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Israel called him a ‘terrorist’; but hear his family’s story

ziad Ziad al-Jilani’s sister Iman sent along the picture of her brother and his youngest daughter, Yasmeen, 7, above, and the following letter containing the latest details on what the al-Jilani family believes to be the circumstances of the 40-year-old man’s killing on Friday night in Jerusalem– an everyday Palestinian story that is getting wide attention in the wake of the flotilla raid:

My brother told his wife in the morning that he will go do his prayers at Al-Aqsa and after that he will visit his uncle and cousins before he comes back to take his American wife and three beautiful daughters to dinner. He did his Friday prayers and was on his way to visit his uncle in Wadi Al Jouz [in East Jerusalem]. He was surprised as he turned into a small street that there was a checkpoint and a confrontation between stone throwers and the Israeli special forces. His car was being hit with stones, and everybody thinks his car went out of control while he was avoiding the confrontation. No body knows if he hit anybody or not while his car went out of control, but all of a sudden one of the policeman shouted that he was trying to kill them and they started shooting at him in the car.

He was shot in the arm already when he got out of the car and he was trying to avoid more shots to himself so he started running towards my uncle’s house. He was shot in the back and leg and fell on the ground shouting asking for help from my cousins and others. People tried to come help him but they were beaten with bats and would not let anybody near him. My brother was still alive but flat on the floor and totally unarmed but one of the policeman came with rage and came close by and put the gun in my brothers head and shot him point blank in the face twice and another in the belly.

My cousin came at that time and realized it was my brother and he went running to him to try to save him since he was still breathing. The same policeman came and hit him in the head with his rifle and busted his head open. He then pointed the gun on his head wanting to shoot him too but his mom and other women intercepted and got beaten up with bats. My brother was still breathing and the ambulance was trying to get to him but the policemen just left him on the floor to die and would not allow anybody to help him. The policeman that killed my brother supposedly rejoiced killing an Arab and the others gave him a pat on the back and clapped for him. Finally the Red Crescent did not listen to the Special Forces and decided to risk it and go help my brother. My brother was on the ground for 15 minutes which could have saved his life if he got immediate medical attention. My brother died in the ambulance in my cousin’s arms.

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