The Massacre of Al-Samuni (Samouni) Family
Samuni family says: Israeli soldiers gather 30 persons from Al Samuni family in one house. Ten families were in the house from the same clan. Many civilians were killed as artillery shells bombed the house. The number of victims around 14, most of them are children and women. Some are in critical conditions! Sameh A. Habeeb
Samuni family says: Israeli soldiers gather 30 persons from Al Samuni family in one house. Ten families were in the house from the same clan. Many civilians were killed as artillery shells bombed the house. The number of victims around 14, most of them are children and women. Some are in critical conditions! Sameh A. Habeeb
- 5 jan 2009
al-Samouni child born under Israeli missile fire
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4dspqUNJ_7A - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kQaJrA4VeCQ
If you knew the details of this story you would conclude as one mother did, those soldiers that committed these acts, could not be considered human. These were demons with the latest high-tech weapons, courtesy of the US tax-payer and if the good people of the US knew what was done in their name here, they would be sick to their stomachs. Shame on all of us for allowing this to happen and to go completely unpunished.
of Gaza City, Gaza, killed, with two first cousins, eight distant cousins, and eleven other relatives, by IDF bombs while at home in Gaza City's al-Zaytoun neighborhood.
- 5 jan 2009
48 members of the Samouni family were killed in one day when Israel's battle with Hamas suddenly centred on their homes
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EmEncqLqaVY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ruyRM0R8i0g
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kQaJrA4VeCQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ylvUzAFeQ0
19 jan 2009
Helmi Samouni knelt yesterday on the floor of the bedroom he once shared with his wife and their five-month old son, scraping his fingers through a thick layer of ash and broken glass looking for mementoes of their life together. "I found a ring. I might find more," he said.
His wife Maha and their child Muhammad were killed in the second week of Israel's 22-day war in Gaza when they were shelled by Israeli forces as they took shelter nearby along with dozens of relatives. In total 48 people from one family are now known to have died that Monday morning, 5 January, in Zeitoun, on the southern outskirts of Gaza City.
Of all the horrors visited on the civilians of Gaza in this war the fate of the Samounis, a family of farmers who lived close together in simple breeze-block homes, was perhaps the gravest.
Around a dozen homes in this small area were destroyed, no more than piles of rubble in the sand yesterday. Helmi Samouni's two-storey house was one of the few left standing, despite the gaping hole from a large tank shell that pierced his blackened bedroom wall. During the invasion it had been taken over by Israeli soldiers, who wrecked the furniture and set up sand-bagged shooting positions throughout.
They left behind their own unique detritus: bullet casings, roasted peanuts in tins with Hebrew script, a plastic bag containing a "High Quality Body Warmer", dozens of olive-green waste disposal bags, some empty, some stinking full - the troops' portable toilets.
But most disturbing of all was the graffiti they daubed on the walls of the ground floor. Some was in Hebrew, but much was naively written in English: "Arabs need 2 die", "Die you all", "Make war not peace", "1 is down, 999,999 to go", and scrawled on an image of a gravestone the words: "Arabs 1948-2009".
There were several sketches of the Star of David flag. "Gaza here we are," it said in English next to one.
Helmi's brother Salah, 30, had an apartment in the same house. He too was pulling out what he could, including an Israeli work permit once issued to his father. "They gave him a permit and then they came from Israel and they killed him," said Salah. In the attack he lost both his parents, Talal and Rahma, and his two-year-old daughter Aza.
During the war, Israel banned journalists from entering Gaza. But the accounts of Salah and his neighbours outside the rubble of their homes yesterday corroborate the accounts from witnesses given in the days after the attack, accounts which led the UN to describe the killings at Zeitoun as one of the gravest episodes of the war and the Red Cross to call it, in a rare public rebuke, "a shocking incident".
More than a dozen bodies were pulled from the rubble on Sunday, and one more yesterday, bringing the Samouni death toll to 48, according to Dr Mouawia Hassanein, head of Gaza's Emergency Medical Services. With more bodies being recovered each day, the death toll from Israel's three-week war now stands at 1,360. On the Israeli side, 13 were killed.
