Palestinian Scholar Noura Erakat: Israeli Forces Killed My Cousin on His Sister's Wedding Day
by mail@democracynow.org (Democracy Now!) from Democracy Now! on (#54ZHJ)
Israeli soldiers on Tuesday killed 27-year-old Ahmed Erekat at a checkpoint in the occupied West Bank as he was on his way to pick up his sister, who was set to be married that night. Ahmed Erekat is the nephew of senior Palestinian official Saeb Erekat, secretary general of the Palestine Liberation Organization, and cousin of Palestinian American legal scholar Noura Erakat, who says Israeli claims that Ahmed was attempting a car-ramming attack on soldiers are completely unfounded. What we understand is that Ahmed lost control of his car or was confused while he was in his car. That was all it took to have a knee-jerk reaction ... and immediately to cause the soldiers to open fire on him multiple times," she says.