CPTnet
January 9, 1999
HEBRON: Letter home about the current situation
by Sara Reschly

[The following is a portion of a letter that Sara Reschly sent to her mother a
few days ago. kk]

Yesterday morning I awoke to gun shots... We are under curfew right now,
because two days ago, a van with two Jewish settler women in it was shot and
one woman is still in the hospital. As a collective punishment [on] the
30,000 Palestinians who live in this area, curfew was imposed-- this means
that no Palestinians are allowed to leave their homes.

Yesterday a 24 yr. old Palestinian man broke curfew and
was out in the streets. According to the military, he began running away
from a patrol of six Israeli soldiers (a later report said that he was
running towards them)... they fired three shots in the air... he didn't
stop.... they shot him. The military claims he had a pistol in his hand.
They later discovered it was a toy gun.

There was indeed a toy gun at the scene...laying near his head. I don't know
what to believe--- Palestinians say that this man was mentally retarded-- so
it could be that he had a toy gun in his hand.

The shooting happened one block from our apartment-- I arrived on the scene
about 10 minutes after it happened. ugh... seeing that man laying there...
his eyes were open... blood and some of his insides were coming out of his
side where he was shot. He laid just two feet from me . . . struggling to
breathe. That scene keeps playing in my mind-- I wish I would have touched
his face. I wonder if he was conscious. I just stood there watching his
stomach go up and down. God I hope he wasn't conscious. I keep seeing his
face-- he was laying there helpless.

His face--his eyes--won't leave my mind.

I had to leave the scene because I started crying. It was just too much. I
couldn't watch anymore and the anger began welling within me.

Anyway, I was walking home and our neighbors were looking out their window
and saw me crying and called for me to come up (I know them because one time
their son was arrested and beaten and I accompanied the mother to the police
station). I went up to their house and explained everything that happened.
They called the municipality and the hospital to inform them.

The mother hugged me and then took me to the sink so I could splash cold water
on my face. They peeled an orange for me to eat... Oh... it was such a
comforting moment amidst this unrelenting sorrow that continues to envelop
this land.

In the evening yesterday, we learned that he indeed died a few hours after he
arrived at the hospital.