On the second Saturday of the war, after a week of Israeli air strikes, there came a wave of heavy artillery shelling which preceded the ground invasion of Gaza. That night, Salah Samouni took shelter on the ground floor with 16 others from his family. By the next morning, Sunday 4 January, more neighbours had come looking for shelter and the number now there was approaching 50.
"They fired a shell into the upstairs floor and it started a fire," said Salah. "We called the ambulance and the fire service, but no one was able to reach us." Soon a group of Israeli soldiers approached. "They came and banged on the door and told everyone to leave the house," he said. They walked a few metres down the dirt road and entered the large, single-storey home of Wa'el Samouni.
There they stayed for the rest of the day, now a group of around 100 men, women and children, with no food and little water. Though there may have been Palestinian fighters operating in the open fields around the houses, all the witnesses are adamant that those gathered in Wa'el Samouni's house were all civilians and all from the same extended family.
On the Monday morning, four of the men - Salah among them - decided to go out to bring back firewood for cooking. "They fired a shell straight at us," Salah said. Two of the four were killed instantly, the other two were injured. Salah was hit by shrapnel on his forehead, his back and his legs. Moments later, he said, two more shells struck the house, killing dozens of them.
Salah and a group of around 70 fled the house, shouting to the soldiers that there were women and children with them. They ran to the main road and on for a kilometre until ambulances could reach them. Others stayed behind.
Wa'el Samouni's father, Faris, 59, lived next door to the house where the crowd had taken shelter. He had a single-storey house with only a corrugated iron roof and so his family had moved next door to shelter, but he had stayed behind. He was unable to leave his building for fear of being shot, but on the Tuesday the survivors called to him to bring water. He ran quickly the short distance and joined them.
"Dead bodies were lying on the ground. Some people were injured, they were just trying to help each other," he said. There among the dead Faris found his wife Rizka, 50; his daughter-in-law Anan; and his granddaughter Huda, 16.
Only on the afternoon of the following day, the Wednesday, were the survivors rescued when the Red Cross arrived to carry them out to hospital.
The Israeli military has said it is investigating what happened at Zeitoun. It has repeatedly denied that its troops ordered the residents to gather in one house and said its troops do not intentionally target civilians.
Others in the family saw a different but equally grim fate. Faraj Samouni, 22, lived with his family next door to Helmi and Salah. Again on the Saturday evening the family had sought shelter from the heavy shelling, a group of 18 of them gathering in one room for the night. On the Sunday morning the Israeli soldiers approached. "They shouted for the owner of the house to come out. My father opened the door and went out and they shot him right there," said Faraj.
With the body of his father Atiya, 45, slumped on the ground outside, the soldiers fired more shots into the room, he said, this time killing Faraj's younger half-brother Ahmad, who was four years old, and the child's mother.
Yesterday there was blood on the wall of the small room where the child had been sitting.
Then the troops ordered them to lie on the floor. But when a fire started burning in the room next door, sending in acrid smoke, they began shouting to be allowed out. "We were shouting 'babies, children'," Faraj said.
Eventually the soldiers let them out and they ran along the street, passing the others who had gathered in Wa'el Samouni's house and making their way out on to the main road and to safety.
When Faraj returned, he found his home completely destroyed, a pile of twisted iron bars and concrete. On a small outdoor grill were the charred remains of the eight aubergines that the family had been cooking that Sunday morning for their breakfast.
Only on Sunday was he able to bury his father's body and even then there was a final injustice: Gaza's graves are now so crowded and concrete so scarce because of Israel's long blockade that he had to break open an older family grave and put his father in with the other corpse.
"How can we have peace when they are killing civilians, even children?" said Faraj. "I support the ceasefire now. We have no power. If there wasn't a ceasefire we couldn't even bury our dead."
