Posted on March 10, 2023, by & filed under News, Personal Experiences.


We are regularly asked to provide more stories about the lives of Palestinians who have experienced their homes being demolished due to Israel’s discriminatory housing laws which make it nearly impossible for Palestinians to obtain planning permission for the construction of homes and structures vital for living compared to the way that the Israeli government fosters expansion of Israeli-only settlements, illegal under international law. In future our communications and social media platforms will include more Palestinian voices speaking directly to us. For now, we provide a brief review honouring the short life of Harun Abu Aram which ended in unspeakable tragedy.

Harun was born to Rasmi and Farsi Abu Aram in the village of Al-Rakeez in Masafer Yatta, the South Hebron Hills and grew up with five sisters and one brother. In 2020, the family’s home was demolished so they had no choice but to live in a cave which is not uncommon for other residents in Masafer Yatta who refuse to be forced off their land following the brutal destruction of their beloved homes.

On 1st January 2021, Harun’s 24th birthday and about to marry, he rushed to aid his neighbour, Ashraf, because Israeli forces were demolishing his home. Soldiers had beaten Ashraf as well as his father, Rasmi who was protesting the demolition. Harun saw that Ashraf’s generator was being confiscated by the soldiers so knowing how vital generators are for their survival in this shepherding community, he went to grab it when he was shot in the neck at close range. The soldiers then tried to prevent Rasmi and Ashraf from getting Harun to a hospital resulting in valuable time being lost when vital medical attention was needed.

The Israeli army claimed that  “a violent disturbance developed involving about 150 Palestinians that included stone-throwing on a massive scale,” to which soldiers responded by “using crowd-dispersal methods and firing into the air.” Video evidence proved this was entirely false. Meanwhile Harun was left completely paralysed from the neck down.

Crowdfunding was needed to pay for Harun’s hospitalization and medical care because both Israel and the Palestine Authority refused to pay for this expensive treatment. Months later Harun returned home in a wheelchair. He slept on the floor, plagued by pain and depression but tenderly cared for by his mother.

Last year, one of his legs was amputated and doctors planned to amputate the second one. Harun was admitted to a hospital in Hebron because an infection had spread in his body due to the bedsores caused by lying on the cave floor for two years. On February 14th, Harun died from this and other complications.

The Israeli army had opened an investigation to Harun’s shooting but delayed coming to a conclusion, so the soldier was never found guilty. With news of Harun’s death, the case was closed. So much for Israel’s reputation as the world’s most moral army.

Meanwhile Israeli drones fly over Al-Rakeez, monitoring life in the village. The Israeli outpost of Avigail constructed next to Al-Rakeez was approved in the Knesset on 14th February. Thus, Israel’s settler colonial objective of pushing the indigenous Palestinians off their land and replaced by a Jewish population continues. And the world is silent.