Abdel Aziz Majarmeh was standing next to his 13-year-old son, Islam, as he was shot dead by Israeli forces this month at the entrance to Jenin refugee camp, in the occupied West Bank.
“My son fell to the ground, and then I heard the sound of a shot,” he said. “An army jeep came up and five or six soldiers pointed their weapons at me, telling me to leave. I didn’t even know my son was martyred. I started dragging him away.”
Abdel Aziz said he had gone to the camp – occupied by Israel’s army since January – to retrieve family documents from his home there.
“There is no-one for me to complain to,” he told me. “They control everything. The Palestinian Authority can’t even protect itself – it only implements the decisions of the Jews.”
As a Palestinian, Abdel Aziz is resigned to his powerlessness. As a father, he’s tormented.
“In my mind, I keep asking that soldier, ‘why pick on a 13-year-old boy? I’m standing right next to him. Shoot me. Why are you shooting children? I’m here, shoot me’.”
