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by Emad Mekay with additional reporting by Samar Dewidar RO (IslamOnline) - Eleven-year-old Palestinian schoolboy Waleed Mashhour lies on his hospital bed and smiles innocently. White-robbed doctors have just untied stitches off a stomach injury caused by an Israeli bullet he sustained during, he says, "his work to liberate my land and protect the Aqsa mosque." "I was only placing Palestinian flags on the borders between Gaza and Sinai [Egypt]," recounted Waleed, describing the moments before Israeli soldiers shot him. "The Israelis were hiding and lurking for us somewhere. When I finished my flags I was shot. This was only my second time to throw stones and hang flags on the barbed wire." Waleed was among several other Palestinians brought to Cairo for hospitalization after two weeks of violent clashes between Palestinian protestors and Israeli troops. Palestinian hospitals became over-crowed with scores of dead corpses and hundreds of injured people. The clashes started on September 29th after militant Likud Party leader Ariel Sharon visited al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied East Jerusalem. The site is Islam's third holiest shrine. Sharon said he was paying the visit to assert Israel's sovereignty over the site, which Jews say, is holy to them as well. The Nasser Institute Hospital, where Waleed is receiving treatment for his serious injuries has become a Mecca for school children, officials, celebrities and Palestinian sympathizers within Egypt, the most populous Arab Muslim state. At the hospital, scores of housewives, university students and professionals flocked into the white crammed corridors of the hospital to donate blood, give presents to the wounded, express sympathy and provide encouragement. Anger in the Islamic world has been mounting towards Israel's excessive use of force. Muslims and Arabs are rallying around the Palestinians. Many protests and marches went out in the streets of Cairo, Damascus, Jakarata and other Muslim nations in solidarity with what has now become known as "the Aqsa uprising." Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Jordan have offered to receive injured protesters in their hospitals and many have sent medical and humanitarian aid to the besieged Palestinian territories. Mosques around the world have called for a Jihad and have distributed leaflets calling for "revenge." Twenty-two Arab states will hold an emergency meeting in Cairo on October 21st to discuss the situation in the occupied territories to find a way to resuscitate the deadlocked Middle East peace process. As Waleed fought his exhaustion and received guests, more visitors came in. A class of 31 uniformed schoolgirls, each with a flower, paid visits to the injured. Heba, one of the students, explaining why she came, said, "We are here to say that injustices can never last." "When our teacher suggested we come here, all of the girls said yes. I don't know of a single girl who said she wouldn't come." This was a time to talk about "Israeli atrocities," and "ruthless methods." Words like "the aggressors," "the beasts," "liberation," and "freedom" were often heard. Next to Waleed Mashhour's bed, was Ibrahim Abu Mor's, an eight-year-old schoolboy shot in the eye by an Israeli solider. His frail and childish voice came out clearly. "I was throwing stones," he said. "There was this Jew far away from me. He was pointing his rifle against me. He hit me in the eye. I didn't succeed to hang up my flag." Waleed and Ibrahim not only seem to have a common past, but a similar future as well. "When I go home I will throw them [the Jews] again with stones till they go away," Ibrahim said. Waleed will do the same. "I will throw stones and lift up the flag… It's our land and we must get it back with our efforts, sweat and blood." |
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