Shaheed / Martyr Posters
Contrary to the description given in Western and Israeli press, Palestinians use the term 'shaheed' or 'martyr' to describe anybody who has lost their life as a result of the Israeli occupation and the Palestinian struggle for freedom. This includes children shot standing in the bedrooms, old men killed with teargas, armed and unarmed Palestinians killed defending the cities from invasion and those who chose to do a martyrdom operation.
These posters are a means for the community to remember those who have been killed. 'Homouring the dead' is a notion familiar to many cultures. The posters are pasted on the walls of the camp, with a high concentration in the alleys near the family home of the martyr.
Mohammed 'Araj (7) was shot on a quiet street on 21 December 2003 as he ate a sandwich outside his home.
Rami Barbari was killed by soldiers on 30 September 2002.
ZuhirE Awees died after invading soldiers threw a tear gas canister into his home on 21 December, 2003 - th same day Mohammed 'Araj (above) was killed.
Zuheir's son Mohammed Awees was killed three months later.
Aseed Abu Alreesh was killed by soldiers on 19 April 2003.
Ali Abu Saleem (19) died during stone-throwing clashes at the entrace of Balata on 3 September 2003.
Baha' Alzubeedi was killed by soldiers outside his home opposite the Greek Orthodox church on 29 October 2003.
Mohammed Al-Asi and Mahmud Tirawi were killed by an Israeli tank shooting from a distance towards the entrance of the camp. They were on their way to the Yafa Centre but stopped to chat to friends in the evening of 10 September 2003.
The Awees family. Zuheir on the right was killed by teargas (described above), Basheer Awees (left) died when Israeli prison doctors refused to treat his headache. Nasser Awees (middle) is not a shaheed, but is unlikely to ever taste freedom, as he is in prison with multiple life sentences.