CASTELLANO1)Colonos atacan en Hebrn 2)ltimas noticias sobre deportaciones de pacifistas.ENGLISH:1)Settlers attack in Hebron 2)Last minute about pacifists deportations.3)"We Are All Palestinians"(Zer-Aviv).4)Peace? 5)He risked all for others.

English version. Click here.
Versin en castellano:
1) Colonos de Kiryat Arbaa (en Hebrn), atacan a la poblacin civil palestina
(informacin urgente de Brigadistas catalanes en Cisjordania).
Traduccin del castellano al ingls de Elena Shiskova para Paz Ahora.
2) ltimas informaciones sobre las deportaciones de los pacifistas del ISM / MSI.
(Movimiento de Solidaridad Internacional)
3) Apelacin contra las deportaciones de los activistas del ISM / MSI.
Las Traducciones del Ingls al Castellano son de Jaime Martn.
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1) Colonos de Kiryat Arbaa en Hebrn, atacan a la poblacin civil palestina.
(informacin urgente de Brigadistas catalanes en Cisjordania)
Los colonos estn realizando expropiaciones forzosas.
Albert Estern y Pol Planas participan desde el 6 de julio pasado en una misin civil en Palestina.
Nos comunican a 21 de Julio de forma urgente por medio de mensajes de telfono mvil lo siguiente:

Estamos delante de la colonia Kiryat Arbaa de Hebrn.
Los colonos, desde las 8 de la maana, estn ampliando territorio y varias casas estn en peligro de ser derrumbadas. No paramos de or tiros. Por favor poneros en contacto si podis, con los medios de comunicacin locales y nacionales.

Si nos queris contactar: 00 972 54 87 37 53, la familia de uno de los afectados nos lo ha pedido.

Kiryat Arbaa es una de las colonias ms agresivas implantadas en los Territorios Ocupados, con ataques constantes a la poblacin Palestina adyacente y que ocupaba ese territorio con anterioridad a la colonia. Desde hace cinco meses pretenden destruir dos casas de la familia Dana y al no conseguirlo judicialmente actan ellos mismos, impunemente bajo la aceptacin de hecho del ejrcito.


Campaa Civil Internacional para la Proteccin del Pueblo Palestino. Contacto:
Xarxa dEnlla amb Palestina. Telf 660556373

2) ltimas informaciones sobre las deportaciones de los pacifistas del ISM / MSI.
Deportaciones, detenciones, y los 8 del ISM Hemos sabido que la situacin de los pacifistas del ISM que han sido amenazados con la deportacin es la siguiente:
- Bill Capowski, Thomas Pellas, Saul Reid, y Alex Perry han llegado a casa el sbado
- Daniel Knuttson fue introducido a la fuerza en un avin a primera hora del domingo y se supone que llegar a Estocolmo hoy lunes.
- Frederick Lind, de acuerdo con el consulado dans, espera todava la deportacin en la comisara de Ariel, tras haber sido llevado al aeropuerto y despus retornado por las autoridades israeles.
- Tobas Karlson y Tariq Loubani siguen en Ariel, donde llevan ya 11 das, esperando una audiencia sobre la apelacin del ISM al Tribunal Supremo de Israel. La absoluta incomunicacin de los prisioneros ha complicado una por una todas las etapas del proceso al ISM y sus simpatizantes. A los que han pasado por Ariel se les han requisado sus tarjetas telefnicas, papel, bolgrafos, etc. como castigo por haberse solidarizado con los presos palestinos vecinos. Las condiciones en Ariel, que es una comisara que no est pensada para encarcelamientos prolongados, distan mucho de lo ideal: las luces fluorescentes estn siempre encendidas y no hay patio exterior o posibilidad de ejercicios fsicos para los detenidos, que permanecen en sus celdas las 24 horas del da. No hace falta decir que an as las condiciones de los activistas no se pueden comparar con las de los palestinos que les rodean o las de los miles de palestinos vctimas del sistema penal israel, muchos de los cuales nunca han sido imputados por ningn delito pero llevan meses o aos bajo "detencion administrativa". Sin embargo, los informes de los que han contactado con los activistas muestran un nimo optimista, siendo la principal preocupacin que se entreguen a los palestinos en Ariel por lo menos 16 paquetes de cigarrillos como contrapartida por los bienes que han repartido con los voluntarios. Las donaciones para ello y para las cargas legales pueden ser hechas a travs del Fondo Legal del ISM. Ms detalles en nuestro sitio web, http://www.palsolidarity.org. Noticias sin confirmar dicen que el activista Daniel Knuttson es demasiado alto para su celda.


