Palestinians mourn killing of student

Palestinians mourn killing of student
Palestinians in Qalandia refugee camp and al-Quds university mourned the death of Iyad Sadjadah at the hands of Isaeli forces.
2 min read
02 Mar, 2016
Palestinians mourned the death of Eyad, a 22-year old student [Getty]
Eyad Sadjadah, a 22-year old Palestinian, was supposed to be attending a lecture at the faculty of media at al-Quds University in Jerusalem on Tuesday.

Instead, students and teachers from the university rushed to Ramallah hospital where Eyad had died after being shot in the head by Israeli forces.

Eyad's friends didn't wait until mourners had finished placing a Palestinian flag, kuffieh and flowers on his body, but entered the small room to say goodbye to the student who was killed during clashes in Qalandiya refugee camp the previous night.

Family of the Palestinian student said that Eyad confronted Israeli occupation only with video cameras to document Israeli forces' abuses against residents in the camp.

"Iyad was a polite young man who didn't hurt anyone by word or deed. He was studying at university, and in the afternoons he worked in a shop," said Eyad's grieving father, fighting back tears.

"Eyad used to record the occupation storming the camp with his camera…but the occupation didn't give him a chance to be a veteran journalist" he said.

Residents of the camp and family members came to pay their respects to Eyad who was laid in the courtyard of the family home before he was buried in the local cemetery.

Thousands of residents attended his funeral chanting slogans against Israeli occupation and demanding national unity.

The young Palestinian was killed when hundreds of Israeli troops stormed the camp late Monday night in a bid to rescue a group of undercover Israeli officers who were being held by Palestinians in the camp.

According to an initial investigation, Israeli forces applied the controversial "Hannibal procedure" that entails using massive force, irrespective of casualties to prevent a soldier from being captured.

A spokesperson for the Israeli military said the army had entered the area due to a traffic app error, a claim that many ridiculed.

Meanwhile, the Palestinian Authority arrested an affiliate of Palestinian faction of Fatah in the camp on charges of participating in armed clashes against the occupation.

Yet a Fatah leader told The New Arab that orders not to engage with the occupation do not apply if Israeli forces storm the camp.

Eyad's death brings the number of people killed from Qalandia refugee camp to ten since the beginning of October, while 187 Palestinians have been killed in total.