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Soldiers shot 95 yrold { December 4 2002 } Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
http://commondreams.org/headlines02/1204-03.htmhttp://commondreams.org/headlines02/1204-03.htm
Published on Wednesday, December 4, 2002 by Reuters
Palestinian Woman, 95, is Shot Dead by Israeli Soldiers
by Mohammed Assadi
ATARA, West Bank - Zaheyyeh Dahadha wept on Wednesday as she paid her last respects to her life-long friend Fatima Hassan, at 95 the oldest known Palestinian victim of two years of conflict with Israel.
Dahadha, 82, was among hundreds of people who attended Hassan's funeral in the West Bank village of Atara, a day after Israeli troops shot her dead as she drove home in a taxi after having a medical checkup and buying sweets in nearby Ramallah.
Dahadha said she had seen Hassan almost every day for more than half a century.
"Look at my eyes. I have not stopped crying since I heard the bad news," she said after kissing Hassan's cheeks as the corpse lay on a pink stretcher before the burial.
"We used to see each other every day. She's gone now. It's like a dream. I cannot believe what happened to her."
Palestinian witnesses said a soldier at the northern edge of Ramallah smashed the windows of the taxi in which Hassan was travelling and peppered the vehicle with bullets. The witnesses said the taxi was waiting in a long line of vehicles.
The army said it was investigating the incident. Israeli military sources said troops shot at the tyres of a Palestinian vehicle that had been travelling on a prohibited road near Ramallah after the driver ignored orders to halt.
The violence in the last two years has claimed innocent victims on both sides, including women, children and the elderly. At least 1,694 Palestinians and 668 Israelis have died since the Palestinian revolt against Israeli occupation began in September 2000.
Relatives said Hassan had been in Ramallah for a regular medical checkup and had bought sweets for the Muslim feast of Eid al-Fitr which marks the end of the holy fasting month of Ramadan.
Stunned women, some crying, stood in front of their houses as men carried the coffin on their shoulders through Atara's narrow alleyways.
"Her death broke my heart," one woman told her neighbour.
Medics said Hassan was hit by a bullet in her back and two other women in the taxi were also wounded.
Israel has blocked the entrances of most West Bank villages and towns with trenches, long lines of rubble, cement blocks or checkpoints since the start of the Palestinian uprising.
Israel says such measures are necessary to prevent militants from carrying out suicide bombings and other attacks in the Jewish state. Palestinians say the measures amount to collective punishment.
Hassan was buried in the village cemetery, where wreaths and banners lay over her grave. One banner read: "A message to the international conscience: why kill a 95-year-old woman?"
Copyright © 2002 Reuters Ltd
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