3) Apelacin contra las deportaciones. Amigos, el ISM ha decidido apelar la decisin del juzgado del distrito de Tel Aviv y enfrentarse a la deportacin de los cuatro voluntarios internacionales detenidos en Arrabony, Jenin, en el tribunal Supremo de Israel. Con ello viene asociado el peligro real de que el Supremo rubrique la orden de deportacin de los activistas por la paz del Ministerio del Interior, del mismo modo que hizo el tribunal del distrito de Tel Aviv, ignorando toda evidencia de que la detencin es ilegal y aceptando el argumento de la "amenaza para la seguridad" del ejrcito israel. Reconociendo que este desafo puede establecer un precedente descorazonador, creemos sin embargo que es necesario dar a conocer la dictadura de tipo militar que domina en realidad en el estado de Israel y legitimiza el amplio abuso de los derechos civiles y humanos. Del mismo modo que el ejrcito israel no tiene obligacin de suministrar ninguna evidencia de que los activistas por la paz suponan una "amenaza para la seguridad", tampoco da ninguna evidencia del "asunto de seguridad" que valida la detencin de palestinos y los mantiene en "detencin administrativa" por perodos renovables sin razn alguna que lo justifique! de seis meses; algunos prisioneros han pasado varios aos de su vida bajo "detencin administrativa", a los que nunca se les ha presentado cargos reales o se les ha dado una razn por la que estn detenidos.En esta situacin hay ahora ms de mil prisioneros palestinos. Las voces de todos los pueblos del mundo deben unirse a la de los palestinos para decir, YA BASTA! Continuaremos organizndonos para resistir en el terreno, aunque sepamos perfectamente que la represin israel y los esfuerzos para acallarnos se van a incrementar. Necesitamos que te unas aqu con nosotros si te es posible, y por supuesto para movilizarte en tu propia comunidad. De los ocho voluntarios del ISM que fueron detenidos y se les inco orden de deportacin, Tobias Karlsson y Tarek Loubani siguen en prisin. AL proceder a la apelacin al Supremo se nos ha garantizado una suspensin de sus deportaciones (Bill Capowski y Fredrick Lind tuvieron que regresar a sus casas). Los cuatro detenidos en Nablus tambin han sido deportados. Lamentablemente tenemos tambin que solcitar tu ayuda financiera para ayudarnos a encarar nuestras crecientes cargas legales. Hasta ahora esta es la situacin: - Apelacin al Ministro del Interior y el Tribunal de Distrito de Tel Aviv, incluyendo honorarios de abogados: 2700 $ - Apelacin al Tribunal Supremo, incluyendo honorarios de abogados: 1500 $ - gastos por visita mdica a los activistas encarcelados- 2000 NIS (435 $) Total, sin incluir gastos miscelneos: 4635 & Desde nuestra ltima peticin hemos recibido una generosa ayuda por vuestra parte de 1300 $. Piensa en la posibilidad de donar. Mira nuestro sitio web www.palsolidarity.ogr para ms informacin de cmo hacerlo. Muchsimas gracias, en solidaridad y por la resistencia,
Firmado : Huwaida Arraf por el ISM /MSI
Lo ms reciente del ISM en http://www.palsolidarity.org

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1)Settlers from Kiryat Arbaa in Hebrn, attacked the civilian popullation :
information from peace activists from Catalonia (Spain) in the West Bank.
2) Last minute about deportations of ISM activists.
Who is Where, When Do They Get There Deportations, Detention, and the ISM 8
3) Legal Appeal against deportations.
4) "We Are All Palestinians" Avi Zer-Aviv
5) Wheres the peace? (Nablus 27 Jun 03, John Heaney)
6) He risked all for others (As written by Tom Hurndalls mother) Emily Sheffield
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1)Settlers from Kiryat Arbaa in Hebrn, attacked the civilian popullation :
Settlers from Kiryat Arbaa in Hebrn, attacked the civilian popullation of Palestine. They achieved expropriation.
Albert and Pol are Catalonian activists who have participated since the 6th of June of last year in a civil mission in Palestine. We commicated today on an urgent matter by way of mobile phone messages as follows:

We are standing in front of the collonists of Kiryat Arbaa of Hebrn. The collonists, since 8 in the morning, have extended the territory and various houses are in danger of being demolished. We have not stopped hearing gunshots.
"Please keep us up to date if you can, with local and national medias of communication.
If you would like to contact us: 00 972 54 87 37 53, the family of one of the affected has asked for it.

