2011 Feb 02: EDINBURGH PHOTOGRAPHER SHOCKED BY MURDER OF FORMER PUPIL IN PALESTINE
Wednesday 2nd Feb 2011
Scottish Palestine Solidarity Campaign: Media Release
EDINBURGH PHOTOGRAPHER SHOCKED BY MURDER OF FORMER PUPIL IN PALESTINE
Edinburgh photographer Phil Chetwynd was devastated to learn of the murder of one of his former pupils in Palestine last week.
17 year-old Yousef Ikhlahi was reportedly walking in his family olive grove in the West Bank Town of Beit Ummar, just south of Bethlehem, when he was shot in the head by an Israeli settler from the nearby Bayt Ayn settlement.
Phil met Yousef in October last year when he ran a photography workshop for youngsters in Beit Ummar. He said, "Yousef was a lovely kid, bright and enthusiastic with everything to look forward to. He was very thoughtful about his photography and produced some great pictures during our two-week course.
"Tragically, this kind of totally unprovoked attack is not uncommon in the West Bank. Palestinians are constantly being harassed by armed Israeli settlers who try to bully the local people off their own land. Unfortunately, the settlers operate with impunity, and are only rarely punished by Israeli courts."
Phil has vowed to return to the West Bank in the near future: "These kids deserve every support they can get to help them deal with horrors such as this. Photography is just one way of enabling them to express themselves and to show the world just what their life is like."
Yousef was the second teenager to die at the hands of Israeli settlers in two days. On Thursday Uday Maher Qadous was shot and killed while working on his land near the northern West Bank village of Iraq Burin.
A statement from the joint Palestinian/Israeli human rights group, the Alternative Information Centre, said, "There have been three cases in recent days when settlers gathered in large numbers, most of them armed, with plans to enter villages. They attacked homes and opened fire directly on people, causing the deaths of two people, one in the north of the West Bank and the other in the south."
According to the Ma'an news agency, Israeli military have condemned both events and said settler suspects had been arrested.
Last weekend's Edinburgh conference on the Middle East organised by the Scottish Palestine Solidarity Campaign began with a minute's silence in memory of Yousef.
ENDS
Notes for editors:
1. The Scottish Palestine Solidarity Campaign started in autumn 2000 in response to the Palestinian second uprising against Israeli occupation (Intifada). The SPSC has branches and groups of supporters in several Scottish towns, cities, and universities, as well as individual members across Scotland and elsewhere.
For further information, contact:
SPSC Chair, Mick Napier: 0131 620 0052; 07958002591
Email: media@scottishpsc.org.uk (default reply to this email)
Website: www.scottishpsc.org.uk
2. Phil Chetwynd ran a photography workshop as part of the Palestine Solidarity Project (PSP), which is "dedicated to opposing the Israeli occupation of Palestinian land through non-violent direct action".
The PSP report on the murder of Yousef Ikhlayl, "Beit Ommar Youth Killed by Israeli Settlers" Friday, January 28th 2011, can be found here:
http://palestinesolidarityproject.org/2011/01/28/beit-ommar-youth-brain-dead-after-shot-by-settlers/
3. Contact details for Phil Chetwynd:
Email: phil@chetwyndp.freeserve.co.uk
Mobile: 07753304671
4. Photographs are available on the online version of this media release on the SPSC website, or by contacting Phil Chetwynd.
5. Report by the joint Israeli/Palestinian human rights group, The Alternative Information Centre, can be found here:
http://www.alternativenews.org/english/index.php/topics/settlers-violence/3238-two-palestinians-killed-by-israeli-settlers-in-wave-of-west-bank-attacks
"Two Palestinians killed by Israeli Settlers in Wave of West Bank Attacks"
Monday, 31 January 2011 13:11 Ahmad Jaradat, Alternative Information Center (AIC)
6. Ma'an News Agency report that:
"Tear gas fired at funeral of teen shot by settlers"
Saturday 29/01/2011
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=355357