such an attack, let alone on his sister's wedding day.
"When we heard the news we didn't believe it. Until now we are in shock," Emad Erekat, Ahmad's cousin, told Middle East Eye. "Ahmad would never, ever plan to attack the soldiers as they are claiming."
The more logical explanation for Ahmad's car veering off the road, the family said, was that Ahmad was clearly in a rush, and might have had a minor accident or lost control of his car, which the soldiers mistook for an attack.
"He was pressed for time to pick up his sisters, the flowers, and all these other things from Bethlehem," Emad said, adding that Ahmad was driving a Palestinian-plated rental car, which he specifically rented to run errands on the day of the wedding.
"We are one hundred percent sure he would never do this. Why would he do this on his sister's wedding day?" Emad asked.
'Shot him without even thinking'
In Abu Dis, hundreds of family and friends gathered around the Erekats' home to mourn the death of Ahmad who, according to his family, was engaged and set to get married to his fiancee just next month.
"Everyone here can't believe it, people are in shock," Emad said. "His sister Eman fainted when she heard the news. She can't even speak, she's in a state of total shock."
"This was supposed to be the happiest day of her life, but now it's turned into her brother's funeral," she said.
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Ahmad's cousin Noura Erekat, a human rights attorney and assistant professor at New Jersey's Rutgers University, shared her thoughts in a series of emotional posts to Twitter later on Tuesday.
"You lie. You kill. You lie. This is my baby cousin," she said. "The only terrorists are the cowards who shot to kill a beautiful young man and blamed him for it." Eyewitnesses at the scene reportedly told Ma'an News Agency that "what happened at 'the Container' was not an attempt to run over [the soldiers], but rather the car crashed into the edge of the median where the soldiers are stationed, prompting the Israeli occupation forces to shoot at the car." "We didn’t see what happened, but we think Ahmad must have lost control of the car for a second, and so the soldiers just shot him without even thinking twice," Emad said. Local Palestinian media outlets reported that Ahmad was left lying on the ground for a significant period of time and received no medical attention from the soldiers. By the time Israeli ambulances arrived, reports said, Ahmad was already dead. 'They left him to die' A video circulating on social media, purportedly taken by an eyewitness to the incident, shows an injured Ahmad lying on the ground, curled into a fetal position, with a trail of blood flowing from his body. A female soldier can be seen walking back and forth past Ahmad with her gun at the ready, while a line of Palestinian cars waiting to cross the checkpoint builds up behind his car. The man filming the video can be heard saying "It's 3:50 pm, at 'the Container,' a young man was martyred right now. They shot him right here in front of us. May he rest in peace." The man continues on, saying "they left him [lying] on the ground until he died". The killing of Ahmad is far from the first of its kind. In the past few years, hundreds of Palestinians have been killed during alleged stabbings and car-rammings at checkpoints across the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem. |
In several cases, the families of Palestinian victims along with witnesses have argued that the alleged "attackers" were shot after minor traffic accidents were mistaken for attacks on Israeli soldiers and settlers.
"So many people have been killed at this checkpoint," Khuthifa Jamus, a friend of Erekat's told MEE. "If you're Palestinian, any wrong move at a checkpoint can get you killed."
"They kill us in cold blood and then say that they were just defending themselves," Jamus continued.
'Killed in cold blood'
Israeli soldiers have long been accused by activists and rights groups of excessive force against Palestinians who posed no immediate threat to the lives of the soldiers at the time they were killed.
Most recently, Israeli police shot and killed Eyad al-Halak, a Palestinian man with autism, in East Jerusalem while he was running away from the officers.
Al-Halak was unarmed, and his killing sparked widespread outrage across Palestine and beyond, with many likening his death to the police killing of George Floyd in the US.
"This young man was killed in cold blood. Tonight was his sister's wedding," secretary general of the Palestine Liberation Organisation and Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said in a statement on Tuesday.
"What the occupation army (Israeli military) claims, that he was trying to run someone over, is a lie," Erekat, a relative of Ahmad, said.
The killing of Ahmad comes amid an increased presence of Israeli soldiers throughout the occupied territories as Israel gears up for annexation.
With Israeli military generals predicting an uptick in violence as a result of Israeli’s policies, many soldiers are on heightened alert for alleged attacks from Palestinians.
"Even if Ahmad was committing an attack, which he wasn’t, the problem is that the soldiers and these checkpoints shouldn’t be here in the first place," an emotional Jamus said. "This is the fault of the occupation, for being here, and for killing us for no reason, time and time again."
"So many people have been killed at this checkpoint," Khuthifa Jamus, a friend of Erekat's told MEE. "If you're Palestinian, any wrong move at a checkpoint can get you killed."