Kiryat Arbaa is one of the most aggressive Settlements situated in the Occupied Territories, with constant attacks on the neighboring Palestinian popullation and which occupied this territory with priority over the colony. For the past 5 months, they have tried to destroy two houses of the Daan family and have not obtained justice themselves, with low impunity of the acceptance of the exercise.

The International Civil Campagne for the Protection of the Palestinian Community in Catalonia : Contact:
Xarxa dEnlla amb Palestina in Catalonia. Tel: 660556373

2) Last minute about deportations of ISM activists. Who is Where, When Do They Get There De: Rapprochement Centre [] Deportations, Detention, and the ISM 8 New information necessitates a correction to the ISM update for the 19th. We have learned that the status of the ISM peace workers who have agreed to deportation is as follows: - as of Sunday morning, Bill Capowski, Thomas Pellas, Saul Reid, and Alex Perry have returned safely home on Saturday. Daniel Knuttson was put on a plane to Amsterdam early Sunday morning and is expected a welcome-home at the airport in Stockholm today. Frederick Lind, according to the Danish consulate, is still awaiting deportation at Ariel police station, after having been brought to the airport and then returned by Israeli authorities. And Tobias Karlson and Tariq Loubani will be in Ariel, where they have been for 11 days now, awaiting a hearing concerning the ISM appeal to the Israeli High Court. The complete lack of access to communication with the prisoners has complicated every step of the process for the ISM and its supporters. Those left in Ariel have had their phone cards, as well as writing paper and pens, taken away from them as punishment after their attempts to show solidarity with their fellow prisoners. Conditions at Ariel, which is a police station and is not designed for long-term incarceration, are less than ideal: flourescent lights are never turned off, and there are no outdoor or excercise facilities for detainees, so they are kept in their cells 24 hours a day. Needless to say, the conditions of the activists do not compare to the Palestinians around them or the thousands of others in the Israeli penal system, many of whom, are not even charged with crimes, but rather placed in administrative detention. However, reports from those who have had contact with the activists say that spirits are high, and the primary concern was that at least 16 packs of cigarettes be brought to Ariel for the Palestinians to make up for what has been shared with the internationals. Donations for this or any of the other legal costs can be made through the ISM Legal Fund. More details are available at our website, www.palsolidarity.org. Reports that activist Daniel Knuttson was too tall for his prison bed are as yet unconfirmed.

3) Legal AppeaL against deportations: Friends, The ISM has decided to appeal the decision of the Tel Aviv district court and challenge the deportation of the 4 internationals arrested in Arrabony, Jenin, in the Israeli Supreme Court. With this, of course comes the very real danger of the Supreme Court he activists in jail - 2000NIS ($435) For a total, not including miscellaneous fees of: $4635 Since our last appeal, we have generously received from you $1300. Please consider donating. See our website - www.palsolidarity.org for more information on how. Thank you so much. In solidarity & struggle, Huwaida ********************************************

