On Monday August 4, 17-year-old Niâlin resident Yousef Amira died from previous injuries received on July 30, when he was shot twice in the head with rubber bullets during a popular demonstration in Niâlin.
Soldiers shot Yousef just hours after the village held the funeral of 12-year-old Ahmad Mousa, who had been murdered the day before by the Occupation forces. Villagers were continuing their daily protests against the Wall and settlement construction. In the late afternoon, they succeeded in blockading the main road to the village, which will be transformed into a settler-only road. Yousef Amira was among the protestors participating in the action. At around 8 pm, on Occupation soldier stationed only a few meters away from Amira shot him twice in the head with rubber coated steel bullets.
In the afternoon, Yousefâs family was joined by the residents of Niâlin in a funeral march moving from Ramallah hospital through the streets of city. People from all political affiliations marched together to mourn and honour Yousefâs martyrdom. Not long after the march began, Palestinian preventive security forces attacked the marchers and began arresting all those that were carrying Hamas flags or insignia. The people from Niâlin, led by the secular leadership of the Popular Committee against the Apartheid Wall, reacted strongly against these arrests, which would only serve to divide their village and its struggle. They stood together for two hours blocking the main road from Ramallah to Beitunia, until the Palestinian preventive security released the detainees. Upon securing their release, villagers completed the funeral march and Yousef Amira was finally brought to rest in Niâlin.
Even after the second fatal shooting, the Occupation has shown no signs of relaxing the repression and assaults against Niâlin, replacing all soldiers with âborder police.â In Niâlin, a border policeman was responsible for the killing of Ahmad Mousa. The full deployment of border police, a corps renowned for its ruthlessness and brutality, is a signal that the Occupation intends to escalate the violence against the community.