Appeal for Action
Justice
for All..
More than nine months have passed since the
senseless murder of our mother, Shaden Saleh
Abu-Hijleh, by the Israeli Army (IDF) acting in the city of Nablus
on 11 October 2002. Israeli
soldiers deliberately shot her while she was sitting inside our home working on
a piece of embroidery. Our father Dr. Jamal Abu-Hijleh and brother Saed were
injured and miraculously escaped death. Our mother was a peace activist and
philanthropist. She dedicated her life to helping the poor, and was a member of
several local organizations that extend support to needy families.
The inconceivable
circumstances of our mother’s murder brought about
international and local condemnation of the IDF actions against Palestinian
innocent civilians in general and her case in particular. The Israeli
Government had promised whoever approached them about the case, such as the
International Committee of the Red Cross, the United Nations, human rights
organizations, journalists and even the United States Government, to conduct a
serious investigation. To this date no one received any information about the
investigation, and we are not sure if one is actually underway.
We, the family and
friends of Shaden Abu-Hijleh, vowed to pursue the case of her murder to try to
bring the ones responsible to justice. Many concerned people around the world
expressed willingness to help and support our endeavor. Lawyer Hussein
Abu-Hussein who represents us on the case addressed a letter to the State of
Israel Prime Minister, the Minister of Defense, the Attorney General, the
Military Commander, the Military Police, and the Judge Advocate General
requesting an official investigation to be carried out and expressing the
readiness of a number of witnesses to provide sworn affidavits of what actually
happened (a translation of the letter is attached for your information and
use).
We believe that the
IDF and the state of Israel
should not be allowed to avoid their obligations of conducting the
investigation, making its results public and bringing promptly to justice all
the ones responsible for the atrocity committed against our mother, father and
brother.
We believe soldiers
who commit war crimes should not be immune and should be brought to justice
like other criminals.
We call upon you
to help us by:
Ø
Contacting directly the persons
mentioned at the end of the appeal and supporting the family's request for an
independent, impartial and transparent investigation and requesting that the
ones responsible be promptly brought to justice;
Ø
Requesting your
Congress/Parliament representatives, local pressure groups to contact the
Israeli Ambassadors to your country and the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs
to condemn the Israeli Army actions against Palestinian innocent civilians,
like Shaden Abu-Hijleh and her family and requesting the Israeli Government to
respect its own obligations under international laws;
Ø
Getting in touch with your local
media representatives encouraging them to fairly and objectively cover the
stories of Palestinian victims of Israeli violence and to investigate and
follow up on the unsubstantiated explanations and unmet promises provided by
the Israeli Government Official Spokespersons, particularly in the case of
Shaden Abu-Hijleh’s murder.
Help us ensure our mother does not become
just another number in the long list of Palestinian victims of the Israeli
Occupation.
Let us together make the next Israeli soldier on such
a mission hesitate before pulling the trigger and killing another Innocent
Palestinian Civilian.
We kindly ask you to
spread our appeal by all means possible to you.
Thank you for your
support and for standing up for justice.
Lana,
Saed, Raed and Rami Abu-Hijleh
Daughter and Sons of
Martyr Shaden
Prime
Minister Ariel Sharon: Fax: 972-2-670-5475: pm_eng@pmo.gov.il
Prime Minister Spokesman, Mr. ArnonPearlman-Tzadok:
dover@pmo.gov.il
Prime Minister Public Relations, Ms Rutti
Bait: pniot@pmo.gov.il
Minister of Foreign Affairs, Benjamin
Netanyahu: sar@mofa.gov.il
Ministry of Foreign Affairs Spokesperson, Ron Prosher: dover@mfa.gov.il
Ministry of Foreign Affairs Public Relations: pniot@mofa.gov.il
Minister of Defense, ShaolMofaz:
fax: 972-3-6916940: sar@mod.gov.il
Ministry of Defense Spokesperson Mrs. Rachel Naidek-Ashkenazi, dover@mod.gov.il
Ministry of Defense Public Relations, Mrs. HadasaKlepfish: pniot@mod.gov.il
Minister of Police, Uzi Landau: sar@mops.gov.il
Ministry of Police Spokesperson Ms. OfraMatityahu:
dover@mops.gov.il
Ministry of Police Public Relations, Mr. KobiShiber: pniot@mops.gov.il
IDF Commands: (Fax 972-3-6080339):
To:
IDF Chief of General Staff, Lt. Gen. Moshe Ya’alon
IDF Spokesperson, Brig. Gen Ruth Yarun
IDF GOC Central Command, Moshe Kaplinski
IDF Military Advocate General, Maj. Gen. Dr. Menahem Finkelstein
IDF Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories,
Maj. Gen. Amos Gilad
Minister of Justice MeirSeetrit:
sar@justice.gov.il
Ministry of Justice spokesman, Mr. Ido
Baum: dover@justice.gov.il
Ministry of Justice Public Relations, Ms. Yehudit Begun: pniot@justice.gov.il
Attorney General, Mr. EliakimRubinstein,
Ministry of Justice: Fax: 972-2-62886180 and 6274481
All
above