4) "We Are All Palestinians" Avi Zer-Aviv [Avi Zer-Aviv was one of six human rights activists arrested by the Israeli army earlier this month for removing roadblocks in the villages of Iraq Bureen and Tell just outside Nablus. He was joined in jail with four other activists arrested for similar non-violent actions in Jenin. He writes here about his experience, and about the situation on the ground in The West Bank.] Dear Friends, I have been hiding out here in Tel Aviv the last few days, recovering from a really turbulent few weeks and of the bitter news that my friends are being deported from Israel now. Already 5 of the 8 detained internationals have been deported, following the Tel Aviv District Court decision upholding the Interior Ministry decision that these human rights activists pose a "security threat". The judge seemed unsympathetic, ordering the immediate deportation of the activists, dismissing a request to allow for one more week to file an appeal. My friends looked sickly as they arrived in court this last Thursday. They had already been sitting in Ariel settlement jail for one week, enduring poor treatment, the denial of their medical rights, some physical violence by prison guards, and a raid of their jail cell, confiscating their valuables. Sadly, they were treated much better than most of the Palestinians sitting in the cells with them. In my one night in Ariel settlement jail, I shared a cell with two Palestinians, both being held for weeks awaiting a court decision for minor infractions that would at best receive a slap on the wrist had they been Israeli Jews. The issue is not a bunch of Western kids serving time for trying to remove roadblocks in isolated Palestinian villages, but rather 36 years of occupation that has left a rotting scar on the lives of millions of ordinary people trying to make a decent livelihood. The issue is the family who graciously hosted me in their home for two nights in the town of Iraq Bureen outside Nablus, displaying Israeli bullet holes left by recent incursions covering their front door, bedroom closet and kitchen. Their village has been without open roads for months, and the delivery of basic milk, water and food hampered without good reason. All of this in a lookout surrounded by Israeli settlements, military outposts and watchtowers, and daily make-shift checkpoints set-up right in the village itself. The only justification Israel uses to stay here is the tired and lame mantra of security or terror, all the while ignoring the fact that their presence is the real fuel for growing despair and agony. Let us not forget the real issue in the commotion of our experience as seasoned or unseasoned peace workers. Let us not forget that even as I was arrested and put in an army jeep, a call came in on the radio dispatch requesting permission for an ill palestinian woman to pass a checkpoint so she can seek medical treatment. Let us not forget the dozens of Palestinian men I saw each day standing out in the blazing heat, being denied freedom of movement as punishment for attempting to enter their villages through the fields and around the checkpoints that would turn many away in any case. As an Israeli-Canadian Jew in Palestine, I have come to witness and document countless human rights violations in the occupied territories, and come to the conclusion that Israel is moving closer to becoming a totalitarian state with a warped moral compass. "Never Again", a famous slogan symbolizing Jewish self-determination after the holocaust, need not be replaced with "At Any Price!" Yet many Jews still see Israel as The Golden Child that can do no harm. They send money, support Israeli policy unconditionally, swallow the propoganda whole, not realzing that their Golden Child has become a bully! Israels greatest threat is not the Palestinians, nor Iraq, nor the United States, but rather biting its own tail in the name of reactionary military policies that serve only the army generals that make up the previous and current governments here. We, as Jews, must remember how much we have suffered so as to transform that pain to compassion, generosity and understanding. Otherwise, we are destined to fall prey to the victim-victimizer dichotomy, asserting that we are either prey or predator. Today, I say, "We Are All Palestinians."
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5) Wheres the peace?
