[Media-watch] Speech by Sophie Hurndall on Saturday

[Zahera Harb]

------- Forwarded message follows -------
Subject:        	Speech by Sophie Hurndall on Saturday

Made at Palestine Rally - Trafalgar Square - 17th May 2003


I have been asked to speak at this rally as the sister of Tom 
Hurndall. As
many of you may know Tom was shot while trying to save children from 
Israeli
army fire. While I would emphasise that my family have no political
affiliation, what Tom and we discovered during our separate visits to 
Israel
and Gaza has caused us deep concern.

I am here today to describe our experiences.

My brother Tom was a keen and talented photographer - he was also a 
caring
human being. He travelled to Gaza because he had heard about human 
rights
abuses taking place in the occupied territories and wanted see for 
himself
the way in which Palestinians were living, and to photograph and 
document
what he saw. Tom is now lying in hospital in Israel in a deep coma. 
His
brain has suffered severe damage and the doctors have said he is 
unlikely to
regain consciousness.

In the days before Tom was wounded he sent e-mails home detailing 
several
incidents he had observed in which civilians had been shot by Israeli
soldiers and also a helicopter attack in which 46 civilians were 
wounded,
some of whom later died. Tom had already sent us photographs 
including one
of a boy of about 7 or 8, who posed no threat, being shot from an 
Israeli
tank.

Tom was himself shot as he was trying to help a group of children. 
Waiting
at the end of a street in Rafa, he saw machine gun fire being 
directed at a
mound of earth on which about twenty children were playing. Most of 
the
children fled but three young children were too scared to move, two 
girls
and a boy aged between 5 and 8. Tom walked forward and picked up the 
little
boy, named Salem Baroum. Having brought Salem back to safety he 
returned for
the second child. Tom was shot in the head by a single sniper bullet 
as he
leant forward to pick up the little girl.

The IDF released reports that Tom was armed, clothed in army 
camouflage and
firing at the soldiers when he was shot. These reports have been 
reflected
in media around the world, especially in Israel. These reports are 
not true.
Many of you will have seen photographs of Tom in his fluorescent 
orange
activist's vest. We have photographs of Tom immediately before and 
after the
shooting - from several independent sources. There were over ten eye 
witness
reports of Tom's shooting from internationals, including the accounts 
of
journalists- all of which support the fact that Tom was fired at with 
no
justification and that there was no cross-fire. But what is 
extraordinary is
that to this day, not a single one of these witnesses has been 
questioned by
the IDF or the Israeli authorities. How can any credible inquiry be
conducted without questioning them? Indeed some of these witnesses 
have
since been arrested and detained or unlawfully deported.

It was clear to all that Tom did not pose a threat to the Israeli 
army or to
anyone else. He was with a humanitarian organization which was 
involved in
peaceful protest and which was known by the army to be present in the
immediate area at the time. He acted in a way which every decent 
human being
should have seen as natural and necessary in going to the aid of a 
young,
helpless and desperately vulnerable group of children. Many of us 
would not
have had the courage to do what Tom did. In return for his courage 
and
selfless commitment, he is likely to have paid the ultimate price. 
Tom is
the victim of a direct and deliberate shot to the head. This will be 
proved
by the upcoming Dispatches documentary on Channel 4 tomorrow night at 
9.

Our request for an explanation about the shooting is not 
unreasonable. My
parents, my two other brothers and myself, have spent much of the 
last five
weeks at Tom's bedside in Israel, and also in Gaza trying to find 
answers.
In spite of numerous repeated requests during that time, through the 
British
Embassy in Tel Aviv and the media, we have been bluntly refused an
explanation from, or any communication with, the Israeli forces. My 
parents
have even been shot at while travelling with British embassy 
officials in
Gaza. They have now been refused entry unless they sign a waiver 
absolving
the Israeli army of any responsibility if the army shoots at them as 
well.

Is this what freedom and democracy are in Israel?

My family is campaigning for an independent, public inquiry into 
Tom's
shooting. Not only for Tom, but because every day Palestinian 
civilians are
maimed and killed by the Israeli army. Tom showed us this through the
e-mails he sent home. Any act of violence - whether by Israeli or by
Palestinian - should be subject to the same prosecution and a fair 
trial.
Yet clearly this is not happening. Palestinians suspected of 
committing
violence against Israelis are assassinated without trial as in the
helicopter attack mentioned earlier. Yet an Israeli soldier is very 
unlikely
even to be reprimanded for outrageously heavy-handed tactics.

We cannot stand by silently and allow people like Tom; Rachel Corrie, 
Brian
Avery, Iain Hook and James Miller to become such tragic victims. If 
we don't
make a stand to make the Israeli government accountable for its 
actions,
then there will be no end to this terrible loss of life in Palestine. 
Help
us to exert pressure for proper accountability and an end to this
indiscriminate loss of life. Please contact the foreign secretary, 
Jack
Straw, to reinforce our demand for an independent and public inquiry. 
And
please look at our website - www.TomHurndall.co.uk. Help us to make a
difference. Thank you.


DONATIONS FOR TOM HURNDALL

A British student, Tom Hurndall (21) was shot in the
back of the head by an Israeli soldier whilst trying
to save a Palestinian child, he is critically ill in
hospital in Israel and his family are trying to bring
him back to the UK as soon as possible (although there
is little chance he will make any recovery as his
brain has been damaged severely).  Please please
please help by sending donations to bring him home, it
will cost at least £20000 - but that is only 4000
donations of £5.

To make a donation:

Online @ http://www.tomhurndall.co.uk/payment.asp
(click on the donate button for the Thomas Hurndall
Fund)

For an explanation of the different funds see
http://www.tomhurndall.co.uk/donate.asp

By Post:
By sending a cheque made payable to the "Thomas
Hurndall Fund" and
posting it to:

Thomas Hurndall Fund
29 Throgmorton Street, London EC2N AT.

Bank Transfer:
Quoting the below branch with the following account
details:

Lloyds Bank, 273-275 Kentish Town Road, London NW5.
Thomas Hurndall Fund: Sort Code: 30 94 66 A/C No:
00977158

Please help us to make a difference. Thank you