We Remember Tom Hurndall
Tom was 21 years old
when he was shot. A
photography student, he had left the UK to volunteer as a ‘human shield’
in Iraq. Here he heard about the ISM, one of whose volunteers, Rachel
Corrie, had just been killed by a bulldozer whilst protesting house
demolitions in Rafah. He headed there himself, arriving on the 6th
April.
Tom Hurndall (27 November 1981 – 13 January 2004)
On the day of his shooting, Tom was with
other ISM activists walking through Rafah when Israeli sniper fire
started. Almost everyone ran for safety, but Tom noticed that three
children, aged between four and seven, had remained motionless,
paralysed with fear. Tom went back for them.
He got the little boy to
safety, and then went back for the two girls. He was wearing a
fluorescent vest, and was clearly unarmed. An Israeli sniper shot him in
the head.
There was a two hour delay at the border
of the Gaza Strip before an ambulance was able to take him to a hospital
in Be’er Sheva. In a coma, he was transferred to a hospital in the UK,
where he died the following year.
The soldier who shot him, Taysir Hayb,
was convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to eleven and a half years
in prison. A British inquest into the killing found that the killing was
intentional – in other words, murder.
Tom’s shooting followed the murder of
Rachel Corrie, run over by a bulldozer on the 16th March, and the near
fatal shooting of Brian Avery, shot in the face in Jenin on April 5th.
Later that month, another Brit, filmmaker James Miller, was also killed
by a sniper in Rafah. The Israeli military have refused to accept any
responsibility for what they did to Rachel, Brian or James.
Hurndall was trying to save Palestinian
homes and infrastructure but frequently came under Israeli fire and
seemed to have lost his fear of death. “While approaching the area, they
(the Israelis) continually fired one- to two-second bursts from what I
could see was a Bradley fighting vehicle… It was strange that as we
approached and the guns were firing, it sent shivers down my spine, but
nothing more than that. We walked down the middle of the street, wearing
bright orange, and one of us shouted through a loudspeaker, ‘We are
International volunteers. Don’t shoot!’ That was followed by another
volley of fire, though I can’t be sure where from…” – Robert Fisk, The Independent, 2009
Tom Hurndall was a young man with a dream…he paid for it with his life. -The Telegraph, 2004
Tom, blind to nationalities and borders,
exuded humanity. He wanted, he wrote in his journal, “to make a
difference”. He did. He also had an outrageous sense of humour and will
be missed, most of all, because he made those of us who were his friends
smile. He is survived by his parents, sister Sophie, and his brothers
Billy and Freddy. - Carl Arindell, The Guardian, 2004.
Today International Solidarity Movement
pays tribute to Tom Hurndall for his bravery and sacrifices. He is never
far from our thoughts, and he continues to inspire our Palestinian,
Israeli, and International volunteers throughout our campaigns in the
Occupied Territories. Tom would want us to remember him. But we also
know he’d want us to remember that thousands of innocent Palestinians
have died under similar circumstances.
These people’s deaths have not
been investigated, and have often been lied about, claiming the victims
to be combatants or explained away with empty phrases like “caught in
the crossfire” or “tragic accident.”
While the ISM acknowledges that the Israeli military court found Wahid Taysir guilty of manslaughter, an injustice was committed by his early release from prison in September 2010 due to “good behavior.”
The international community will continue
to question the policy and decision makers responsible for Tom’s murder
and the murder of thousands of other innocent people.
