Mahmoud Al-Dura's life
Mahmoud Al- Dura, A young Palestinian boy whose life and death on the 30th of September 2000,in the begining of Seconds Intifada marked as symbolic figurefram PEDH's battle. His death, caught on film and beamed around the world triggered international condemnation and debate. Though he is mainly known to people because of what had happened to him before his unfortunate end, Mahmoud Al-Dura — just like any other child victim of the violence in both Palestine and Israel—was a little kid who dreamed around.
Inceptions and Family Background
Mahmoud Al-Dura, was born in 1988 at the Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza sector. Thousands of Palestinian refugees who were driven from their homes by the Jewish forces' aggression during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, live in Bureij camp. Mahmoud's childhood was typical of many who grew up in the camp, marked by limited opportunities for a better life and bitter Palestinian-Israeli tensions that boiled over into violence.
Mahmoud belonged to a poor family. A construction worker by trade, Jamal Al-Dura repeatedly crossed the border to work, as was necessary for his family. To his mother, Amal Al-Dura, who maintained their household and supported Mahmoud and his six siblings. Life was very difficult in the camp at Bureij. Mahmoud had little choice but to navigate poverty, overcrowded conditions, freezing weather, a collapsed infrastructure and no access to healthcare or education. But still his family and many others like them were dreaming of a brighter future for their children with all these challenges.
Most boys Mahmoud's age went to camp schools, which were often under-resourced as a result of the ongoing conflict. His family and neighbors say he was a sweet, playful little boy who liked to play with his friends Despite his hardship, Mahmoud still had dreams of any children around the world. His family remembers him as a kid who dreamed of playing football and growing up to help his parents out of their difficulties.
Life in the Refugee Camp
Life in the Bureij refugee camp, where Mahmoud grew up, was almost entirely defined by the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The Gaza Strip, home to one of the densest populations in the world, has been the location of strife for decades. Israeli military actions, blockade and daily hostilities against Palestinian factions kept its residents on the edge mostly children like Mahmoud.
In Gaza, children tend to grow up with a pervasive sense of the occupation, the checkpoints, troops and sporadic escalations in hostilities. For Mahmood, it was the fortuitous capture of life-embedded shadow images which included living with routine military operations that became normal middle singular order disrupter. Common experiences of curfews, clashes and gunfire had a profound impact on the children living in the camp. It was impossible to fully protect their children from the realities of life in a warzone, but Mahmoud's family — like many others — tried.
Jamal, Mahmoud's father, did his best to make sure that his children had some opportunities for a life better than their own. Throughout his life, he preached the value of education and told Mahmoud to do good in school. But life in Gaza, especially during the Second Intifada, often denied children their due share of childhood innocence. In its place existed a world of brutality, violence and loss that Mahmod and his contemporaries experienced first hand –a world that not only defined their vision but also fueled his pursuit for freedom and justice.
The Second Intifada / Mahmoud Dies
The event sparked the Second Intifada (or Palestinian Uprising), which began in September 2000 after a visit by Israeli opposition leader Ariel Sharon to the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem. It was treated as a provocative act by Palestinians and triggered angry protests in which hundreds of Palestinians faced off against Israeli troops. It was significantly more violent than the First Intifada despite occurrences of suicide bombings, military operations and violent land confrontation between Israeli soldiers to Palestinian civilians.
On September 30, 2000 there was a corresponding confrontation at the Netzarim junction in Gaza, where both Mahmoud and his father were trapped. Mahmoud was with Jamal in the region to purchase a car when Israeli troops chased Palestinian gunmen and shooting erupted. A concrete barrel becomes their refuge when a spray of bullets is unleashed on them. Cameraman Talal Abu Rahma was able to capture the frightening moments that ensued, as the two men attempted to shield themselves from the crossfire.
Mahmoud, seen crouched behind his father as bullets whizzed past them on video footage broadcast worldwide by France 2 television His father tried frantically to keep him behind cover but Mahmoud was hit. The video showed his last few moments of life falling on to his fathers arms dead from the gun shot. Jamal was severely injured but he survived.
The photograph of the victim, Mahmoud, lying in his own blood became an emblem of Palestinian resistance to Israeli state violence. The film was shown around the world and sparked outrage. To many, Mahmoud's death epitomised the plight faced by Palestinian non-combatants, including children, in the protracted struggle.
Global Impact and Controversy
The death of Mahmoud Al-Dura caused a fury in the Arab world and beyond. To most Palestinians, he was a martyr whose image they would exploit to the fullest to warm Plaestinians elsewhere. His death sparked protests, memorials and demonstrations in his name and brought renewed attention to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and to the treatment of civilians in these warzones.
Naturally, Mahmoud's death ignited a firestorm of controversy. An alleged video of Western journalists evacuating a Palestinian who later died as result of his wounds. Israeli officials and media have raised doubts over authenticity, saying the incident may have been staged by Palestinians for propaganda purposes. Such funerary claims led to heated debates, where many investigations were carried out by Israeli, as well as international groups. In September 1945, Time magazine reported the killing of Mahmoud by Israeli soldiers issuing an order to surrender, describing the incident as a "mass execution" and identifying him with Western Palestine. A 2005 government report dismissed this finding but it was widely met with incredulity so I don't cite opinions.IntegerField values may not equate to actual percentages due to rounding. France 2 and other media stood by the footage, and rights groups demanded a probe into the shooting of Palestinian civilians.
Controversies aside, the photo of Mahknoud Al-Dura has become perhaps the most potent image in depicting the cost of human life in the Israeli-Palestinian struggle. Palestine remembers him in his death, as a tragic tale of lines children killed by large guns meant for adults to slaughter with in politics and war.
Legacy
The meaning of Mahmoud lives on 20 years after his death To Palestinians, Mahmoud is the face of sacrificing the innocent in this perpetuating war and living under occupation. His name has been ingrained in schools, streets andï cultural events across the Arab world, but his story remains one of hope,ï inspiring peace activists in a region living today times more difficult than these.
It is also so memorable for the efforts of Mahmoud's father, Jamal, to protect his son from gun fire remain a poignant image of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. This became a symbol for many of the futility and bloodshed of the conflict as well as an urgent reminder that innocent civilians, especially children, pay the heaviest price in this profound and bloody tragedy.
For both the bloodthirsty ideology that animated Al-Dura's murderers and the cynical propaganda that exploited his death have destroyed any possibility of true peace in a region already suffocating with malice. His death underscored the notion of the price innocent people pay as flashpoints in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict continue to help fuel advocacy for peace, justice and using civilians in combat zones as tools. This Bureij refugee camp kid, this little boy who adored football and longed for a different life, he would live forever as an emblem of the innocent blood lost in the on-going…