It is clear that people were not always given sufficient time to evacuate homes before the IDF began bulldozing them. In one such case, Jamal Fayed, a 38-year-old man, was killed when the bulldozing of his home caused a wall of his house to collapse on him.
Jamal Fayed’s mother, Fathiya Muhammad Sulayman Shalabi, told Amnesty International delegates that her son was disabled from birth. He was unable to move on his own accord and he could not speak. The family’s home is in the Jurrat al-Dahab area of the camp, close to the Hawashin district. She described heavy fighting in and around her area on 10 April, roughly one week after the first incursion to the camp. She said that on the following day, a missile hit their house and the upper floors of the house had begun to burn. When they tried to leave the house, her aunt Fawziya Muhammad was hurt. The family then climbed out through a side window but was unable to carry Jamal Fayed with them. When they left the house, they informed the IDF, who had taken up position in a house nearby, that Jamal Fayed was in the house and they should hold their fire. An IDF medic was there and treated Fawziya Muhammad’s wound. The family then sought shelter in an uncle’s house where they remained for the evening.
The following day, Jamal’s mother and sister went back to their home to check on Jamal. At that point Jamal was alive and had not been injured. His mother says:
The following day, Jamal’s mother and sister went back to their home to check on Jamal. At that point Jamal was alive and had not been injured. His mother says:
"We left the house and went to the soldiers to tell them that Jamal was in the house and that he was paralyzed. I took his ID card with me as proof. We asked them to let us have some help to get him moved. At this time, all of the younger men had been arrested but there were some elderly men there and we asked the soldiers if they could help us. They said no. But we kept asking and then found some other soldiers in another house and asked them the same question. They finally let us enter our home, but only the women. There were five of us – my daughter, sister, two neighbours, and myself. Soon after we entered the house, I heard the sound of a bulldozer. It was coming towards the house. It began to destroy the house and so we went out to the street and yelled at him [the driver] to stop. We were yelling, ‘There are women inside’ and that Jamal was inside and could not move. Even the IDF were yelling at him to stop. He did not listen. We could see the eastern wall of the house coming down. We ran out of the house. What could we do?"
-- Amnesty International: Shielded from scrutiny: IDF violations in Jenin and Nablus, 4 November 2002 (AI Index: MDE 15/143/2002); via Stop Caterpillar.
Photo: A T-shirt printed in late 2008 for members of a battalion of the IDF's Givati Infantry Brigade. The design depicts a soldier as the Angel of Death, next to a gun and an Arab town, and reads: "Let every Arab mother know that her son's fate is in my hands!".
Source: Dead Palestinian babies and bombed mosques - IDF fashion 2009 (Ha'aretz); via Mondoweiss.