"They kill us in cold blood and then say that they were just defending themselves," Jamus continued.
'Killed in cold blood'
Israeli soldiers have long been accused by activists and rights groups of excessive force against Palestinians who posed no immediate threat to the lives of the soldiers at the time they were killed.
Most recently, Israeli police shot and killed Eyad al-Halak, a Palestinian man with autism, in East Jerusalem while he was running away from the officers.
Al-Halak was unarmed, and his killing sparked widespread outrage across Palestine and beyond, with many likening his death to the police killing of George Floyd in the US.
"This young man was killed in cold blood. Tonight was his sister's wedding," secretary general of the Palestine Liberation Organisation and Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said in a statement on Tuesday.
"What the occupation army (Israeli military) claims, that he was trying to run someone over, is a lie," Erekat, a relative of Ahmad, said.
The killing of Ahmad comes amid an increased presence of Israeli soldiers throughout the occupied territories as Israel gears up for annexation.
With Israeli military generals predicting an uptick in violence as a result of Israeli’s policies, many soldiers are on heightened alert for alleged attacks from Palestinians.
"Even if Ahmad was committing an attack, which he wasn’t, the problem is that the soldiers and these checkpoints shouldn’t be here in the first place," an emotional Jamus said. "This is the fault of the occupation, for being here, and for killing us for no reason, time and time again."
Ahmad Mustafa Erekat, 26
Israeli soldiers shot and killed, Tuesday, a young Palestinian man near the “Container” military roadblock, northeast of Bethlehem, east of occupied Jerusalem in the West Bank.
The head of Abu Dis Town Council, Ahmad Abu Hilal, said the soldiers shot the young man, identified as Ahmad Mustafa Erekat, 26, from Abu Dis, and left him to bleed to death, before taking his corpse away. Erekat suffered several gunshot wounds. video
Abu Hilal added that Ahmad was driving to Bethlehem city to fetch his sisters, and his mother, from a hairdressing shop in Bethlehem, as the family was preparing for the wedding of one of his sisters, which was supposed to take place on the same day, Tuesday, June 23 2019.
Eyewitnesses said the soldiers at the permanent military roadblock closed the area, and prevented Red Crescent medics from approaching the young man, in addition to firing many gas bombs at Palestinian cars and residents to force them away.
The Israeli army alleged that the young man “accelerated towards the roadblock, and attempted to ram a female soldier with his car,” and added that the soldier reportedly suffered mild wounds before she was moved to a hospital in Jerusalem.
The spokesperson of the Israel police, Micky Rosenfeld, claimed that “after trying to ram the soldiers, the young man got out of his vehicle, and approached them before they shot him.”
The family denied the military allegations and said the soldiers rushed to deliver the fatal shots without proper justification and added that they believe their slain son must have lost control over his car.
“As we have seen in previous similar incidents, the soldiers were quick to open deadly fire,” his family said, “Our son would never have tried to deliberately ram soldiers, or anybody else, especially on the eve of his sister’s wedding!”
They added that they intend to hire a lawyer to demand Israel to release his corpse for burial.
Palestinian journalist Christine Rimawi said that the slain Palestinian was a Facebook friend and that he himself was preparing to get married soon.
“Today’s victim, Ahmad Mustafa Erekat, 27, was executed by the soldiers at the Container roadblock, and the army was ready with its familiar allegation of attempted ramming attack, Christine stated, “But the truth is that he was just going to Bethlehem to fetch his mother and sisters from a hairdressing salon when the soldiers shot him and left him to bleed to death,” she added.
“He was getting ready for the celebration, for his sister’s wedding! He was shot and killed instead! Can you imagine what this wedding has turned into?! Not only that today is his sister’s wedding. His own wedding was supposed to take place soon!”
The Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates issued a statement strongly denouncing the escalating Israeli violations and the “cold-blooded murder of Ahmad at the racist deathtrap roadblocks.”
“This crime is part of Israel’s ongoing policies; this illegal authority of the Israeli occupation continues to commit crimes against our people, including field executions, and extrajudicial assassinations,” the Ministry stated, “All of these policies and crimes, committed by the police, the army, and the paramilitary colonialist settlers, are targeting the Palestinian civilians, their homes and lands, and are aimed at trying to force us out of our ancestral lands.”
The Ministry also stated that it will file a complaint with the United Nations, and all its related institutions, as part of its constant efforts to document the Israeli crimes against the Palestinian people, including the murder of Ahmad Erekat.
It called on the International Community, the United Nations, and the Security Council, to act on providing immediate protection to the Palestinian people, living under the illegal Israeli military occupation, and to implement the basics of International Law.
“Our people urgently need protection, the International Community; the United Nations must act and end these escalating Israeli crimes,” it added, “The criminal Israeli occupation of Palestine continues to target innocent civilians. Silence is complicity!”