Some Gazans speak privately of their anger at Hamas, blaming the Islamist movement that rules the small territory for dragging them into this conflict. But by far the larger majority are speaking now of their bitter anger at Israel and their deep resentment at the apathy of the Arab world and the rest of the international community, which failed to halt the destruction and the killing.
"We blame everyone," said Ibrahim Samouni, 45, who lost his wife and four of his sons in the killings at Zeitoun. "We need everyone to look at us and see what has happened here. We are not resistance fighters. We are ordinary people."
http://fwd4.me/0j3E
5 jan 2012
Between 4-7 January 2009, twenty-seven members of the Samouni family were killed
Amal al-Samouni
Amal: "I have constant pain in my head, eyes and ears. I have been having nose bleeds for the past three years. I can still feel the shrapnel move inside my brain”
On 4 January 2009 at around 6:00 Israeli forces surrounded the house where Amal al-Samouni (eleven) and eighteen members of her extended family were sheltering, in Zeitoun neighborhood east of Gaza City. Israeli soldiers ordered the owner of the house, Amal’s father Attia al-Samouni (thirty-seven), to step outside with his hands up. Upon opening the door he was immediately killed by shots to the head and chest. Soldiers then started firing bullets into the house, killing Amal’s four-year old brother Ahmad al-Samouni and injuring at least four other people, of whom two were children.
Over the following hours, soldiers ordered over 100 other members of the extended al-Samouni family into the house of Wa’el Fares Hamdi al-Samouni, Amal’s uncle. On 5 January 2009 Israeli forces directly targeted the house and its vicinity, killing twenty-one persons and injuring many others.
Amal, who was inside, was wounded by shrapnel to the head and buried under the rubble, lying between injured, dying and deceased relatives. On 7 January ambulance personnel, who were prevented from entering the area until then, evacuated her to hospital.
Between 4-7 January 2009, twenty-seven members of the Samouni family were killed, including eleven children and six women, and thirty-five others were injured, including Amal’s twin brother Abdallah.
Amal survived those four horrific days but is left with permanent injuries and trauma. “I remember my brother and father and how they were murdered in every moment,” says Amal as she thinks back on the attacks and the three days she spent buried under the rubble of her uncle’s house without food or water. Amal does not need a lot of words to express how she feels: “before, we used to live together as a happy family. Now I don’t feel happy anymore.”
Amal did not only lose her father; the family’s home was also destroyed by the army. “For one year we lived with the parents of my mother, in Gaza’s Shaja’iya neighborhood. Then we lived in a storage room for 1.5 years. It didn’t have a floor. There was just sand. Since 6 months we are living where our old house used to be. It is not even half the size of our old home. I didn’t want to return to our neighborhood because of what happened.
My family didn’t want to either but we had no choice.” Like many other members of the al-Samouni family, Amal’s household now receives some help from relatives living in their neighborhood, but is still struggling to manage financially. The living conditions of Amal and her family have somewhat improved over time, although the house still lacks equipment like a refrigerator, washing machine, and a closet for the children’s clothing. Amal’s father, Attia, was a farmer. He grew vegetable crops on a rented plot, which used to provide the family income.
As the reconstruction of life and livelihoods continues in the al-Samouni neighborhood, Amal continues to struggle with her injuries. The pieces of shrapnel embedded in her brain cause her severe pains. “I have constant pain in my head, eyes and ears. I have been having nose bleeds for the past three years. I can still feel the shrapnel move inside my brain,” she says. Local doctors say it would be too dangerous to remove the pieces, but Amal cannot accept this quite yet. She has a strong wish to travel abroad to see a doctor. “I want to be sure about my situation and have another doctor look at my situation. I want to try everything possible to end my problem and pain. Other children are sometimes able to travel for fun. My wish is serious; I won’t travel for amusement but for medical treatment.”
