Tamer Abu Daqqa stands with crutches along the Gaza-Israel border near Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip
The most moral army in the world has a detractor: Tamer Abu Daqqa, the victim in the viral video of a sniper shooting a Palestinian, insists that he was doing nothing threatening when he was targeted.
by Harry Fawcett, Al Jazeera
The Palestinian – who says he’s the man shown being shot by an Israeli sniper in a video that emerged this week – insists he was in no way a security threat or a legitimate target.
Tamer Abu Daka was shot in the leg in Gaza on December 22 last year, when the video, which depicts Israeli soldiers celebrating the shooting, was filmed.
Israel accuses Hamas, with whom it has fought three wars since 2008, of seeking to use the protests as cover for violence.
(In reality, all 3 of these “wars” were incursions by Israel into an essentially unarmed Gaza. In Operation Cast Lead (2008-9), Israelis killed 1,417 Gazans while losing just 6); Operation Pillar of Defense saw 174 Palestinians and 6 Israelis killed; Operation Protective Edge resulted in the deaths of 2202 Palestinians and 69 Israelis.)
The Israeli human rights organisation B’Tselem said earlier this week that shooting incidents similar to what is seen in the video have “occurred hundreds of times over the past few weeks in the Gaza Strip, causing death and injuries.”
Abu Daqqa said the video showed the Israelis were “terrorists”.
He also said he had thrown stones at Israeli soldiers over the border during the day, but denied being armed or posing any threat at the time of the gunshot.
“When they shot me I was not throwing stones. I was yelling to friends near the fence to leave and go back to our homes,” he told AFP at his home in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip.
“In the video they laugh at me and insult me. If they were men they would face me without weapons as I faced them,” he said.
“I will continue to demonstrate for our land and our rights even if they injure me in every part of my body.”
