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Special Reports

Report 2: February 03 - 1 May 03: This report includes the report on Rachel Corey and Tom Hundel


Report about about the family of Naji Abaas

Naji Abaas is 35 years old, he used to work as a tailor/dressmaker and never was enganged in any terrorist or political activities. His family consists of 4 members. They live in Beit Lahia, near Jewish settlements. The 2 children suffer from anemia and the family is very poor.
One day, while the family was sleeping at 7 o'clock, a group of Israli soldiers came with tanks to their street. They came to their house, smashed the door and entered the house while all family members were in bed. The faces of the soldiers were covered with paint, they did not look like human beings, all family members were shocked and filled with fear.
The soldiers destroyed all the furniture and all belongings of the family while they were shouting all the time. Nothing remained intact. Then they asked Naji to come to them, and handcuffed him, while anothzer soldier put his knee on the mother's neck, holding her head down this way, and saying bad and most insulting things to her. The woman cried and asked why the sodiers do this to her family, but instead of and answer, the soldier hit her head with his weapon.
The other soldiers continued to smash and destroy all the household items, and they found nothing but bread and tea in the cupboard, and started to make bad and cynical jokes about the poverty of the family.
After that, one of the soldiers hit into the face of the girl child Malak ... the mother asked him, why do you hit her, she is still a child? The soldier answered: we hit her because she has brown eyes, and we will take her with us, because she is our child, not yours, and you have stolen her from us!! But then he released the child.
Then the soldiers told the mother and 2 children to stand in the corner of the room and to stay there and not to move, or they would kill them.

The 2 children of the family

The soldiers left the completely damaged house with Naji. The mother and kids spent more than three hours in the house in that corner. After this, a group of their neighbors come to this house and ask what happened, then they found the mother with her two kids crying, and she was unable to speak with any one.
About 8 o'clock in the evening, they saw their father coming back, with half of his clothes, with his tears, and with serious injuries on his body, and he was hardly able to breath. He reported what happened to him: He said "they put me in a very narrow hole, and hit me at my head with iron balls many time, I don’t know any thing after they cover my eyes, one of the soldiers put his leg at my head, and put more and more sand on my head, I felt that they want to bury all my body, it was horrible, I ask them for help, but I didn’t hear anything. After that, they left us and went back to their centers. Then one of the prisoner came and ask me to get out of this hole, I wasn’t able to do that, because I was afraid that they are still nearby and would shoot me when I leave the hole, and because I was so weak I could not move any more. Finally, a man helped me to get out of the hole.

The family faces many problems since then. Naji still suffers from his injuries and still has difficulties to breath. They find it hard to cover the expenses for the most basic things of life. The 2 children were now happy to receive a child sponsorship.



Report about about the child Islam Khateeb

The child on this photo is 8 years old, and her name is Islam Mahmoud Al Khateeb. Her family found her body buried in the sand near the Jewish settlement. Her body was burned and they found evidence of violence on her body.
The parents do not know who committed this crime, but since the body of her child was found near Tal Al Sultan, Rafah, where the Israeli soldiers live, they suspect the child was killed by soldiers or settlers and then buried in the sand.

Translation of the text on this poster:

A question, who is responsible for that terrorism??! She went from her house on 21/5/2002, she went as a flower and innocent girl, and in that way, we find her naked in the sand, with many injuries in her body, we found her on 1/6/2002.
Signature: All the people of Rafah and Tal Al Sultan area. And her family. And also her name: Islam Mahmoud Al Khateeb, 8 years old.



 
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