Aspiring Palestinian journalist killed months before graduation
The body of Iyad Sajadiyya, wrapped in a Palestinian flag, is carried through the alleys of Qalandiya refugee camp during his funeral on 1 March.APA images
7 March 2016
Iyad Sajadiyya had worked hard to make his way through college.
To pay his tuition fees, he had a job in a clothing store
serving Qalandiya refugee camp in the occupied West Bank. He was working there on Monday, 29 February, when two Israeli soldiers drove into the camp, reportedly by mistake.
“We immediately shut down the store to see what was happening,” said a coworker, who asked not to be named. “Later, we saw a massive number of troops storm the camp so we began marching through the camp’s market while chanting.”
Israel invoked the so-called Hannibal Directive after the soldiers were separated from their vehicle and it was attacked by some of the camp’s residents. Under that directive, the Israeli military is authorized to use huge firepower with the objective of preventing a soldier being captured alive.
Local youths were singing “Paradise, paradise, our homeland is paradise” when the clashes with the Israeli army began. Inspired by slogans used during protests in Syria five years ago, this song has become an anthem of the latest Palestinian uprising.
Iyad was being chased by the Israeli army that Monday evening when he and two friends knocked on the door of Um Muhammad, an elderly woman.
“I welcomed them in and gave them water and asked them to stay as long as they wanted,” she said. “If I knew that this skinny kid [Iyad] would be shot, I would have never allowed them to leave my home.”
After a short time in that house, Iyad and his friends climbed onto some nearby rooftops. They were hurling rocks at the Israeli military when Iyad was shot in the eye.
“This is heaven”
One friend had asked Iyad to be careful on the rooftops shortly before he was killed.
“He replied, ‘just look at the sky, look how beautiful the stars are and don’t be afraid of anything,’” the friend said. “He also told me: ‘from here we can see Jaffa and imagine ourselves lying on its wonderful beach, this is heaven.’”
It was not unusual for Iyad to rhapsodize about the coastal city Jaffa, which Palestinians in the West Bank are banned by Israel from accessing.
