Tom Hurndall
Thomas Hurndall | |
---|---|
peace activist |
Thomas Hurndall (27 November 1981 – 13 January 2004) was a British photography student, a
Hayb was convicted of
Tom's mother Jocelyn Hurndall has written a biography of him called Defy the Stars: The Life and Tragic Death of Tom Hurndall, published in April 2007 and reprinted in May 2008 with the alternative title My Son Tom: The Life and Tragic Death of Tom Hurndall.[4] His sister, Sophie, works for Medical Aid for Palestinians.
Student turns activist
Hurndall was educated at Winchester College, a boarding independent school in Winchester in England.[5]
Aged 21, Tom Hurndall took a working break from his degree course at Manchester Metropolitan University in photographic journalism to join the "human shields" in Iraq before the 2003 Iraq War. As the volunteers ran out of money and war became inevitable, he moved to Jordan and donated £500 to medical supplies for refugees from Iraq. It was here he encountered the International Solidarity Movement (ISM), and decided to make his way overland to Gaza. He arrived in the town of Rafah on 6 April 2003 and began emailing images of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and the Palestinians back to his family. His Guardian obituary states that "the tone of his journals changed dramatically".[5] and he justified his new location with "No one could say I wasn't seeing what needs to be seen now".
What do I want from this life? What makes you happy is not enough. All the things that satisfy our instincts only satisfy the animal in us. I want to be proud of myself. I want more. I want to look up to myself and when I die, I want to smile because of the things I have done, not cry for the things I haven't done.
— Tom Hurndall
Death
In April 2003, the IDF were on a mission in the
His father told a British inquest that, according to ISM and Palestinian witnesses, Hurndall had seen a group of children playing and had noticed that bullets were hitting the ground between them. Several children had run away but some were "paralysed with fear"[9] and Hurndall went to help them. Hurndall's father told the inquest: "Tom went to take one girl out of the line of fire, which he did successfully, but when he went back, as he knelt down [to collect another], he was shot."[2]
Israeli inquiry and trial
The IDF initially refused more than a routine internal inquiry, which concluded that Hurndall was shot accidentally in the crossfire, and suggested that his group's members were essentially functioning as human shields.[
Investigation as a result of pressure
As pressure from the parents mounted, supported in part by
Taysir Hayb's early testimony
Autopsy report
The defence in the trial of Sergeant Hayb attempted to raise doubts as to what ultimately caused Hurndall's death. A military court was informed that Hurndall died of
Hayb's change of testimony
On 1 January 2004, Sergeant Hayb, a 20-year-old IDF soldier, appeared in court to have his custody extended. Apparently he had been arrested in late December 2003 and an IDF press release said that he had "admitted to firing in proximity to an unarmed civilian as a deterrent". Initially the soldier admitted to shooting what he described as a man wearing a
Indictments
After his changed testimony, the soldier was indicted on six charges, including a charge of
On 12 February 2004, the charge was upgraded to one of manslaughter. According to an army statement, he was also charged with "intent to cause injury, two counts of
On 10 May 2004, Sergeant Hayb's trial began at a military court in
Verdict
On 27 June 2005, Hayb was convicted of manslaughter, obstruction of justice, giving false testimony and inducing comrades in his unit to bear false witness; and, on 11 August 2005, he was sentenced to eleven and a half years for manslaughter by a military court, of which he was to serve eight years in prison.[1][3] Hayb had, in August 2010 after an army committee headed by Advocate-General Avichai Mandelblit decided to do so, his sentence shortened for good behaviour, as a result of which he served a total of six and a half years in custody.[12]
Military police report access denial
Tom Hurndall's family and their legal team were denied access to the military police report which led to the trial. After an appeal to the
Coroner's inquest
On 10 April 2006, an
Make no mistake about it, the Israeli defence force have today been found culpable by this jury of murder.
A week earlier, an inquest found that the British journalist James Miller had been killed by an Israeli soldier just three weeks after Mr. Hurndall was shot, a mile away from Hurndall's position. The coroner Dr. Andrew Reid stated that he would write to the Attorney General about how similar incidences[spelling?] could be prevented, including the possible prosecutions of Israeli commanders, and that the case raised issues of command within the IDF. He stated that "two British citizens engaged in lawful activities" had been killed by Israeli soldiers, and that "British citizens, journalists, photographers or others may be subject to the risk of fatal shots."[16]
Media
Tom's mother Jocelyn Hurndall wrote a commentary in The Guardian on 10 January 2004, in which she stated:
It seems that life is cheap in the occupied territories. Different value attached to life depends on whether the victim happens to be Israeli, international or Palestinian.[17]
Documentaries
On 13 October 2008,
They shot our son but they can't kill his spirit.
— Anthony and Jocelyn Hurndall
The Shooting of Thomas Hurndall was nominated for the
Artistic tributes
Tom Hurndall memorialised in second movement (Dance for Tom Hurndall (no lyrics)) of US composer Philip Munger's 2003 cantata The Skies are Weeping which is titled after by Thushara Wijeratna's poem. The cantata which comprises seven movements for a soprano soloist, chamber choir, and percussion ensemble,[23] is written in memory of Rachel Corrie, an American member of the International Solidarity Movement killed in 2003 by a bulldozer operated by the Israel Defense Forces while she tried to prevent a house demolition in the southern Gaza Strip during the Second Intifada.