The continuous pain has a profound impact on Amal’s mood, her relationship with her siblings, and her performance in school. “When I have a lot of pain I become nervous and angry.” Her mother Zeinat (thirty-eight) adds that “she then easily becomes angry with her younger siblings and beats them. Recently she and I visited a hospital again to see how she could be helped. The doctor prescribed tramal [a sedative] but I will not allow her to take medicine like that.”
“When I am sad I go to my aunt’s house to see my cousins, or I prepare my books for school,” says Amal. “Before the war I was excellent in school. Now my scores are not so good anymore.” While speaking of her dropped scores Amal becomes very emotional. The teacher told her mother that Amal is not able to focus in class. This semester Amal failed two subjects. “I have pain in my eyes when I look at the blackboard,” Amal says, very upset. Despite her difficulties in school, Amal knows what she would like to study for: “when I am older I want to become a pediatrician and help to treat wounded people.”
5 jan 2012 PCHR submitted a criminal complaint to the Israeli authorities on behalf of the al-Samouni family on 8 May 2009. To-date, only an interlocutory response has been received, noting receipt of the complaint. Despite repeated requests, no further information has been received.
http://fwd4.me/0jxf 28 apr 2012, 16:55 , Respect -
Maria 5 jan 2009
Mu'atasem Muhammad Ibrahim a-Samuni, under 1Muhammad Helmi Talal a-Samuni, under 1
12 juni 2011
Gaza Family, Victims of Israeli War Crimes, Appeal to British Queen to Remove Blood Diamond”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LpUTTGz6U-c
The following is a translated transcript of the appeal from Helme Samouni:
"On behalf of the surviving members of the Sammoni family and the hundreds of other families in Gaza who have been killed by war crimes committed by the Givati Brigade of the Israeli Army, we are shocked and disappointed by the decision of De Beers to present the Queen of England with a diamond manufactured by the Steinmetz Diamond company -- a company which supported the Givati Brigade during the Israeli war on Gaza late 2008 as they murdered 29 members of our family in cold blood. We the Sammoni family call on the Queen of England and the British people to decline this gift. We demand that De Beers be instructed to remove this offensive blood diamond display immediately.
Diamonds that generate revenue used to fund a regime guilty of war crimes are de-facto blood diamonds.
We call on De-Beers to show respect for the surviving victims of the diamond-funded Givati Brigade's actions in Gaza and remove the Forevermark Steinmetz Jubilee diamond from the Tower of London.
We call on Steinmetz Diamond company to end all support for and association with the Israeli military and to make reparation to the Sammuni family and the other victims of the Givati Brigade's actions in Gaza during Operation Cast Lead.
The Israeli human rights group B'Tselem describes the massacre of 21 members of the Al Samouni family as follows:
"On 4 January 2009, at the start of the ground phase of operation Cast Lead, about 100 members of the extended a-Samuni family were huddled inside one house in the a-Zeitun neighborhood of Gaza City. The next morning, an Israeli airstrike killed 21 people inside the house, including 9 children and 10 women, and injured dozens of other family members. During the next two days, the army refused access to medical teams, in spite of being informed of the terrible outcome by family members who managed to escape the bombed home and human rights and humanitarian organizations, including B'Tselem. When medics managed to get to site, they found four small children next to their dead mothers in one of the houses, and evacuated several wounded people. The army refused permission to evacuate the bodies and they remained in the rubble for a further two weeks."
A UH Human Rights Council investigation concluded that Israeli forces committed serious war crimes and possible crimes against humanity.
The Sammoni family, 29 members of which were killed by the Israeli military in Gaza in 2009, have issued an appeal to the British Queen to remove the Steinmetz Forevermark Jubilee Diamond which De Beers put on display in the Tower of London to mark the Queen Elizabeth II's Jubilee.
In total, 29 members of the Sammoni family were killed by the Givati Brigade of the Israeli army during the Israeli assault on Gaza (Operation Cast Lead) in December 2008 – January 2009. 21 were killed in a single airstrike on a building in which the family were taking cover, and 8 others killed during the course of the 23-day-long attack. The Steinmetz diamond company has "adopted" a Unit of the Givati Brigade which it funded and supported during the brutal assault on the people of Gaza.