Nablus John Heaney Its 1.30am and Im sitting in a plastic chair on the roof of the house that I sleep. Im terrified, chain smoking, even though I dont smoke, listening & waiting and preparing myself for what might happen at any moment. The army are in the camp where my house is, 40 foot soldiers making their way through the narrow alleys, alleys wide enough to allow one person to walk between 3 and 4 storey concrete structures, some with glass in the windows, some without. I am sitting in darkness, wary of the Israeli army sniper towers in the mountains overlooking the camp, and trying to stay as quiet as possible; listening to the random shooting from about 50m away, the banging on doors and the explosions that break the normal silence. I am trying to work out whats happening and where. The only time I break the silence is when I go into the small room with a sink in it beside my bedroom to get sick... from fear. This is Balata Refugee Camp, Nablus. And this is the life under Israeli occupation that all 16,000 inhabitants in the camps 2 square kilometres have to endure. As I sit here I question my reasons for being here. I ask myself why I feel so compelled to do this work. The reason is brought back to me a couple of days later and I realise it had never gone away. It was 11pm and I was sitting in the same plastic chairs, on the same roof, in the same house, the house of the Abu Saleem family. This time I was sitting and chatting with the father of the house in what broken Arabic I had, drinking tiny cups of very strong coffee & listening to the army who had a tank parked at the entrance of the camp shooting rounds of heavy machine gunfire every few minutes down the streets of the camp. The fathers brother and 3-year-old nephew were sitting with us too. I cannot explain the look of fear on the 3-year-olds face every time the army would shoot. His eyes open wide, his body stiff, as he stood between his fathers legs, being held and reassured that everything would be OK. On both of the above nights, like nearly all the times the army come into the camp, there was no evident operation carried out; no arrests made, no houses occupied, no houses demolished. So why do they come and do what they do? Why do fathers have to stay awake until 5am waiting for the army to leave and children have to try to sleep through shooting and explosions in constant fear? Why do they terrorise the community in this densely populated civilian area? Out of the 7 weeks I was in Balata Refugee Camp there were 2 nights that the Israeli army actually did carry out a "genuine" operation. On one of these nights they entered the camp to arrest a wanted man, a 22-year-old vegetable lorry driver. When they finally got to the house of the wanted man at 3am they discovered he wasnt there, but they remained in the house for 2 hours questioning & terrorising the family and beating the 14-year-old son until he had a fit. All this was done after they seemingly mistakenly entered 3 other houses but admitted each time that they were wrong. Despite being at the wrong house the terror was no less. At the second house rather than banging on the door with their M16s they set explosives at it and blew it off, destroying the door and damaging the walls inside & the walls of the house opposite. The explosive also smashed a window of the house, covering the mother who was sleeping inside under it with broken glass. At the third house, discovering again they had made a mistake they took the father of the house at gunpoint and used him as a human shield to the house where the wanted man lived. The use of human shields is a frequent tactic of the Israeli army and is something that is illegal by international law. My stay in Nablus coincided with the Aqaba summit, which was part of the peace talks to find a path along the "Road Map to Peace". But as the Palestinian PM Mahmoud Abbas, the Israeli PM Ariel Sharon and American president George Bush met in Jordan there was no evidence of the agreements and promises being made on the ground in Nablus. On the first day of the talks the Israeli government said they would ease restrictions on movement around the West Bank, three days later the Israeli army surrounded Balata Refugee Camp with 6 roadblocks of earth, preventing all vehicular access to the camp, including medical vehicles. On the last day of the talks the Israeli army invaded the city, including Balata Refugee Camp, for 13 hours from 6am until 7pm. They came in and drove around the streets with tanks, APCs (armoured personnel carriers) & jeeps; while Apache helicopters flew around in the air. Again no evident operation was carried out, but the terror that was invoked that day led to the death of 1 civilian and the injury of 48 by live ammunition. That night when I went back to the Abu Saleem house to sleep, the men of the house were sitting on the roof, on the plastic chairs, and the mood was like a funeral. They were devastated. They had listened again to hopeful peace talks taking place in far off lands, and again their hopes were raised. They thought that their wish would finally come through, that peace was finally on its way. But again the hopeful peace talks stayed in that far away land and on the streets of Nablus.

