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Haaretz, October 28th, 1999
Petition Filed to Prosecute those Responsible for the Death of 2 Palestinian Babies
By Moshe Rienfeld
The volunteer association of Physicians for Human Rights have petitioned to High Court to require the prosecution of those responsible for the death of two Palestinian babies, one of which was a day old, during the siege of August ’98. The petition responds to the IDF soldiers’ refusal to allow the newborn and its mother passage to Hebron Hospital serving at the checkpoint.
The volunteer association also asks, through the council of Eran Lev, that the High Court uphold the Minister of Defense and the Military Advocate General to implement the procedure that were put in place to allow the passage of those needing medical attention through IDF checkpoints during curfews. According to the association, at a preliminary discussion at the High Court the security authorities guaranteed to do so, but did not uphold their promise.
Nama Al-Adam, the woman who was giving birth, a resident of the village Beit Ula, arrived in a vehicle at the checkpoint on August 25th. After the soldiers denied her passage through the checkpoint, the vehicle tried to bypass the checkpoint and arrive at the hospital through an alternative road. She gave birth in the vehicle and when she arrived at the hospital, the doctors announced the newborn’s death.
Three days earlier, the mother of three-month-old infant Qusay Soultan from Hebron, tried to get him to the hospital after he contracted a harsh case of pneumonia. Soldiers denied their passage and the infant died. A short time later, the IDF refused the family’s passage with the baby’s casket to the cemetery on Shuhara Street in Hebron.
In the appeal that has just been filed to the High Court it was argued that the explanations provided by the security authorities were deeply contradictory, which shows that the decision to not uphold those in charge was made carelessly.
Furthermore, the IDF’s Spokesperson admitted that the soldiers acted in violation of their orders but that it had been a “misunderstanding”. Haim Israeli, the assistant Spokesperson to the IDF claimed, on the other hand
“… We say to you today in a loud and clear voice, enough of blood and tears. Enough!
“We, like you, are people- people who want to build a home, to plant a tree, to love, live side by side with you in dignity, in affinity as human beings, as free men. We are today giving peace a chance”.
Yitzhak Rabin. Singing ceremony of the Oslo Agreement Washington, 13 September 1993