In the appeal, posted to YouTube today, Helmi Sammoni, speaking on behalf of the family said: "On behalf of the surviving members of the Sammoni family and the hundreds of other families in Gaza who have been killed by war crimes committed by the Givati Brigade of the Israeli Army, we are shocked and disappointed by the decision of De Beers to present the Queen of England with a diamond manufactured by the Steinmetz Diamond company – a company which supported the Givati Brigade during the Israeli war on Gaza late 2008 as they murdered 29 members of our family in cold blood. We the Sammoni family call on the Queen of England and the British people to decline this gift. We demand that De Beers be instructed to remove this offensive blood diamond display immediately."
Background
In one of the most despicable example of gross human rights violations recorded during the three weeks of the attack, twenty one members of the Sammoni family - innocent and defenceless children, women and men - were killed by the Givati Brigade in a single incident. The Israeli human rights group B'Tselem describes the incident as follows:
"On 4 January 2009, at the start of the ground phase of operation Cast Lead, about 100 members of the extended a-Samuni family were huddled inside one house in the a-Zeitun neighborhood of Gaza City. The next morning, an Israeli airstrike killed 21 people inside the house, including 9 children and 10 women, and injured dozens of other family members. During the next two days, the army refused access to medical teams, in spite of being informed of the terrible outcome by family members who managed to escape the bombed home and human rights and humanitarian organizations, including B'Tselem. When medics managed to get to site, they found four small children next to their dead mothers in one of the houses, and evacuated several wounded people. The army refused permission to evacuate the bodies and they remained in the rubble for a further two weeks."
A UN Human Rights Council investigation concluded that Israeli forces committed serious war crimes and possible crimes against humanity during Operation Cast Lead.
Sean Clinton, coordinator of the Boycott Israeli Blood Diamonds campaign for the Boycott Israel Network (BIN) and the Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign (IPSC) stated: "Diamonds that generate revenue used to fund a regime guilty of war crimes, in this case Israel's apartheid regime, are de-facto blood diamonds. We call on De-Beers to show respect for the surviving victims of the diamond-funded Givati Brigade's actions in Gaza and remove the Forevermark Steinmetz Jubilee diamond from the Tower of London."
Notes:
1. The Sammoni family's appeal - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LpUTTGz6U-c
Helmi Sammoni, speaking on behalf of the Sammoni family, issued this appeal to Queen Elizabeth II.
2. De-Beers Forevermark Facebook page -
The Steinmetz Forevermark Jubilee Pink Diamond has gone on display at the Tower of London to mark the Queen's Diamond Jubilee. This unique, fancy pink-brown colour, 35.60 carat cushion cut Forevermark diamond has been inscribed with a bespoke number, 19522012 – the year of HRH Queen Elizabeth II's coronation and the 60th year of her reign. It took the experts at Steinmetz Diamonds six months to perfect the cut, crafting the beautiful cushion cut from the original 179.96 carat rough diamond.
3. Steinmetz Foundation Website
The Foundation has "adopted" Tzabar Unit of the Israeli Defense Forces' Givati Brigade. The Foundation fosters a close relationship with the commanders and their soldiers, helps the brigade organize evening events, buys equipment for end-of-course ceremonies and gives aid to needy soldiers. During Operation Cast Lead in the Gaza Strip, the Foundation helped the Unit purchase complementary equipment as well as visited and cared for the wounded soldiers.
4. ICRC report
The ICRC/PRCS team found four small children next to their dead mothers in one of the houses. They were too weak to stand up on their own. One man was also found alive, too weak to stand up. In all there were at least 12 corpses lying on mattresses. In another house, the ICRC/PRCS rescue team found 15 other survivors of this attack including several wounded. In yet another house, they found an additional three corpses.