6) He risked all for others As written by Tom Hurndalls mother Emily Sheffield http://news.scotsman.com/features.cfm?id=781552003
On Friday 11 April, my eldest son, a photojournalist, was shot in the head by an Israeli soldier. He was trying to protect two young girls in the Israelis line of fire in Gaza. He is 21 and now lies in a coma, with severe brain damage. We know he is not expected to recover and our family are endeavouring to come to terms with this. Recently, we were able to fly him home from Israel and he is now in The Royal Free in Hampstead, in a room overlooking London, filled with photographs of his life. Two large sheets covered in wonderful written messages from friends hang on the walls. I was at work when I first heard Tom had been seriously wounded. I am head of learning support at the Argyle primary school in Camden. My daughter, Sophie, phoned: a news reporter had called her to ask if she had been told about her brother. We had not appreciated that Tom had gone down to Rafah in the Gaza Strip that week - we thought he was in a refugee camp in Jordan. I went into shock. The first thing I did was to call father of Tom, Anthony, a lawyer, who was in Russia on business. We decided he would fly to Israel the next day with Billy, our second son, as Tom had been airlifted to Seroka hospital in Beer Sheva. I followed on the Monday and shortly after that Sophie, 23, and my youngest son, 12-year-old Freddy, arrived. We were expecting the worst. The surgeon had told us Tom might not survive even a few days and that there was shrapnel still lodged in his brain. When I first saw him, there was a young Israeli girl beside his bed who kept repeating, "I am so sorry for my country". The head of Tom was bandaged up and there were tubes and monitors everywhere. Tom was a vital young man who had been so full of life. As a child, he was very popular at his school. He always threw himself into things and when he was a teenager, he jumped into the sea in Cornwall to swim with seal pups, oblivious to their angry mother. He has always been highly intelligent, articulate and inquisitive, constantly asking questions, and it seems an awful waste that his adventurous spirit has led to this. Tom was studying photography at Manchester Metropolitan University and had travelled to Baghdad in February with some British "human shields" for an assignment. He wanted to be a photojournalist. We had tried to persuade him not to go but he was insistent, saying he had done extensive research. From Baghdad he moved to Jordan and while he was in a refugee camp, he hooked up with a Palestinian peace group, the International Solidarity Movement. He agreed to accompany them to Rafah, a town on the southern end of the Gaza Strip caught between the Israeli army and Palestinian fighters. Soon after arriving, he saw a little boy shot in the shoulder, which profoundly affected him. He was also shot at, gassed and hit by falling debris. A few days before he was shot, he wrote in his journal: "The certainty is that they are watching and it is on the decision of any one Israeli soldier or settler that my life depends." A week later, the activists were peacefully trying to stop an Israeli tank from blocking access to a local mosque when Tom saw soldiers in a watchtower open fire. Numerous shots were directed at a group of children playing in the rubble nearby. He pulled one five-year-old Palestinian boy to safety, then returned to save two little girls. As he reached out to grab their hands, Tom was hit in the head by the sniper fire. He was wearing a fluorescent orange flak jacket demonstrating that he was a civilian. This was typical of Tom, to put safety of another before his own, to help the underdog. Only two months before he left for Palestine, he had squared up to a mugger trying to steal a mobile phone from a young boy near our home. It used to worry me that his feelings for others would override any care for his own safety. He had such an empathetic side and would always listen when someone was in trouble. Tom wanted to experience everything; he threw himself at life. He had gone to Israel to see a world outside his own. He kept a beautifully written journal of his travels. It was found in his knapsack after he was shot. We value it greatly. He wanted to understand and feel at first-hand what civilians were suffering in Palestine. He wanted to find the truth behind the propaganda, seek out injustices. Tom is the third Westerner to have been wounded or killed in Gaza in recent months. In March, a 23-year-old American student, Rachel Corrie, was crushed to death in Rafah by an Israeli armoured bulldozer while she tried to protect a Palestinian family home from being flattened. We have detailed evidence and are sure now that the Israeli army has deliberately been targeting foreigners who go into the occupied territories to help protect Palestinians and to witness and record the conditions there. Very soon after arriving in Israel, Anthony and I went with a military attach from the British embassy to the spot where he was shot. We met the activists he had made friends with and the mother of the child he had saved. I was still in terrible shock. Everything seemed unreal. I was taking information in but not processing it. Fortunately, Anthony had switched into lawyer mode and was asking hundreds of questions. We had to seek justice for Tom and it has helped us to deal with our grief and given us a focus. We returned to Rafah several times and were once even shot at in the same place as Tom. This was despite the Israeli soldiers having been warned three times of our approach, in a clearly marked British embassy Range Rover. The Israeli government has consistently denied shooting Tom with intent, first claiming that he had been carrying a gun, which is untrue, then saying he had been near a man carrying a gun. This is also untrue - the family has collected 14 witness statements to the contrary. Ten weeks later, we are still fighting for an official inquiry. We want the officer who fired the gun and those in high command brought to justice. Tom was in intensive care in Israel for four weeks. So many people came to support us. Many of the activists would sleep at the hospital at night. One human rights lawyer even lent us his flat. On 29 May the hospital said we could risk bringing Tom home - we wanted all his friends to be able to see him. The horrific reality of the condition of Tom hit me as we followed his ambulance to the airport in Tel Aviv. It felt as if this was the end of the journey of Tom. It is a moment I will never forget. I have only recently stopped being in a state of intense shock; now it is more a feeling of gradual loss. We are gradually returning to some kind of normality; we are all back at work and Freddy is at school. Billy stayed out in Israel, documenting footage of the soldiers behaviour. We recently met up with Jack Straw. We sought legal advice in order to find out how the government was obliged to support us. If we produce enough evidence to prove there was injustice - and we have done that now - they are obliged to investigate. We are hoping to publish a book of Tom journals and photographs soon. The BBC correspondent Rageh Omar read from his journals at a recent concert we held to raise funds for our campaign. We have had talks about Tom quality of life; we know he would not want to be hooked up to a machine. But for now we will play a waiting game, let nature take its course and ensure that each of us has time with Tom on our own, to give him comfort and support and to feel close to him. At first, whenever we saw the slightest movement, it was easy for us to imagine he was more cognisant than he actually is. In reality, these are reflex movements and we now know there is no chance of recovery. I am intensely proud of Tom. He taught himself to have courage; he saved a life. We cannot all remain in safe little cages. Tom went to Gaza to expose the injustice. I profoundly respect the fact that he sought to make a difference. Somewhere along the line he decided to value life, not just his own, but those around him. These past months have naturally been a life-changing experience but we will not be in a permanent state of sadness. Tom understood that we are not here just to live for ourselves. He may be my son but what he has done is inspirational.

To donate to the campaign, visit www.tomhurndall.co.uk
INTERNATIONAL SOLIDARITY MOVEMENT www.palsolidarity.org