See also
- Iain Hook – British UNRWA worker fatally wounded by IDF sniper in the West Bank, 22 November 2002.
- James Miller – British filmmaker fatally shot in Gaza by IDF sniper, 2 May 2003.
- Rachel Corrie – American ISM volunteer killed by Israeli bulldozer in Gaza, 16 March 2003.
- Brian Avery – American ISM volunteer shot and severely disfigured in Jenin, 5 April 2003.
Notes
- ^ a b "Soldier jailed for activist death". BBC News. 11 August 2005. Retrieved 24 October 2006.
- ^ a b c d e Atkinson, Simon; agencies (10 April 2006). "British peace activist was 'intentionally killed'". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 24 October 2006.
- ^ a b Dyer, Clare (22 May 2006). "Goldsmith flies to Israel to investigate shooting of Britons". The Guardian (22 May). London. Retrieved 13 December 2008.
- ^ "My Son Tom". Bloomsbury Publishing. Retrieved 14 July 2009.
- ^ a b Arrindell, Carl (22 January 2004). "Tom Hurndall (Obituary)". The Guardian. Retrieved 12 January 2015.
- ^ Greenberg, By Hanan (27 June 2005). "Soldier guilty in Brit activist's death". Ynetnews.
- ^ "Shot activist's family fly to Israel". BBC. 12 April 2003.
- ^ "Taysir al-Heib Conviction Sets Double Precedent". Haaretz. 13 July 2005.
- ^ "As IDF rifle fire hit the mound, the children fled. But three, aged between four and seven, were paralysed by fear" Archived 9 December 2020 at the Wayback Machine. Guardian Obituary, 22 January 2004. Verified 16 January 2009.
- ^ Townsend, Mark (30 January 2005). "Parents fight to learn why Israeli sniper shot their son". The Observer, 30 January 2005. London. Retrieved 27 May 2007.
- ^ Farrago, Yonit; Stephen Farrell (9 May 2005). "Israeli sniper blames British doctors for death of activist". The Times. London. Retrieved 24 October 2006.
- ^ "קוצר עונש המאסר של חייל שהרג פעיל שלום" [Prison sentence of soldier who killed peace activist shortened]. וואלה! (in Hebrew). 19 July 2010. Retrieved 29 January 2022.
- ^ Tom Hurndall Foundation. Verified 7 October 2008.
- ^ Lawyers see Gaza shooting report Archived 3 January 2007 at the Wayback Machine. BBC 10 August 2004. Verified 16 January 2009.
- ^ Dodd, Vikram. "Israel to boycott inquest into death of British peace activist shot in Gaza" Archived 31 October 2022 at the Wayback Machine, The Guardian, 10 April 2006.
- ^ Dodd, Vikram. "Calls for UK to act over Britons shot dead in Gaza" Archived 31 October 2022 at the Wayback Machine, The Guardian, 11 April 2006.
- ^ Hurndall, Jocelyn (10 January 2004). "What price a life?". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 14 July 2009.
- ^ "The Shooting of Thomas Hurndall from Channel4.com".
- ^ Kellaway, Kate (12 October 2008). "They shot our son but they can't kill his spirit". The Observer. London. Retrieved 13 July 2009.
- ^ "Bafta nod for EastEnders' Brown". BBC News. 24 March 2009. Retrieved 24 March 2009.
- ^ "Bafta TV Awards 2009: The winners". BBC News. 26 April 2009. Retrieved 28 April 2009.
- ^ "The Shooting of Thomas Hurndall". IMDb.
- ^ Bryson, George. (25 April 2004). "Flashpoint cantata: Alaska composer's tribute to a dead American activist exposes sharp conflict over art, balance and freedom of expression." Archived 20 September 2008 at the Wayback Machine Anchorage Daily News.
References
- Initial news stories on the shooting (April 2003), from
- A news story reporting the opening of the investigation (October 2003), from the BBC News Inquiry into activist shot in Israel
- News stories reporting the arrest of an IDF soldier (January 2004), from Ha'aretz [2] and the BBC News Israeli soldier held over shot Briton
- News stories reporting Hurndall's death, from Ha'aretz [3] and the BBC News Shot British peace activist dies.
- A news story reporting a claim in the indictment that the soldier in question tried to cover up the shooting, from The Daily Telegraph Telegraph | News | Soldier 'tried to cover up killing of British activist'.
- Parents fight to learn why Israeli sniper shot their son – Published 30 January 2005 by The Observer.
- Times article reporting doubts on what ultimately caused Tom's death. The Times, 9 May 2005.
- Haaretz article about the conviction: [4]
- Archived news video footage of Tom Hurndall
External links
- Tom Hurndall at IMDbChannel 4 Documentary
- The Thomas Hurndall Fund
- Translation of Maariv article of 27 November 2003 (PDF)
- Eyewitness account of ISM member Joe Smith (contains explicit pictures)
- Embassy of Israel in London Press Release
- Video of IDF spokesperson claiming Tom was wearing fatigues and brandishing a pistol
- Video taken moments after Tom was shot
- Britons were intentionally killed by IDF, says inquest
- [5]
- Robert Fisk’s World: A brave man who stood alone. If only the world had listened to him The Independent
- Eyewitness statements of fellow ISM volunteers Gush Shalom
- Letter The Daily Telegraph
- Israel official statement
- Channel 4 interview