5. UN Human Rights Council Report of the Fact-Finding Mission of the Gaza Conflict - pdf
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WPb5bFEJX7c
De-Beers, the diamond behemoth, is exploiting the celebration of the Queen's Diamond Jubilee in a vulgar and insensitive manner in order to promote their diamonds.
The company's decision to display a Forevermark Steinmetz Diamond at the Tower of London ignores the fact that the Steinmetz Diamond Group, through the Steinmetz Foundation, has "adopted" a Unit of the infamous Givati Brigade in the Israel military. The Israeli military stands accused of "serious war crimes and possible crimes against humanity" by the UN Human Rights Council.
The Givati Brigade was responsible for the one of the most appalling examples of gross human rights violations recorded during Israel's assault on the besieged residents of Gaza in January 2009. The Israeli human rights group B'Tselem describes the incident as follows:
"On 4 January 2009, at the start of the ground phase of operation Cast Lead, about 100 members of the extended a-Samuni family were huddled inside one house in the a-Zeitun neighborhood of Gaza City. The next morning, an Israeli airstrike killed 21 people inside the house, including 9 children and 10 women, and injured dozens of other family members. During the next two days, the army refused access to medical teams, in spite of being informed of the terrible outcome by family members who managed to escape the bombed home and human rights and humanitarian organizations, including B'Tselem. When medics managed to get to site, they found four small children next to their dead mothers in one of the houses, and evacuated several wounded people. The army refused permission to evacuate the bodies and they remained in the rubble for a further two weeks."
Referring to their support for a Unit of the Givati Brigade the Steinmetz website states "During Operation Cast Lead in the Gaza Strip, the Foundation helped the Unit purchase complementary equipment as well as visited and cared for the wounded soldiers."
Diamonds that are generating revenue used to fund a regime guilty of war crimes are de-facto blood diamonds.
We call on De-Beers to show respect for the surviving victims of the diamond-funded Givati Brigade's actions in Gaza who have been left bereaved, maimed and traumatised and withdraw the offending display immediately.
28 apr 2012, 16:57 , Respect -
Maria 5 jan 2009
'Azzah Salah Talal a-Samuni, 2Ahmad 'Atiyyah Helmi a-Samuni, 4
Words simply cannot describe the devastation wrought upon this family by a marauding band of Israeli psychopaths, otherwise known as the Givati Brigade of the Israeli Defence Forces.
28 apr 2012, 16:57 , Respect -
Maria 5 jan 2009
Nassar Ibrahim Helmi a-Samuni, 5
Zakaria Hamed Khamis a-Samuni, 7
28 apr 2012, 17:53 , Respect -
Maria 5 jan 2009
Fares Wael Fares a-Samuni, 12Ishaq Ibrahim Helmi a-Samuni, 13
28 apr 2012, 17:53 , Respect -
Maria 5 jan 2009
Razaqeh Wael Fares a-Samuni, 14
Isma'il Ibrahim Helmi a-Samuni, 15
28 apr 2012, 17:53 , Respect -
Maria 5 jan 2009
Huda Na'el Fares a-Samuni, 16
Walid Rashad Helmi a-Samuni, 16
28 apr 2012, 17:53 , Respect -
Maria 5 jan 2009
Maha Muhammad Ibrahim a-Samuni, 20Tawfiq Rashad Helmi a-Samuni, 21Safaa Subhi Muhammad a-Samuni, 23
28 apr 2012, 17:53 , Respect -
Maria 5 jan 2009
Hamdi Maher Hamdi a-Samuni, 23
Muhammad Ibrahim Helmi a-Samuni, 25Iyad 'Izzat 'Ali a-Samuni, 31
28 apr 2012, 17:53 , Respect -
Maria 5 jan 2009
Rabab 'Izzat 'Ali a-Samuni, 36Rashad Helmi Mahmoud a-Samuni, 41
Laila Nabih Mahmoud a-Samuni, 44
Palestinian boys kneel over the bodies of Issa, left, Ahmed, center, and Mohamed Samouni, right.
Ahmed Samouni Issa Samouni
Mohamed Samouni