Great piece by Robert McCartney in the Washington Post on Emily Henochowicz, the young American artist who lost an eye to Israeli soldiers when she was protesting at Qalandiya 11 days ago:
Now home in Potomac, Henochowicz declined to talk about the incident because her family is planning to sue Israel over it. But in her first interview since the injury, she discussed the experiences that led her to the protest and her feelings about it now.
Remarkably, Henochowicz says she "absolutely" would do it all again. Although "it’s a little strange" for a visual artist to give up an eye, she said she gained tremendous understanding of Israel, the Palestinians and herself.
"It sucks that I lost my eye. But I’m so happy that I did what I did," Henochowicz said. "I love the time I spent there. It felt really amazing to be part of something like that. I don’t regret it. I felt that it’s what I had to do. Henochowicz emphasized that her affection for Israel is strong even though she opposes many of its policies…
"When there was a bombing in Gaza a year and a half ago, I was really shocked, because I really didn’t think Israel would do something like that," she said…
Henochowicz said she went to 10 to 20 demonstrations. She said the activists were attracted by "a kind of Martin Luther King, South Africa thing to end discrimination."
Back home, her father, Stuart Henochowicz, was upset.
"I really did have a hard time telling my family what I was doing. My dad did react with the kind of usual, ‘My parents are Holocaust survivors and this is an insult to me,’ " Henochowicz said.
