Brazilian Man Who Witnessed Death of Palestinian Woman Fears Reprisal

09/30/2015 - 09h53

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DIOGO BERCITO

FROM SÃO PAULO

A young Brazilian travelled in haste from Israel to São Paulo last Friday (25) after having witnessed and photographed the death of a Palestinian woman in Hebron, in the West Bank, three days before.

Author of a photo that shows an Israeli soldier pointing his gun to the Palestinian student Hadeel al-Hashlamon, 18, Marcel Leme, 30, feared reprisals.

The image was spread by the local NGO Youth Against Settlements.

For security reasons, he was not given credit for the picture that went viral nor for the other four published this week (the images on this page are part of the full sequence he made).

Folha has learnt that the Brazilian government believes the author of the picture could face a reaction from Israeli settlers. Leme was in the West Bank as a human rights observer for an organization whose name he prefers not to disclose.

The Brazilian man spoke with this newspaper after coming back to Brazil. He was in contact with human rights organizations and with the Palestinian diplomatic representation in Brasilia.

He says he wanted to challenge the Israeli version of the death of the Palestinian woman. According to the army, Hadeel al-Hashlamon had a knife and threatened the soldier.

The young Brazilian says she was not armed.

The Palestinian NGO Youth Against Settlements stated that the young woman refused to be checked by soldiers, all men. She had difficulty communicating as she did not speak Hebrew. Witnesses said the soldiers did not speak Arabic.



According to Leme, the woman approached a military checkpoint in Hebron, a city where hundreds of Israeli settlers live among approximately 170 thousand Palestinians and which is marked by strong Israeli military presence and frequent clashes.

According to the witness, the student tried to open her bag. The soldier got scared and shot. Another soldier shot her right after. In one of the pictures, Hadeel is on the floor, injured.

Leme says that security forces arrived immediately. Israeli settlers also came and photographed the body. He stayed there photographing until he was approached by a soldier.

In no time he was threatened by the army, but he decided to leave the country fearing that his name was made public as the author of the photos and therefore he became a target for local authorities.

"I was very scared. She was executed," he says. "I was afraid they would shoot me," he said. Leme returned to São Paulo with the help of Brazil's diplomatic representation.

OTHER SIDE

A source from the Israel Defence Forces told Folha that the Palestinian student Hadeel al-Hashlamon was armed and tried to attack the soldiers.

The army claims she ignored several warnings to stop. Then she approached the security forces with a knife.

The soldiers first shot at the ground, as a warning, and then they fired at the young woman because they felt threatened.

According to the Israel Defence Forces, the soldiers communicated with her in Arabic during the action, unlike the version given by witnesses.



p(tagline). Translated by JULIANA CALDERARI

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