[lbo-talk] The Story of Christine George Saadeh

Bryan Atinsky bryan at indymedia.org.il
Fri Apr 4 05:51:55 PST 2003


A co-worker of my wife (her NGO has an office in Tel-Aviv, Bethlehem and Amman) is good friends with the family described below.

The co-worker sent me this article.

Bryan

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Christine George Saadeh

A small girl, named Christine, 12 years old, was born in Bethlehem on 14/11/1990, to a Christian family. Her father’s name is George, the mother is Najwa, and the small sister called Marian, who is now 14 years old.

She was born in the First gulf war and she died in the third gulf war. She died when she was with her family in the car. They were going to buy medicine for her mother. They passed by the Shepherd’s Hotel. The Israeli soldiers shot and killed three people. Then they allowed the family to pass, but after they started to go by, the special forces, who were dressed in civilian clothes, started to shoot at their car. The family was very surprised because the soldiers told them to pass. The soldiers had seen that they were a family; they shone the flashlight into the car and saw the family: two little girls and the mother and father. But then the special forces shot them anyway.

Christina was reading a book in the car. Her last words were, “They are shooting us! They are shooting us!” Then she was hit by seven bullets: one in her head, one in her left armpit, four in her back, and one in her right lower leg. The bullets were of the kind which explode on impact. These bullets are illegal under international law.

The Israeli forces wanted to leave without taking responsibility for the whole family. In addition to Christine’s death, the other family members were all injured. One of the Palestinian bystanders told the soldiers that they caused the problem, and the soldiers must help the family. When the soldiers saw that there were so many witnesses to their crime, they were forced to take the family. They took the three injured family members to the hospital, but they left Christine’s body at the checkpoint for hours in the snow. The body was in the street, and they put nylon over her head. After the four hours, they put her body in the military ambulance. At that point, they gave the body to the family’s relatives.

As of this moment, Christine’s father George is still in the hospital. He received two exploding bullets in his midsection. There were 27 small pieces of shrapnel due to these exploding bullets. Her sister Marian received one exploding bullet and five pieces of shrapnel in her right knee. Some shrapnel could not be removed. It is still unknown if she will be able to walk normally.

Her mother Najwa was in shock, lost consciousness, and received one small piece of shrapnel in her right hand. All the bullets which were intended for the whole family went into Christine’s body. For instance, one bullet went into and out of her body into her father’s body; the bullets came toward different angles.

Christine’s death is a reminder that children, adults, Christians, Muslims, all Palestinians are targets of the Israeli military



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