Swedish activists' run-in with IDF brings controversial clip of soldier to light

The video which shocked viewers around the world this week with images of an Israeli soldier shooting a bound Palestinian might never have been released but for a group of Swedish pro-Palestinian activists staying in the West Bank town of Na'alin, who released the film clip and attracted interest from European media. The activists on Tuesday told Anglo File that Israeli troops regularly targeted them, occasionally staging "unprovoked shooting sprees." The IDF Spokesperson said the military is unaware of any unprovoked force against demonstrators.

In an interview inside their make-shift residence near the town square, members of the group - which currently consists of five Swedes and one Canadian, all students in their 20s - said they came across the clip as a result of a cat-and-mouse game with Israeli troops. One activist, who would identify herself only as Kamilla, said the group happened upon the video last week after a few activists entered a Palestinian home to evade Israeli troops whom she said were pursuing the Swedes after a demonstration outside town.

The students all belong to the International Solidarity Movement, which calls on foreigners to partake in non-violent resistance against the Israeli occupation in the West Bank and Gaza.

Local, Israeli and foreign demonstrators started convening outside the village, situated over the Green Line seven kilometers east of Modi'in, a few weeks ago to protest the appropriation of Palestinian lands for the construction of the separation fence. Demonstrations often turn violent, leading to exchanges of stones, tear gas and rubber bullets between protesters and Israel Defense Forces soldiers.

"A few days after they hid in the Kana'an family home, a few activists went to thank the family for letting them in," Kamilla said. "Then the family showed our friends the film of the IDF soldier shooting the Palestinian, and we knew we had to get it out."

Salam Kana'an, a 17-year-old Palestinian girl, took the video from her window on July 7, while Na'alin was under curfew. It shows an IDF soldier shooting a Palestinian man with a rubber bullet at short range, his arms and legs bound. The IDF arrested the shooting soldier and launched a probe into the incident.

Victor, the activist from Canada, arranged for the film to be taken to Ramallah. The film was handed over last Friday to an investigator from human rights group B'Tselem. By Sunday, television stations and newspapers all over the world were displaying the images. Although Victor said the family's name was not supposed to be released, B'Tselem said it received permission from the family members to publicize their identity. The family indeed gave interviews and posed for pictures and videos for local and international media. Victor explains that once their names were made public, the family thought "to hell with it." Ghaleb Kana'an, Salam's brother, told Anglo File the whole story with pride in his local shop in town.

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The Swedish media was particularly interested in the incident, as Na'alin had made front page news in Sweden even before the shooting. Sitting in the living room of their pink-colored two-story building, the Swedish activists were proud to take credit for this. Around the time of the shooting, during an IDF-imposed curfew, papers in Sweden quoted Na'alin-based Swedes accusing Israeli troops of staging an unprovoked shooting spree. The Swedes say that on the same day of the shooting near the Kana'an household, soldiers fired tear gas at them while they were in the house.

Standing on the roof of their house in Na'alin - in which they say they reside at the invitation of "a friend of ISM" - Victor, Kamilla, Jonas and Henry, pointed to a brown smudge on the floor. "This is where one of the gas canisters landed," said Jonas while palming the metal projectile.

The village was put under a four-day curfew in early July, following weeks of violent protests by foreigners and locals. Some of the Swedes from the solidarity movement were there at the time to make a documentary film about the separation fence, according to an activist who identified herself as Ems, who has since left Israel.

Swedish national media quoted the activists - who were described in the papers only as "filmmakers" - as saying IDF troops were "firing on children trying to escape their besieged homes." When asked about the accusation, Ems said, "I didn't see it, but if ISM people say it happened, then that's what happened." She added that she was sure the soldiers were "targeting the film team."

Ems said that on July 7 the crew was filming a group of soldiers standing in the town square, "shooting tear gas canisters, rubber bullets and sound bombs at people just for fun." She added the solders "were unprovoked and in no danger." Ems said she would send footage from of the event but never did despite repeated requests.

Some activists say they could not leave the village for the curfew's duration, and that one of them had contacted the Swedish consulate in Jerusalem to intervene. But on Tuesday, Ems' former roommates said that leaving and entering the village during the curfew was not difficult.

Thomas Hellstrom, a professor of robotics from Umea University, was in Israel during the curfew, and followed closely the reports in the Swedish media about Na'alin. He complained, "No attempt was made to present the Israeli side, and the ideological affiliation of the accusers was not explained."

In its response, the IDF Spokesperson told Anglo File: "Following a probe into the claims, we are unaware of any unprovoked use of force against demonstrators in Na'alin, where foreign nationals and Israelis regularly incite residents and employ violence against workers and troops."

All the activists in Na'alin denied use of violence, citing the solidarity movement's code. "If anyone used violence in demonstrations, he would be kicked out, Victor said.