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Ahmad Erekat’s family is still trying to get his body returned

Erekat is one of 63 Palestinians whose bodies are currently being held by Israel, in a policy that has been described by rights groups as “collective punishment.”

As Palestinians across the occupied West Bank took to shops and markets to prepare for this weekend’s Eid al-Adha festivities, the Erekat family of Abu Dis took to the streets to demand the return of their son Ahmed’s body from Israeli custody. 

Wednesday marked 37 days since 27-year-old Ahmed Erekat was killed by Israeli forces and his body was subsequently detained. 

Israel accused Erekat of carrying out a car-ramming attack against Israeli soldiers stationed at the military “container” checkpoint north of Bethlehem, just a few kilometers away from the Erekat family home in Abu Dis. 

But the family maintains that Erekat was in a rush to pick up his sister from the beauty salon in Bethlehem so he could bring her back for her wedding reception that night. 

They say he would never commit such an act, let alone on his sister’s wedding day, and that he likely got into a car accident at the checkpoint. 

Video surveillance of the incident shows Erekat immediately jumping out of his car and backing away from soldiers with his hands up when he was gunned down. 

As part of Israel’s widely-condemned policy of detaining the bodies of Palestinian “attackers” to be used as political bargaining chips, Erekat’s body has been held in a freezer since last month, despite immense pressure from the family and human rights groups to have his body returned for burial. 

The family has petitioned the Israeli High Court for his return, but have yet to receive a decision on what will happen. 

A dozen of Erekat’s family and friends, including his mother and sisters, staged a protest off a main highway in the West Bank on Tuesday, just outside the entrance to an Israel settlement.

“The people want the body of the martyr,” the family chanted, as they raised up Palestinian flags and posters with Erekat’s smiling face on them. “Return his precious body to us to bury him,” one poster said.

As a number of armed Israeli policemen and soldiers gathered in front of the protesters, Ahmed’s mother Najah yelled: “He got out of the car and held his hands up, and you shot him! Why did you shoot him?”

“Why did you shoot him?” a grief-stricken Najah yelled, her voice cracking. “He wasn’t holding anything, my son,” she cried, seemingly referring to the fact that Ahmed was unarmed when he was killed 

Erekat is one of 63 Palestinians whose bodies are currently being held by Israel, in a policy that has been described by rights groups as “collective punishment.” 

The practice of detaining Palestinian bodies has been in practice since Israel’s occupation of the West Bank and East Jerusalem in 1967.

It is estimated that since then, Israel has buried at least 253 Palestinians in a “cemetery of numbers” with unmarked gravestones. Their bodies were never returned to their families for a proper burial ceremony.

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A tragedy of immense proportions. The history of Israeli Palestinian interactions is replete with such tragedies. What will it take to bring these to an end, to turn the page? Liberal Jews are stepping forth to declare the situation untenable. Here I see hope.

1.
Zionism explained:

https://ajpp.online/hasbara/
Sir Isaac Albert Isaacs, Member of Parliament, High Court judge, and 9th Governor General of Australia wrote in 1946 that ‘the honor of Jews throughout the world demands the renunciation of political Zionism’.

“In his book titled ‘Palestine: Peace and Prosperity or War and Destruction? Political Zionism: Undemocratic, Unjust, Dangerous’, Sir Isaac explained his objections to political Zionism,…’

EXCERPT: 
“Isaac Isaacs, born in Melbourne to Jewish parents of Polish heritage, understood the fundamental injustice of the Zionist project in Palestine. His critique of political Zionism, which pre-dated the creation of the state of Israel, is as valid today as it was when he wrote it. Ironically, were Isaac Isaacs alive today, he would be denounced as a ‘self-hating Jew’ by supporters of Israel. Worse, the pro-Israel lobby in Australia today would probably use their political influence to prevent him holding public office.

“The problem for Israel is not that the world does not understand. The world understands Israel very well. The problem is lack of legitimacy; many do not like what they see. With few exceptions, dislike of Israel is not the result of ignorance or the hatred of all things Jewish. The state of Israel attracts opprobrium because it perpetuates and amplifies the injustice and hypocrisy described by Sir Isaac Isaacs.” (cont’d)

2.
cont’d.
“In a sense, Israel was born illegitimate. By 1948 it was already considered unacceptable for Europeans to subjugate another people and take their land. Eventually, Israel will have to choose between pariah status and accepting the end of Jewish privilege in Palestine. The price of deferring that choice is a constant battle against truth and freedom of speech throughout the world. Israel’s continued survival as an apartheid state requires that people do not understand, or cannot freely express, the ugly reality of settler-colonialism in Palestine.

“The Israeli war against truth has given rise to hasbara, a monstrous state sponsored industry devoted to the production and dissemination of lies, the chief aim of which is to dehumanize the native people of Palestine. This page is about hasbara, the Israeli propaganda offensive. From time to time some of the more relevant, obnoxious or even amusing examples of hasbara will be posted and discussed here.”
 
Also: https://isaacisaacs.blogspot.com