IOF fatally shoots Palestinian young man near Jerusalem
A Palestinian young man was shot dead by Israeli occupation forces on Tuesday afternoon near Jerusalem City.
Local sources said that the IOF opened fire at a Palestinian car at the Container Checkpoint, east of Jerusalem, killing its driver.
They reported that Palestinian medical crews were denied access to the scene by the IOF and the injured driver was left to bleed to death. video
Israeli media sources claimed that the martyr, identified as Ahmad Erekat, 24, attempted a car-ramming attack.
The IOF later closed the checkpoint and heavily fired tear gas bombs in the area.
Israeli soldiers shot and killed, Tuesday, a young Palestinian man near the “Container” military roadblock, northeast of Bethlehem, east of occupied Jerusalem in the West Bank.
The head of Abu Dis Town Council, Ahmad Abu Hilal, said the soldiers shot the young man, identified as Ahmad Mustafa Erekat, 26, from Abu Dis, and left him to bleed to death, before taking his corpse away. Erekat suffered several gunshot wounds. video
Abu Hilal added that Ahmad was driving to Bethlehem city to fetch his sisters, and his mother, from a hairdressing shop in Bethlehem, as the family was preparing for the wedding of one of his sisters, which was supposed to take place on the same day, Tuesday, June 23 2019.
Eyewitnesses said the soldiers at the permanent military roadblock closed the area, and prevented Red Crescent medics from approaching the young man, in addition to firing many gas bombs at Palestinian cars and residents to force them away.
The Israeli army alleged that the young man “accelerated towards the roadblock, and attempted to ram a female soldier with his car,” and added that the soldier reportedly suffered mild wounds before she was moved to a hospital in Jerusalem.
The spokesperson of the Israel police, Micky Rosenfeld, claimed that “after trying to ram the soldiers, the young man got out of his vehicle, and approached them before they shot him.”
The family denied the military allegations and said the soldiers rushed to deliver the fatal shots without proper justification and added that they believe their slain son must have lost control over his car.
“As we have seen in previous similar incidents, the soldiers were quick to open deadly fire,” his family said, “Our son would never have tried to deliberately ram soldiers, or anybody else, especially on the eve of his sister’s wedding!”
They added that they intend to hire a lawyer to demand Israel to release his corpse for burial.
Palestinian journalist Christine Rimawi said that the slain Palestinian was a Facebook friend and that he himself was preparing to get married soon.
“Today’s victim, Ahmad Mustafa Erekat, 27, was executed by the soldiers at the Container roadblock, and the army was ready with its familiar allegation of attempted ramming attack, Christine stated, “But the truth is that he was just going to Bethlehem to fetch his mother and sisters from a hairdressing salon when the soldiers shot him and left him to bleed to death,” she added.
“He was getting ready for the celebration, for his sister’s wedding! He was shot and killed instead! Can you imagine what this wedding has turned into?! Not only that today is his sister’s wedding. His own wedding was supposed to take place soon!”
The Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates issued a statement strongly denouncing the escalating Israeli violations and the “cold-blooded murder of Ahmad at the racist deathtrap roadblocks.”
“This crime is part of Israel’s ongoing policies; this illegal authority of the Israeli occupation continues to commit crimes against our people, including field executions, and extrajudicial assassinations,” the Ministry stated, “All of these policies and crimes, committed by the police, the army, and the paramilitary colonialist settlers, are targeting the Palestinian civilians, their homes and lands, and are aimed at trying to force us out of our ancestral lands.”
The Ministry also stated that it will file a complaint with the United Nations, and all its related institutions, as part of its constant efforts to document the Israeli crimes against the Palestinian people, including the murder of Ahmad Erekat.
It called on the International Community, the United Nations, and the Security Council, to act on providing immediate protection to the Palestinian people, living under the illegal Israeli military occupation, and to implement the basics of International Law.
“Our people urgently need protection, the International Community; the United Nations must act and end these escalating Israeli crimes,” it added, “The criminal Israeli occupation of Palestine continues to target innocent civilians. Silence is complicity!”
IOF fatally shoots Palestinian young man near Jerusalem
A Palestinian young man was shot dead by Israeli occupation forces on Tuesday afternoon near Jerusalem City.
Local sources said that the IOF opened fire at a Palestinian car at the Container Checkpoint, east of Jerusalem, killing its driver.
They reported that Palestinian medical crews were denied access to the scene by the IOF and the injured driver was left to bleed to death. video
Israeli media sources claimed that the martyr, identified as Ahmad Erekat, 24, attempted a car-ramming attack.
The IOF later closed the checkpoint and heavily fired tear gas bombs in the area.
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